Dark Water (2005)

Ariel Gade (left) and Jennifer Connelly discover
sinister secrets in "Dark Water."

Disturbing, atmospheric and very effective, “Dark Water” remains one of the best contemporary American remakes from the Japanese horror genre. The movie, directed by Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles, is a moody, psychological ghost story that generates scares more by creating a heightened sense of isolation and dread than with images of the pale, angry undead popping into frame.

The film stars Jennifer Connelly as Dahlia, a single mom plagued by headaches and bitter memories of being left alone as a child, now starting life over in New York City with her young daughter, Ceci (Ariel Gade), after a contentious divorce. Needing to save on costs, they move into a cheap apartment in a decaying building on Roosevelt Island.

Strange things begin to happen when Ceci locates a girl’s backpack in one of the elevators. She hands it over to a creepy maintenance man to hold in case someone comes to claim it, but the item eventually turns up in a trashcan. Later, Ceci begins talking to an imaginary friend called Natasha; the name is scrawled on the inside of the backpack and might have belonged to a child who once lived in the now empty apartment above them. Natasha’s whereabouts—or even existence at all—becomes a central mystery of the film where abandonment and broken families are dominant themes.

“Dark Water” is imbued with gloomy visual touches. The New York in the film, cold and rain swept, is often photographed from extreme high angles, making structures appear weirdly unnatural and characters seem smaller and more vulnerable. Roosevelt Island—the narrow, often forgotten slab of land on the murky East River—seems like an island of lost souls.

The dilapidated apartment is full of enough haunting detail—sinister hallways, dark corners, leaky ceilings, and a hulking water tower on the roof—that it becomes a character itself, alive with terrible secrets living beyond the shadows. The eerie imagery lends a feeling of anxiety and disquiet to the events.

Sad-eyed, mournful Jennifer Connelly is plucky and terrific in the lead, combining anguish and fear with determination and strength. "Dark Water" celebrates its tenth anniversary this year and is worthy of weekend midnight screenings at downtown art theaters. It’s vastly underrated and deserves another look.