Well, I have yet to see the box office totals for this weekend, but I'll be somewhat curious to see how DARK WATER fares (won't be number one, that's for DAMN sure!), all things considered.
I didn't hold out much hope for this one, especially after RING TWO. Oh, boy. Another Japanese-derived thriller about a single woman and her young child who move into a place and have to deal with ghosts and lots and lots of water. Thrill me. Shock me. Wonder if the ghost has lots of long black hair hanging over her face.
Oh, and the "imaginary friend" angle? Wish HIDE AND SEEK hadn't come out earlier this year...
And it's entirely possible that DARK WATER will "tank" on that conception alone.
Well, if it does, it's too bad, because the new DARK WATER is actually better than THE GRUDGE, RING TWO and HIDE AND SEEK put together.
Sure, the first American RING was the popcorn hit, and it knew what it was doing. DARK WATER won't catch on nearly as well, as it goes for a quiet buildup instead of quick shocks. But it is a HUGELY welcome change of pace. NO flashes of lightning. NO nuclear-explosion-fingernails-on-the-blackboard sonic blast to make you jump every thirty seconds. Just the tense journey to the inevitably disturbing revelation (and no cheesy RING TWO copout here, either).
Oh, yeah--Tim Roth plays Jennifer Connelly's lawyer in this one... but for some reason, I thought he was Ron Silver! Go figure.
Bottom line (and I freely admit to NOT having seen the original): I liked it, and it would be nice to see it catch on. DARK WATER is the perfect antidote to RING overkill.
