Dark Water (5 Stars)

When I watched this film in 2016 I complained about the poor quality of the DVD. That's not something I can put up with if it's one of my favourite films. I recently bought the Blu-ray, and I could finally watch the film as it's meant to be seen. Many of the outside scenes are hazy because it rains throughout the film. That's different. Rain is supposed to be hazy, but I expect the indoor scenes to be crystal clear. "Dark Water" was made in 2002, which isn't so long ago that we can expect films to look poor on disc. For me the watershed is 1996, the year in which DVDs were first sold. I might grudgingly accept poor quality from older films, but I expect all films made since 1996 to look good on DVD.

"Dark Water" is the scariest film I've ever seen. However often I watch it it still makes me jump. There's no gore, it's all about suspense. This is a film that should be shown in film schools as an example of how to make a good horror film.

Have you ever noticed how rarely it rains in films? In everyday life it rains often, in some countries more than others. In films it never rains unless it's important to the plot. If there's a scene where the weather doesn't matter it doesn't rain. That has practical reasons. The director and his crew don't want to be standing soaked in the rain struggling to keep the camera equipment dry. Apart from that, as already mentioned, scenes in the rain are less clear. If a scene is scheduled and it's raining on the day the scene is postponed and the director shoots the indoor scenes first.

That's not the case with "Dark Water". The rain is essential to the plot. It pours and pours. This adds to the film's depressing atmosphere. The film's epilogue, the final scene that takes place ten years later, is in stark contrast to the rest of the film. It's a bright day and the sun is shining when Ikuko gets off the bus, nothing like the rainy days of her early childhood.

I've watched this film many times in the last 15 years, but today is the first time that I noticed similarities to "The Shining". It can't possibly be a coincidence, it's a deliberate homage. It's always good when a director makes respectful references to his favourite films. Just look at Quentin Tarantino's films. It can be argued that he's never had an original idea. His films are all patchworks of classic films from the past, and they're brilliant.

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