Filth. More than any people on Earth, the Japanese hate filth. From bidets to steam-powered cleaning machines, they fight impurities in all their forms. Anti-bacterial products stuff their shelves. Antique artifacts are held in highest esteem, only if they are not dirty.
The unclean is the soul of horror. Mutants, vampires, shapeshifters, demons, goblins and ghosts are all impure, tainted with vengeance and hatred. Ghosts especially are the residue of human death, stains upon the psyche, memories that cannot be blotted out or covered up -- like stains on a wall.
"Dark Water" has a typical child ghost but the real horror is the seething, wet, moldy stains on the ceiling of Matsubara Yoshimi's apartment. Beginning as a small circular spot, it expands into an open sore that rains filth onto Yoshimi's daughter's bed.
When the daughter, Ikuko, finds a red bag that belonged to the ghost child, it becomes an object of horror. It was abandoned on the apartment building's root and it has in the trash who knows how many things. It's disgusting.
Getting back to th dirty water, fans will remember that director nakata and author Suzuki Koji brought us the Ringu movie, another tale that revolved around the murky depths of an old well. The cold repellant depths come back in "Dark Water".
Yoshimi is in the midst of a divorce with a hostile child custody battle. The reprobate husband is trying to take away their only child Ikuko, based on Yoshimi's mental instability. Ironically, Yoshimi's problems began when she was a proof-reader of -- horror novels. They were so gruesome that she sought the solace of psychiatric counseling and medication.
Now, the seepage at the apartment and the stress of balancing a job with single-parenthood is driving Yoshimi over the edge. She often glimpses a ghostly child in a yellow raincoat and raed scarf. Fortunately, a sympathetic lawyer steps in to soothe her and ground her in reality. He helps her resolve the problem of the water oozing over her by calling the maintenance man and the rental agent to the apartment overhead. Of course, it turns out that that that apartment has a supernatural connection that explains a great deal.
The actress who plays Yoshimi, Kuroki Hitomi, does a fine job conveying horror and fear consistently. Her acting is understated and she does not go in for a lot of screaming and extreme facial contortions. Her chemistry with Ikuko is quite touching and her vulnerability as single mother under siege is convincing and engaging .
As a horror element, the ceiling stains of dark water work well, though it possible a segment of the audience might not get it. Most have had plumbing problems and know that they're solveable and seldom life-threatening. Kuroki does a fine job of making them seem omnious and uncomfortable without dwelling on them unnecessarily. Overall, a well balanced and involving film.
As horror film, it is less successful. Unpleasant as the stains are, they arouse more disgust than real horror. They are just not scary. Similarly the child ghost that flits around from scene to scene scares the heroine, but Japanese horror fans have seen to many of this type of ghost to be alarmed. Again, it plunges the audience into chilly depths, this time in the modern well, a rooftop water tank. The unexplained ending is unsatisfying and annoying. Yoshimi and especially Ikuko deserve better.