Dark Water (2002)

HIDEO NAKATA

DARK WATER

JAPAN, 2002,

7/10

"I'm sorry, honey...that we can't be together."

**There are spoilers in one (small) section of this review, but they are marked as spoilers so you can avoid them**

Yoshimi Matsubara is in the middle of a divorce and custody trial with her husband. She has custody of her daughter for the time being, but the final decision hasn't been made yet, when they go looking for an apartment to live in. They come upon a slightly run down yet livable apartment that is a good size for the two of them and affordable for their lifestyle as well. Goody. Of course, eventually everything slowly starts falling to shit, and that all begins with a water stain appearing on Yoshimi's ceiling. Really, you can't make this shit up.

Despite the semi-laughable premise, Nakata does a pretty good job with the film. There are lots of very beautiful shots (but the yellow tint of the flashback scenes looks pretty cheap and irritating), and while it can be a little slow at times, the pacing is generally pretty good. Like many other J-horror, the villain is a young girl with long, black hair, similar to Nakata's other, and superior, film, RINGU (1998). At the beginning of the film, I found Mitsuko (the young girl) pretty scary, but by the end of the film I was tired of her as every scare felt familiar.

The actors all do a very good job. It's a bit harder for me to judge acting when they aren't speaking English because I have no idea what words are getting inflection, but they all seemed decent enough to me. The actress playing Yoshimi was a bit over the top at times, but it's clear that that's how her character would react in stressful situations.

**SPOILERS START**

I think a problem with this film is that Nakata aimed to make his audience jump more than he wanted to creep them out. The scene where Yoshimi climbs the water tower and hears faint knocking, due to the fact that Mitsuko drowned in there, is incredibly creepy, but the second the knocks grow louder and they dent the water tower, all the tension is lost. Same with the bathtub scene that's going on simultaneously. Ikuko (Yoshimi's daughter) just saw the bathtub fill itself up and inside there is, you guessed it, dark water. She leans over the bathtub and we see air bubbles come up, but instead of doing a magnificent and suspenseful scene like the amazing television scene in RINGU, we get a cheap jump scare of Mitsuko's hands coming out of the water and grabbing Ikuko's head.

**SPOILERS END**

Despite the cheap jump scares, there are a couple of amazing scenes in the film, mainly the last one, which left the viewer with a very haunted feeling and ties everything up quite nicely, but there are just too many mindless, formulaic jump scenes for me to give this film anything above a 7/10. Overall, this is a slightly overrated yet still pretty effective movie. It's not nearly as good as RINGU was, but it's definitely still worth watching.

Carnival of Souls (1962)

HERK HARVEY

CARNIVAL OF SOULS

USA, 1962

8/10

"It's funny... the world is so different in the daylight. In the dark, your fantasies get so out of hand. But in the daylight everything falls back into place again."

The film opens on a sunny day as two cars are side by side, stopped at a light on an otherwise deserted road. The occupants of the car begin a drag race, neither of them seem officially in the lead until the two cars reach the bridge, where one of the cars loses control and flies off the bridge, landing in the water. Three hours later, the car is still being searched for when one woman, Mary Henry, rises from the water. This is how the semi-forgotten cult classic, CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962) begins. Many have compared this film's tone to an episode of the Twilight Zone extended to feature film length (well, 84 minutes) and because of this, there are times when the film seems to drag a bit. But this isn't a movie that focuses too much on the plot. More than anything else, it's an atmosphere film. Now, it doesn't have BLACK SUNDAY (1960) (review here) levels of atmosphere, but it still works very well in the film.

In fact, this movie does a pretty good job considering the fact that it had a group of local actors who, on the whole, lacked experience, a budget of only $30,000, was filmed in only three weeks, and a crew of only six people. The acting, while nothing to write home about, is not horrible, but there are moments when it gets a little cheesy. The ghoulish make-up is pretty effective, I found myself creeped out every now and again, especially during the film's climax. The director (who has never made a feature film besides this) actually does a very good job with the film. In the quote above, the protagonist says how the world seems different in the daylight, and the director takes this quote and runs with it. The things that seem innocent in the daylight, such as where Mary stays, or the carnival where she feels drawn, or the church in which she plays the organ, suddenly change in the dark and become threatening. Of course, they physically look the same no matter what the time of day is, but the atmosphere the director builds really does make it seem that these safe and pleasant locations mutate into alarming sights of horror in the dark. Many have commented on how good the soundtrack is, so I will not linger upon it, but it honestly is very good. A lot of it is played on the organ, which makes sense because Mary Henry is an organ player. 

This film was originally ignored by critics and audiences alike, but has gained a cult following throughout the years through late night television screenings and a Criterion release. This film is probably not for everyone. As I mentioned before, the plot is slightly slow moving, yet I was still intrigued and interested for the majority of the film. In fact, there isn't much of a plot at all. It relies almost exclusively on its atmosphere to evoke a feeling of dread and horror. Not to say that there are no jump scares, because there are, but they obviously take the back seat as far as priorities go, and there is no violence, gore, or sex to speak of throughout the film. Instead everything simply feels wrong and uneasy, and throughout the picture we, the audience, get a growing sense that something is wrong, beyond the demon-ghoul thing. The twist ending, while semi-predictable, is still good and allows the viewer to be able to analyze and re-watch the film multiple times. I do recommend that you go into the film without knowing the ending, even if, like me, you guess it about halfway through the movie.

Watching this film, it's pretty easy to see how it may have inspired David Lynch or George Romero, so I definitely recommend that fans of their work check this movie out. All in all, this is a very impressive, yet still modest, piece of low budget horror. Genre fans looking for semi-forgotten treasures (I say "semi-forgotten" because over the years it has gained increasing levels of fame, yet it's still not particularly well known) should definitely check this out. It may not have the best acting, plot, or script, but it does have a great atmosphere and does deliver a couple of rather good scares. It is in the public domain so you can watch it for free online, even though if you're a fan I recommend the Criterion release. Highly recommended.

The Shining (1980)

STANLEY KUBRICK

THE SHINING

USA, 1980

10/10

"I can remember when I was a little boy. My grandmother and I could hold conversations entirely without ever opening our mouths. She called it 'shining.' And for a long time, I thought it was just the two of us that had the shine to us. Just like you probably thought you was the only one. But there are other folks, though mostly they don't know it, or don't believe it."

THE SHINING (1980) is my all-time favorite horror film. Everything about the film, from the performances to the colors to the scenery and more is completely flawless. It is one of those films that you need to see in order to call yourself a horror fan. From the opening shot of Jack's car (complete with a famous error in the fact that you can see the shadow of the helicopter that shot was filmed in) and the unnerving soundtrack, you know you are in for a creepy journey.

The film is over 2 hours long, something very rarely heard of in mainstream horror, but the film never bores its viewer, even with the slightly slow pace. Those accustomed to the in-your-face jump scares of the recent horror films may find this movie dull and slow, yet Kubrick is masterfully building tension that pays off in a brilliant finale (the last 30 minutes of the film being incredibly creepy). When I first watched this movie, I wondered why some scenes were in there, because at the time I thought them to be irrelevant. For example, I initially found the interaction between Jack and Lloyd the Bartender to be boring and too drawn out, but now I see how it serves a very specific purpose in the plot of the movie.

There are many infamous scares featured in this film. Almost everyone has heard of the the twin girls in the hallway early on in the film, or the shot of Jack sticking his head through the broken bathroom door and saying "Here's Johnny!", but the entire film packs nonstop scares, thrills, and tension that become more and more unnerving the more times the film is viewed. This film is a perfect example of how to properly execute a non-ironic descent into darkness and insanity. 

Jack Nicholson gives a wonderful performance as the insane Jack Torrence, while some people criticize his performance as being comedic at some point (I've heard people say that they laughed while he describes his dream of killing Wendy and Danny, though I find no such comedy in that scene), or as not portraying Jack the way Stephen King described him in the original novel (Nicholson makes it seem that Jack was always slightly insane, whereas in the novel, is insanity is fully provoked by the hotel). Some critics make fun of Shelley Duvall as Wendy Torrence (she even was nominated for a Razzie award, an award for worst actress), but I, as well as many other modern day viewers, absolutely adore her performance. Duvall makes me care more about what happens to Wendy more than what happens to any of the other characters. Danny Lloyd gives a surprisingly good portrayal of Danny Torrence, even though is still very young. All in all, THE SHINING's performances are stellar, some of the best you'll find in horror films.

In conclusion, THE SHINING is a rare gem in the genre. I recommend for fans of the novel to treat THE SHINING as a movie separate from the book, because when viewed as an adaptation it's pretty shitty, and all around nothing like the book, but when viewed as a separate work it's one of the best films ever made. It is a truly horrifying film that will stick itself into your head and never let go.

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

ROMAN POLANSKI

ROSEMARY'S BABY

USA, 1968

10/10

"You're trying to get me to be his mother." "Aren't you his mother?"

ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) may be one of the few technically perfect films ever created. Everything, from the screenwriting to the acting to the direction to the pacing, every little detail, of this film is flawless. It is often described as being in a Satanic Trilogy of sorts with THE EXORCIST (1973) and THE OMEN (1976), though ROSEMARY'S BABY is the far superior over the other two films (though, honestly, I find THE EXORCIST scarier, but as far as film making, there's no debate, this film is top-notch).

This film may be the perfect example of subtle suggestion. Upon initial viewing, one may find oneself believing that the film is moving too slow, but in reality, Polanski is merely hinting upon the greater reality at hand. And what a wonderful, twisted, and terrifying reality it is. Sure, because of all the build-up (over two hours worth of it), one may believe that the finale fails to deliver, but I couldn't disagree more. (Very, very small spoilers are ahead) From the second Rosemary walks in to the apartment of the Castevet's, my eyes were glued to the screen, and I sat on the edge of my seat. As Mia Farrow's lullaby begins playing in the background once more, and the screen finally goes to black, I still sat there, transfixed upon the film that I had just watched, or rather, experienced. I stayed there for five minutes before I finally got up, just in awe of the wonderful work of art that had been presented before me.

A huge factor in horror is how the film holds up to rewatch. Out of my top five horror films (in no particular order, THE SHINING (1980), PSYCHO (1960), THE EXORCIST, HALLOWEEN (1978) and ROSEMARY'S BABY), I find myself returning to ROSEMARY'S BABY much more often than any of the others. And the film is so wonderful at foreshadowing and subtle hints that I love finding pieces of information hinting towards the direction in which the film is going.

The acting in the film is wonderful, Mia Farrow being able to completely convince and demonstrate the pains of her pregnancy, those both natural and supernatural. The Castevets are both wonderful, giving off the feeling of being friendly and supportive, though something darker lurking underneath. Ruth Gordon was awarded an Oscar for her role, and she definitely deserves it.

To fans of psychological and supernatural horror, ROSEMARY'S BABY is highly recommended, being not only one of the best horror films of all time, but one of the best films in all of cinematic history.