Dark Water (2005)
Dark Water (2005) 6/10
Considering that Hideo Nakata’s Dark Water (2002) was one of my favourite horror films of all time, Walter Salle’s 2005 remake of the Japanese film seemed destined to disappoint. Normally, i would pass by a remake of an original, given that they almost always are a notch lesser than the original. Having said that, there was one main reason why i watched Hollywood’s take on Dark Water: Jennifer Connelly, who has been one of my favourite actress since Requiem For A Dream.
The best thing about Dark Water, and in fact the best decision that Salles made was to cast Connelly in the lead role, a move that would pay dividends because Connelly is indeed the only reason that makes Dark Water worthwhile. An excellent, intense performance, Connelly puts in a stellar performance that would have made this film a brilliant movie if not for the fact that the script and the supporting roles are so lacklustre.
Whereas the orginal Japanese version focused on the spooks and the water motiff, the remake focuses much more on the role of the mother (Connelly) and adds in more supporting characters that detract from rather than enhances the film. While Connelly accquits herself remarkably, the script and the scares leave much to be desired. The original wasn’t even scary in the first place, but this remake is 100% scare free and spook free. The plot lumbers on and on and on and the script simply lacks finess. It fails to hook the audience.
The good part about Dark Water is that it isn’t a shot by shot remake and does indeed change parts of the script. The bad news is that most of the changes, almost certainly weaken rather than enhance the film. A particularly weak scene that takes place in the basement’s washing machine room (which is not found in the Japanese version) shows clearly the weakness of the 2005 remake vis-a-vis the original. Clearly, Dark Water has some things going for it, mainly Jennifer Connelly’s stellar performance which is much better than her Japanese counterpart. However, Salle’s version is weaker on every other count.
