Sunday, February 12, 2006

Dark Water – 2005

Unfortunately, I saw the Japanese version of this before I started this blog, so you don’t get as good a comparison as you might like. On the other hand, its really tough to see a movie like this and NOT compare it to the Japanese original. But now I’m going to shock many of you who know me and my opinions.

I think this was actually BETTER in many ways than the original. Greated, the Hideo Nakata version has that great Japanese atmosphere going for it. And of course, was original. However, this version by Walter Salles has Jennifer Connelly, who is a great actress, and not seen nearly often enough. And she totally sells the stressed out mom with a dark past who isn’t sure if she’s cracking up, or if her soon-to-be ex-husband is just trying to make her think she’s cracking up.

The little girl (Ariel Gade) who plays the daughter is really good too. A young Dakota Famming. This is definitely the best of the “American Version” of Japanese horror flicks to come out.

Three beers out of five. (and without nudity or gore! Pretty amazing)

Tears of Kali – 2004

This is a trilogy of stories tied together by the common theme that various characters in each story were involved in this cult in the 80’s. To be honest, I barely understood what was going on. It was probably stated clearly enough, but I just couldn’t muster the attention after I discovered that the movie was split into three parts.

Here’s what IMDB says of the plot: The eerie stories around the Taylor-Eriksson group and their members are told in three episodes, SHAKTI, KALI, DEVI, embedded in a frame plot. This group tried to re-define the limits of self-finding, sex and violence. Starting as a psychological cat-and-mouse-game, the story soon turns into pure horror.

Okay, well I don’t know about the pure horror part. I guess if there’s invisible creatures tearing you apart, that’s supposed to be “pure horror”. To me, horror has to have a “head” component. By that I mean, its gotta get under your skin and creep you out. I don’t know if this “Taylor-Eriksson group” is real or not. But the germans just think that enough blood and screaming equals horror, and that just doesn’t work for me. Neither did this movie. It wasn’t bad, or insulting or anything. Hell, its Academy Award material as compared to Slaughter Party, but it just didn’t do it for me. Your mileage may vary.