Dark Water

From the one-trick pony mind of Koji Suzuki, the man who brought you Ring and Ring Two, comes Dark Water, which is basically the exact same thing. Riding in on the blockbuster heels of the Ring, which came out years ago, is another Japanese horror translation that feels more like parental advice than a horror movie. How is it that children in Japan are always behind the hauntings of the adults?

Jennifer Connelly plays the recently single mother of a creepy kid who is just trying to get her life back on track. Connelly leads a disturbingly A-List cast that includes Pete Postlethwaite, John C. Reilly, Dougray Scott and Tim Roth. All these actors supply respectability to the barely comprehensible story of an apartment building haunted by the spirit of – you guessed it – a kid. The kid uses water to communicate and haunt the occupants of the building.

With barely enough scares to entertain a preteen girls' slumber party, Dark Water's DVD comes in an unrated widescreen edition, which as an effort to get people to stop watching, renting or buying fullscreen is an attempt in the right direction. Other than the movie, the disc offers a sound design featurette that explains how all the clever manipulation by the sound guys causes you to be afraid.