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Director: Hideo Nakata

Release Date: 6 June 2003

Main Cast:

Hitomi Kuroki … Yoshimi Matsubara

Rio Kanno … Ikuko Matsubara

Another superb horror from the director of Ringu. Whilst not as scary as Ringu, Dark Water is a suspense filled tale that manages to creep you out more and more as the film goes on. It starts with a downbeat scene of torrential rain and a young girl waiting in school for her mother after all the other children have been picked up. The film then cuts to a custody mediation between a divorced couple. The love the mother has for her child is clear, but money is short and they rent a room in an old and rather run down apartment block. A rather eerily deserted one at that. It’s here that you get a real sense of foreboding that makes you shuffle in your seat.

The director paces the film perfectly, building the tension slowly. And even though you know where the film is headed it’s still thoroughly enjoyable. At no point do you groan and think how cheesy it is, as is so often the case in Western horrors. The acting is also superb. Both Hitomi Kuroki and Rio Kanno give stunning performances throughout.

Dark Water is an engrossing film that had me totally absorbed, and I thoroughly recommend it.

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