Drink this 'Water'

"Dark Water," the most recent edition to the current wave of Japanese horror film remakes, is a standard ghost story that is not only superior to its original, but also both "The Ring" series and "The Grudge." This said, while "Dark Water" succeeds in thrills and a unique story line, it is far from being a perfect horror film. \nThe film stars Jennifer Connelly as Dahlia, a deeply troubled and recently divorced mother who is forced to move from her normal New York City life to a more reasonably priced apartment/housing project across the river. After moving in Dahlia begins to realize that the building may have its own severe problems. Ceiling leaks begin to appear and eventually grow in size, there are noises from the apartment above her which is supposed to be abandoned and the maintenance man (Pete Postlethwaite) doesn't seem give a damn about anyone, least of all Dahlia. To top this off, she is in a tough legal battle with her ex-husband (British actor Dougray Scott) for the custody of their young daughter Ceci (Ariel Gade, a possible future Dakota Fanning). \nAs the film slowly progresses, Dahlia begins to discover that the building has some dark, possibly supernatural secrets and the soiled water that keeps creeping into her apartment during the middle of the night is more than just a leak. Eventually, following in the footsteps of the previous films in this new genre, a creepy child appears who seems to be haunting the building and Dahlia, however, where this film succeeds is in how the ghost child is presented. Unlike "The Ring" series or "The Grudge," where the children have white makeup and sound like drowning cats, the ghost child in "Dark Water" is a normal looking child, who never really appears to be dangerous. \nFor the first 3/4 of film, "Dark Water" is an nice little psychological thriller dealing with Dahlia's struggle with her harsh childhood, her daughter's recent imaginary friend, as well as her desire to be an overall good mother -- something she lacked as a child. The film mimics other successful ghost stories like "The Devil's Backbone" and "The Others," with its building level of tension, but has its own style to it thanks to the creepy tinted water.\nThe film was directed by Brazilian director Walter Salles ("Central Station," "The Motorcycle Diaries,"), this being his first English-language film. Salles brings a dark style to this film that, I must say, the original Japanese version lacked. The cinematography is brilliant and makes Dahlia's building look like the housing project from hell. Connelly masters her character perfectly, which makes sense since she has a talent for playing depressed women. Other strong performances by John C. Reilly as the sleazy real estate agent and the extremely underused Tim Roth as Dahlia's lawyer help to take "Dark Water" to a level beyond most of the horror movies we see today. \nThe constant scares seen in "The Grudge," mainly by creepy white-faced children, is replaced by a slow moving, yet interesting storyline. While some people in the audience at the theater seemed disappointed -- possibly expecting more scares -- I was satisfied with "Dark Water." In the end of the film there are a few unanswered questions, and logistics in a horror film never make total sense, however the film succeeded in telling a decent, original ghost story where I actually felt something for Connelly's struggles.