Dark Water

As my wife and I have been deprived of television and internet access on moving into our new apartment, it should come as no surprise that we’ve been making frequent trips to the video store. On our most recent excursion, we rented the horror film entitled “Dark Water.” Generally speaking, I consider myself a big fan of the genre, with my love of horror being second only to my love of science fiction. Still, there was very little to like about this movie.

The pace of the story is very slow, with most of the focus lying on the main character’s spotty divorce and custody battle. Overall, this aspect of the plot is a bit dull, although it does shed some light on the possibility that the main character is merely delusional. This is an interesting if a bit overdone twist, but still worthy of mention.

The near-climax of the movie occurs when the main character’s lawyer steps in and bullies her landlord and superintendent about the poor quality of the apartment. The whole “lawyer to the rescue” bit is none too satisfying, to be honest. After all, it would’ve been nice if the dysfunctional mother managed to solve some of her own problems. She comes around afterward, but not before the lawyer gets to play the hero, which is marginally believable at best.

Finally, the story gets spooky when the ghost appears and tries to kill the little girl and take her place. Unfortunately, what is intended as horror comes off more like drama when the mother dies to save the daughter. I like horror films because I wanted to be wide-eyed with fear, not teary-eyed with sadness.

All in all, I can’t recommend this movie to anyone. It has little merit as either a horror film, as it was intended to be, or as a drama, as it turned out to be. Don’t bother renting it. If you really want to see a movie along this plot line that’s worth watching, try “The Ring.”