The What Occurred to This Horror Film episode on Darkish Water was written by Jaime Vasquez:
After just a few years of profitable Japanese horror remakes, the summer time of 2005 noticed the discharge of yet one more J-horror impressed movie: Darkish Water. Now, to be clear, this isn’t the pirate cartoon, the random TV film, or the knock-off thriller on streaming. That is the one starring Jennifer Connelly and John C. Reilly. And directed by Walter Salles, you realize, the billionaire in his late ‘60s who somehow looks about twenty years younger and like he just walked off a GQ shoot. Twenty years ago, Dark Water hit theaters and managed a decent box-office run, though critically, it paled in comparison to the original. So what are the big differences between the remake and its source? Who was almost cast in the lead? Does this movie even belong in the horror genre? And how did a tragic real-life case give it a legacy nobody saw coming? Let’s dive into the deep finish and determine what occurred to 2005’s Darkish Water.
Japanese horror was using excessive within the late ’90s and the 2000s, because of its daring, forward-thinking storytelling and bone-chilling scares. Then the true horror started: Hollywood determined to money in. Alongside got here a wave of remakes that watered down each the phobia and the innovation. Positive, The Ring turned out strong, however let’s be trustworthy, it doesn’t maintain a candle to the nightmare gas of the unique. Darkish Water was considered one of many J-horror remakes, and to its credit score, it did handle to face other than the infinite parade of CGI ghost children that have been creeping not solely into theaters, however on TV, video rental shops… Truthfully, American J-horror villains have been so rampant on the time, it’s sort of stunning McDonald’s didn’t supply The Ring or The Grudge Pleased Meal toys.
The unique Darkish Water was launched in 2002 and earned robust reward from each critics and audiences, who admired how its creepiness underscored a genuinely emotional, dramatic storyline. It was primarily based on a brief story known as Floating Water, the primary of seven tales in Koji Suzuki’s water-themed assortment Darkish Water. The movie adaptation ditched the quick story title and simply used the gathering title as a substitute… as a result of it made for a greater film title? As a result of they didn’t learn the e book? I don’t know. However after all, the U.S. remake did the identical factor.
Earlier than Darkish Water, screenwriter Rafael Yglesias had just a few credit that helped exhibit his vary. He co-wrote the 1998 non-musical model of Les Misérables with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush, then jumped into horror territory with 2001’s From Hell, the place Johnny Depp psychically tracks Jack the Ripper’s future murders. And wouldn’t you realize it, the visions simply so occur to guide him to the doorstep of a redheaded Heather Graham as the following sufferer. Robust job, certainly. In 2024, Walter Salles directed I’m Nonetheless Right here, a Portuguese autobiographical movie that not solely gained important acclaim but additionally took dwelling the Oscar for Finest Worldwide Function. Almost twenty years earlier, he had discovered related success with one other autobiographical venture, The Bike Diaries.
Salles landed the job directing Darkish Water because of his Oscar-nominated drama Central Station from 1998, which proved he might deal with the messy dramatics of motherhood. He additionally admitted to drawing inspiration from Roman Polanski, whose movies impressed him from an early age. Darkish Water echoed the paranoia and dread of two Polanski classics; Rosemary’s Child and Repulsion. After making his mark with Portuguese and Spanish movies, Salles was able to step into his first English-language venture with the horror remake, explaining that what drew him to the venture was the script, and the characters that appeared to leap proper off the web page.
Rafael Yglesias described Darkish Water as a “Freudian horror movie.” To him, the murky water and ghostly presence weren’t simply scares, however metaphors for the lead character’s unraveling psychological state. Yglesias defined that this story of a lady in jeopardy, not from a serial killer, however from the collapse of her personal psyche, was an concept he had been carrying round for a very long time.
Humorous sufficient, the main function was supplied to an actress who’s spent loads of display time operating from a serial killer: Jennifer Love Hewitt. She declined, and the half went to Jennifer Connelly as a substitute. Truthfully, that most likely labored out for the very best. Hewitt would possibly’ve introduced her scream queen power, however Connelly’s signature realism was an ideal match for the movie’s brooding tone. After working steadily because the early ’80s as a toddler actor, Connelly’s profession actually picked up steam within the early 2000s. She garnered consideration from her function within the intestine wrenching cult basic Requiem for a Dream in 2000, and gained an Oscar for Finest Supporting Actress for 2001’s extremely acclaimed, A Stunning Thoughts. Not normally one to ham up a efficiency, Connelly avoids any melodrama and delivers a grounded efficiency. As Dahlia, a mom trapped in a relentless state of fear, her presence is without doubt one of the movie’s best strengths. There’s even a scene the place the water state of affairs will get so out of hand that each room of the house turns into flooded. Watching her sob tugs on the coronary heart strings, regardless of me swearing off having emotions a number of years in the past.
Becoming a member of Connelly is John C. Reilly because the sleazy however charming constructing supervisor, Mr. Murray. Reilly claimed that the movie’s script was one of many scariest he’d ever learn, which is saying quite a bit contemplating his work with Paul Thomas Anderson. Reilly primarily based his efficiency on Elisha Cook dinner Jr.’s Mr. Nicklas in Rosemary’s Child, and as all the time, he nails it. Ariel Gade performs Ceci, Dahlia’s daughter. Gade units herself other than different little one actors, remaining candy and likeable and somebody you genuinely wanna see dodge the horror as a substitute of, spoiler alert, having a second just like the little boy in Last Vacation spot: Bloodlines. Pete Postlewaite exhibits up as Mr. Veeck, the creepy, cranky, slimy, dirty upkeep man who walks the road of “too sleazy to be a villain” and “too sleazy not to be” all through the movie. Tim Roth performs Dahlia’s divorce lawyer, Jeff Platzer. It seems like Platzer very a lot holds Dahlia’s sanity in his arms, as he acts not simply as her lawyer, however as a therapist and good friend, and makes certain her leaky ceiling is mounted quicker than Reilly or Postlewaite ever would. There are additionally nice performances by Dougray Scott as Dahlia’s litigious ex-husband Kyle, and Camryn Manheim, Ceci’s understandably involved college instructor, who, sadly, doesn’t get a reputation.
Producer Invoice Mechanic stated what finally makes Darkish Water work is that everybody within the solid is, in his phrases, a “phenomenal actor.” Living proof: Pete Postlethwaite, who took a job with barely any strains and gave Mr. Veeck a grungy Japanese European accent and a complete arsenal of sleazy facial expressions. It’s much less of a regular efficiency and extra like a punch within the intestine.
Whereas the solid and crew embraced these improvised particulars, the one factor that needed to be meticulously deliberate was the water itself. Mechanic even known as it “one of the lead characters,” because it’s virtually in each scene. To create the phantasm of fixed downpour, the crew used overhead rain rigs, that are principally big sprinkler bars pouring water in exact, camera-ready sheets. Jennifer Connelly recalled that through the shoot, the cliché got here true: the skies truly opened up, and down got here a torrential storm, regardless that that exact scene known as for a sunny day.
And if rain wasn’t sufficient, the film additionally needed to stay as much as its title and provides us the precise… darkness of the darkish water. The crew didn’t solely depend on CGI, they used sensible means, including a darkish coloured dye to water that’s utilized in delicate drinks for coloring. And talking of sentimental drinks, along with the dye, they used expired and flat soda, which, actually, tracks. As a few of us can attest to, there are few issues scarier than a flat soda.
The director appeared to place his actors fully comfy. Positive, the solid was already stacked with expertise, however Walter Salles’ fashion actually pulled the very best out of them. Tim Roth described him as “a gentle soul” who offers exact notes in non-public, one-on-one conversations. And apparently these notes have been so non-public that nobody else on set had a clue what was being stated; for all we all know, he was simply whispering “don’t screw this up” in Portuguese and strolling away. We might by no means know.
Darkish Water sailed into theaters in July 2005, opening with slightly below $10 million, not implausible, however nonetheless respectable. Talking of which, the movie was launched alongside Improbable 4, whereas June releases Conflict of the Worlds and Batman Begins have been nonetheless crushing it, touchdown it in fourth place on its debut weekend. It completed with about $25 million domestically and pulled in one other $42 million abroad, bringing the worldwide complete to round $68 million. Not a monster blockbuster, however not a complete catastrophe both, particularly in opposition to an estimated $30 million finances.
Critically, Darkish Water earned a middling 47% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a soggy 28% viewers rating, whereas scoring a 5.6/10 on IMDb. The general consensus is that it’s bought as a horror film however performs extra like a slow-burn home drama, albeit one with leaky ceilings as a substitute of real scares. Critics and audiences alike agreed it wasn’t precisely terrifying… simply watchable sufficient if you happen to have been already caught indoors on a wet day. The unique, nevertheless, bought a a lot hotter reception, with followers praising it as scarier and extra emotionally wealthy. And the endings present why. Spoiler alert for each movies: within the 2002 model, daughter Ikuko returns to the previous house a decade later and shares a bittersweet second together with her mom’s ghost, who reassures her she’ll all the time be there for her. It’s eerie, shifting, and it feels earned. The remake offers us the microwaved model: Ceci will get caught in an elevator, hears Mother’s voice, and increase: prompt closure. Not horrible, simply rushed. Like, I’m certain Ceci’s resilient, however I doubt any child simply shrugs off a fantastic loss like that in a single elevator experience. Then once more, what do I do know?
What does hit arduous and offers chills is the connection to the real-life case of Elisa Lam. Although the movie was launched about 8 years previous to Lam’s mysterious loss of life, the similarities are arduous to disregard. Within the movie, Dahlia finds the physique of a younger woman in a water tank above the constructing, and it leads to the arrest of Mr. Veeck, who knew of her whereabouts and did not report it. The woman’s physique is the explanation why the constructing’s water provide turned darkish and undrinkable. In 2013, the physique of 21-year-old Elisa Lam was discovered much like the woman within the story, within the rooftop tank in L.A.’s notorious Cecil Lodge after friends reported foul-tasting, discolored water. There are a number of articles on the eerie parallels between truth and fiction. And whereas Darkish Water might have in any other case been forgotten, this has positively given it an sudden and tragic legacy and a distinct lens for the general public to see it by.
The reality is, Darkish Water most likely would’ve fared higher if it had been bought as a straight drama. At its core, it’s a tear-jerker, the solid actually does work magic, and Salles delivers a movie that’s robust visually and thematically. The issue is folks walked in anticipating a horror film. Critics and audiences have been fast to level out that the scares are minimal, the stress is skinny, and at practically two hours, it overstays its welcome by about twenty minutes. However there’s nothing disastrously incorrect right here, it’s only a case of mismarketing and mismatched expectations. And because of its eerie, unintended connection to real-life tragedy, Darkish Water ended up leaving a long-lasting mark that almost all forgotten remakes by no means might. In that sense, it rises above the darkness. And that, my pals, is what occurred to Darkish Water.
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