Dark Water (2002) Honogurai mizu no soko kara (original title)

Director:

Hideo Nakata

Writers:

Kôji Suzuki (novel) and
Ken'ichi Suzuki (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

19 January 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

From The Creators of Japan's Acclaimed RINGU, Inspiration for the hit phenomenon THE RING

Plot:

A mother and her 6 year old daughter move into a creepy apartment whose every surface is permeated by water.

Plot Keywords:

Water | Apartment | Water Stain | Stain | Ghost

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Hitomi Kuroki	...	Yoshimi Matsubara
Rio Kanno	...	Ikuko Matsubara (6 years old)
Mirei Oguchi	...	Mitsuko Kawai
Asami Mizukawa	...	Ikuko Hamada (16 years old)
Fumiyo Kohinata	...	Kunio Hamada
Yu Tokui	...	Ohta (real-estate agent)
Isao Yatsu	...	Kamiya (apartment manager)
Shigemitsu Ogi	...	Kishida (Yoshimi's lawyer)
Maiko Asano	...	Young Yoshimi's Teacher
Yukiko Ikari	...	Young Yoshimi
Shinji Nomura	...	Mediator
Kiriko Shimizu	...	Mediator
Teruko Hanahara	...	Old Lady (twin, elder)
Youko Yasuda	...	Old Lady (twin, younger)
Kono Tarou Suwa	...	Old Lady (twin, younger)
Shichirou Gou	...	Nishioka
Chisako Hara	...	Kayo
Tôru Shinagawa	...	Principal (as Tohur Shinagawa)
Shelley Calene-Black	...	Yoshimi Matsubara (voice: English version)
Gabi Chennisi	...	Ikuko Matsubara (voice: English version)
Jay Hickman	...	Kishida (voice: English version)
Mark Laskowski	...	Ohta (voice: English version) (as Mark X. Laskowski)
Chris Ayres	...	Principal (voice: English version) (as Christopher Ayres)
Andy McAvin	...	Kunio (voice: English version)
Jessica Boone	...	Teen Ikuko (voice: English version)
Ted Pfister	...	Kamiya (voice: English version)
John Swasey	...	Mediator (voice: English version)
Heather LeMaster	...	Mediator (voice: English version)
Vic Mignogna	...	Kono (voice: English version)
Vicki Barosh	...	Auntie Kayo / Old Woman A (voice: English version)
Christine M. Auten	...	Teacher Past / Ai's Mother / Recorded Message (voice: English version) (as Christine Auten)
Mariela Ortiz	...	Teacher B (voice: English version)
Amanda Nanawa	...	Teacher C / Mother (voice: English version)
Kaytha Coker	...	Tshushima (voice: English version)
Quentin Haag	...	Nishioka (voice: English version)
Luci Christian	...	Teen Girl A / Answering Machine / Lady Directions (voice: English version)
April Brem	...	Teen Girl B / Office Worker (voice: English version)
Mia	...	Ai / The Ghost of Mitsuko / Hiding Girl A / Young Yoshimi (voice: English version)
Lidia Porto	...	Secretary / Old Woman B / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Cynthia Martinez	...	Hiding Girl B / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Hilary Haag	...	Mao-chan / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
K.C. Jones	...	Father / Mover A (voice: English version)
Rebecca Ayres	...	Little Boy / Kobayashi / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Emma Crabb	...	Assistant / Potential Buyer (voice: English version)
Jacob A. Gragard	...	Worker A / Mover C (voice: English version)
Matthew Crawford	...	Worker B / Mover B (voice: English version) (as Matt Crawford)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chihiro Ôtsuka

Directed by
Hideo Nakata

Writing credits
Kôji Suzuki		(novel)
Takashige Ichise		screenplay (uncredited)
Yoshihiro Nakamura		screenplay
Hideo Nakata		screenplay (uncredited)
Ken'ichi Suzuki		screenplay

Produced by
Takashige Ichise	....	producer
Kyle Jones	....	producer (english language & subtitled versions)
John Ledford	....	executive producer (english language & subtitled versions)
Mark Williams	....	executive producer (english language & subtitled versions)

Original Music by
Kenji Kawai
Shikao Suga

Cinematography by
Jun'ichirô Hayashi

Film Editing by
Nobuyuki Takahashi

Production Design by
Katsumi Nakazawa

Production Management
Katsuhiro Ogawa	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masaki Adachi	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Cesar Inserny	....	sound designer
Cesar Inserny	....	sound mixer
Masayuki Iwakura	....	sound
Kiyoshi Kakizawa	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Meichô Tomiyama	....	lighting technician

Editorial Department
Patrick Givens	....	editor: english language and subtitled versions
Taro Kuwayama	....	color timer
Neil O'Sullivan	....	editor: english language and subtitled versions

Other crew
Marta Bechtol	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions
Toru Iwakami	....	international coordinator: english language and subtitled versions
Kyle Jones	....	adr director: English version
Miyuki Kamiya	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions
Paul Mericle	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions
Sara Muir	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions
Maki Nagano	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions
Shoko Oono	....	senior translator: english language and subtitled versions
Carole Pavlik	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions

Production Companies

• Honogurai mizu no Soko kara Seisaku Iinkai
• Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co.
• Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV)
• Office Augusta Co. Ltd.
• Oz Company
• Toho Company
• Video Audio Project (VAP)

Distributors

• Toho Company (2002) (worldwide) (all media)
• Arti Film (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Tartan (2003) (UK) (theatrical)
• ADV Films (2004) (USA) (DVD) (English language and subtitled versions)
• Alpha Filmes (20??) (Brazil) (DVD)
• DeA Planeta Home Entertainment (2002) (Spain) (all media)
• Diaphana Films
• Highlight Film (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (all media)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2003) (Finland) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2003) (Finland) (VHS)
• Tartan Video (2003) (UK) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Nippon Effect Center (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Cineo Camera  camera equipment supplied by
• Hoei Sangyo Co. Ltd.  film stock supplied by
• Industrial Smoke & Mirrors  English ADR recording (English version)
• Monkey Boy Pictures  post-production (English language and subtitled versions)
• NK Tokki  grip equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  film processing

Also Known As:

"Honogurai mizu no soko kara" - Japan (original title)
"From the Depths of Dark Water" - International (English title) (literal title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for terror and disturbing situations

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12

Company:

Honogurai mizu no Soko kara Seisaku Iinkai

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When everyone is up on the roof examining the water tower, a flap of cloth or pant leg can be seen at the top of the ladder. This could be something attached to the tower, but later when she climbs it by herself and we see the whole thing, no such cloth is visible.

Movie Connections:

References The Haunting (1963)

Can't sleep because of this movie so I write a review.

I like these flicks. Very slow in the beginning, very creepy in the end. Of course there are similarities between 'Dark Water' and 'Ringu' but who cares if you enjoy the movie. If we can learn one thing from both movies is that children are scary. People refer to 'The Shining' when reviewing this film and whenever I think of that movie I think of children... the twin sisters... scary!

Personally I think this movie is more a 'Kramer vs Kramer meets The Changeling' instead of a 'Ringu revisited' or 'The Shining' rip off.

I agree with people who say that after 'Ringu' a lot of bad horror movies followed from asia (e.g. kakashi, tomei) but this is NOT one of them. It scared the hell out of me! So far the best 3 asia horror movies I've seen: The Eye, Ringu and this one Dark Water. Hope to enjoy more movies like these.