Someone needs to do something about that leak..."Dark Water" (JP, US) review

(x-posted from my horror movie blog, Horror Movie Love)

Dark Water (仄暗い水の底から, Honogurai Mizu no Soko Kara) is a Japanese horror film by Hideo Nakata, the director of the Japanese Ringu movies. It is based on a Japanese short horror story by Koji Suzuki of the same name. There was a US remake of the movie as well (included within this post).

Dark Water follows a mother's battle for custody of her daughter. Yoshimi Matsubara (Dahlia Williams US) rents a apartment for her and Ikuko (Ceci) to live in, but soon after notices a leak in the ceiling. The management is unhelpful, but it seems the leak is evidence of something bigger happening that threatens the lives of Yoshimi and her daughter.

Now, the US version of Dark Water was pretty similar to the Japanese version, actually; almost scene-for-scene until the end of the movie. But which one was better?

For starters, I much preferred the Japanese actresses for the mother and child. Yoshimi had a stressed, slightly psychotic, neurotic quality to her, while Dahlia was just neurotic. And the child? Ikuko was a thousand times more endearing than Ceci. 'Nuff said.

I have to say, I was a little lost by the ending of the Japanese version, though I think that maybe it's because I'm an idiot; after looking it up on Wikipedia it seemed pretty obvious. The epilogue was better in the Japanese version, though. I can't think of a spoiler-free reason to say why, so I'll leave it at that.

The effects were better in the US version, and more of them, though neither movie really depended on effects.

Overall, I think the Japanese version wins this round. If you can handle subtitles or dubbing, definitely check out the Japanese version of Dark Water.