A Masterpiece!

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This Movie tends to get a lot of hate due to its lack of horror. It's not scary it's not a horror movie there's no blood and gore These are the usual complaints I hear Which is a shame because in reality it's such a beautiful film So well made a great cast Jennifer Connelly is outstanding as too the actress Who plays her daughter the story is outstanding why somewhat predictable It's still fantastic the atmosphere is fantastic very dark It's a brilliant movie it's a shame it doesn't get enough credit Because some moron decided to say it's a horror movie it's not The fact is it's a beautiful movie one of the best I've seen for some time Please watch it

Where to start ...the mother: She is incompetent, selfish and irrational. She does not accept proper help and keeps making bad decisions.the location: Anyone pays for such a run down apartment? I would assume that even a homeless person would think twice about staying a night there before deciding that it is actually nicer and cleaner under a nearby bridge.the daughter: She knows one expression: doe-eyed oblivious. Oh and she seems to have the behaviour of a stray cat - clearly there is no connection to any parental figurethe story: Choke full of loopholes and inconsistencies. In other words - an episode of the Tele Tubbies makes more sense.the visuals: One of those movies that seems to assume that "just because there is a lightsource in a room - does not mean that it should cast any light" - the filter is so dark that everything is kept in a mossy, humid state of decay. Of course that is kind of what it was going for - i think - but am i to belief that the characters live in a place where - despite having turned on the light - it is darker than the ship in "Alien".conclusion: this is a predictable story with TERRIBLE characters. The whole movie plays way too much on trotten down stereotypes and shows all of them in the WORST way possible. A bad movie that is a waste of time.

One word for this movie: BORING! There's only one thing that's worse than a boring movie... A boring and MEANINGLESS movie. This was it.The acting was great, and it's very atmospheric, but the movie itself was really just below average (to say the least).I was quite disappointed. I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited... for something remotely interesting to happen, but nothing ever did.I didn't quite get the point of this movie. Maybe some people were able to locate a "deeper meaning" or something, but I just didn't get the idea behind the whole thing.Obviously, I wouldn't watch it again... unless I was looking for a cure for insomnia.

"Ok, when will it end?", "No, really.. When Will It End?", "Be Overrrrrrr!", "This is enough", "This is more than enough !", "I'm a good dude, so why I'm punished with things like this ??!", "What are the lyrics of A Day In The Life of a Fool ?!", "Watching this, is like a Life of a Fool already !!", "So, why Maggie Simpson isn't given any much of a role in The Simpsons ?!", "Btw, doesn't it bother you when all the family is having an action scene, and Maggie isn't there ?! You have to ask yourself where was she ? How they left her alone ? Did they let her with Flanders ? And if yes, does that happen frequently ?", "What are the lyrics of A Day In The Life of a Fool ?!", "Grrrr, you said that before !", "Oh God, even my inner monologue becomes boring !", "Clearly this movie's bore is CONTAGIOUS !!"Well, that was me while watching Dark Water. Sorry. Dark AWFUL Water ! So this is a Horror ?! Last time I checked, Horror movies are supposed to be thrilling and scary. But this one isn't this or that. It's not even tame Horror. It is not a Horror in the first place !All the deal is about the horror of unseen, very kind, child, a school bag that doesn't go away, and needing desperately a plumber ! I don't know why many potential ideas weren't utilized. I mean the janitor character could have looked creepy, instead of mixed up, weak-kneed, and – sometimes – faint-hearted ! The movie could have had good jolts, not all obvious, anticlimactic, and frankly bad ones !! There was no creativity whatsoever in terms of old, new, or rather found shocking moments. Unless they thought that seeing a splotch in the ceiling is enough horror !! Hence, you can say that the script didn't make any decent effort. But what could you say if knew that the directing didn't make any decent effort either ?!!!!!!The director must have been working under massive dose of sleeping bells. I won't say that he was as dead as the ghost child in the movie. Actually No. That child was so lively compared to him !It's enraging when the directing doesn't make anything effective (or doesn't make anything !). How many moments that weren't treated fairly in this movie ? Nearly the whole thing ! "In a horror movie, you're supposed to frighten." It's in the "Genre Movies for Dummies". So how come that director didn't read it ?! True that being un-scary in a scary movie; is a problem. But when the pace slips away too, it's a disaster ! Review my inner monologue again to get the full picture ! Furthermore (yes, there is more !), I couldn't understand why the movie was deliberately perplexing at some points. For instance, if the intro's little girl from the year 1974 is our heroine as a child, so how come she's in the picture of the upstairs' family ?! Hmmm, maybe that's because the heroine sees herself in that very child. But how she felt the bond with her that early, without hearing her story ?! Plus, seeing that from the heroine's point of view, from start to finish, sure misled the viewers to think that those neighbors are related to her someway. I guess the movie-makers thought "Ok, mislead them. Maybe that would compensate for the lost horror !!". Another matter, when the heroine is in the haunted building's elevator for the first time, she feels something weird under her hand, and the janitor wonders, as if he saw Jesus Christ, "OH MY GOD!!". The thing is the movie doesn't explain what did she feel ? And the same can be said about the janitor's astonishment, knowing that he – till the end – had no idea what the heck was going on ?! So, what was that "OH MY GOD!!" for, especially while all what he saw was just a woman standing alone in an elevator ???!!!! The possible pros : (Jennifer Connelly)'s presence and performance. She was exhausting, deeply agonized, confused, and struggling to smile all along. Her truthfulness earned the movie something solid. (Ariel Gade), as the daughter, was into the point as innocent and vague. Despite their swift appearances, and the fact of them as catchy names on the poster only, (John C. Reilly) and (Tim Roth) did fine. Yet, the best of the movie was in its last 10 minutes, when all the factors made their long-awaited "descent effort". It was when this movie remembered its old goal, and finally turned into a Horror !The real lost in this movie wasn't that child. It was the craftsmanship of making that child's story work as something any thrilling or scary. Therefore, the sole horror in Dark Water was its bore. And oh boy, was it greatly done ?!