Dark Waters (1993)

Please don't spend money on this.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely Fantastic

A Masterpiece!

After the death of her father, Elizabeth travels to a remote island, where a convent may hold the secret to the death of her mother. There, she finds nuns who conduct strange rituals in the catacombs beneath the building in an attempt to hold the evil there at bay.One of the first Western films to be shot in the Ukraine following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the birth of this movie was as difficult as Elizabeth's. The sets and locations are otherworldly yet inexpensive, but the political situation was rife with problems, like two coups that took place during the shooting and dubbing of the film.Director Mariano Baino had only directed the short Caruncula before this, but his eye is steady and strong. There's a definite air of looming Lovecraftian dread in this. It looks almost like a Soavi film. And while it has no score, the sound effects more than make up for it.Any film that has squads of nuns burning buildings and killing people - as well as a crucified zombie nun and a savage elder god hidden beneath the world - is worth checking out. It doesn't have the greatest story in the world, but when has that ever stopped our enjoyment of a horror film?

This is a richly atmospheric horror movie with an interesting start and creepy middle but is let down by the last half hour and becomes increasingly silly. Eventually dialog totally disappears and all thats left is supposedly scary background music and odd sounds that appear to be stuck on repeat. The movie tries too hard to be all about atmosphere and it needed to have more dialogs and story development for the plot to work. Too bad because the two lead actresses are very good in their roles, one a forlorn English girl investigating her past, and the other a young convent nun who seems friendly and anxious to help. This could have been a very good horror movie if the end hadn't been so inadequate.

What I truly love about this film is that it suspends all disbelief. It features locations which are simply breathtaking, acting which is solid and believable, and overall execution (of a film) that is foreign film quality - and let's face it, even some of the lower budget foreign film beats the crap out of a good percentage of American blockbusters.I had the great pleasure of seeing this film on 3rd gen VHS back in 1996 and to see this absolutely gorgeous re-mastered edition was heavenly. It's refreshing to watch a film that you can get completely taken away by and have to experience the film in its entirety to learn the story of it. You know, rather than having the actors spell it out for the audience in the first act leaving only predictability to follow. Such instances disappoint me but NOT in the case of Dark Waters.This film, aside from maybe John Carpenter's The Thing, is the closest on screen adaptation, in theme, to the works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The darkness and uncertainty of it mixed with such ambiguity as to literally let your mind take over and almost customize the film to your liking. The whole story centers around a clandestine order of nuns on a remote island someplace that time had forgotten about. At first glance these nuns seem pretty nasty and even evil... but with further inspection, they are simply protecting the world from an ancient aquatic demon escaping and bringing all the world to utter ruin and sorrow.The film is masterfully crafted and you can tell the filmmakers truly loved making this film, the caring and attention to detail in this film is a welcome addition to an ever declining art form. If film-making is indeed a language than Mariano Baino speaks that language fluently! I cannot wait for his next feature film.Excellent!!

Dark Waters is a tale of a woman named Elizabeth who goes to an island monastery to find out why her recently deceased father has been supporting them for years with his finances. There she meets some rather odd acting nuns and an apparent friend in a young nun named Sarah. Things go from weird to bizarre as Elizabeth begins to find things out about her deceased father and mother,her past and a satanic being that they have pledged their loyalty to. All this leads to a "The Sentinel" style ending that ends the film on a sober yet fitting note.Dark Waters is a film that can be described in one word "slow". Now I love Italian Horror and yes they for the most part are slow but this Russian filmed opus is one for the books. Grant it the story is intriguing and can hold your interest at times but with only a couple of cool visuals here and there and a rather action-less story you are left with a story that has a lot of nothing going on at times and a film that with better pacing or a possible rewrite here and there could have faired better.We do get a monster/demon God thrown in at the ending and an OK gore scene at the end but when you weigh all the factors in this one is just to slow moving and to slowly paced to be recommended to the average horror fan. Those into occult films or Lovecraft may find something here that works for them but overall this turns out to be a sub par film that could have had a lot going for it if only they would have filled in some more chicken to this meatless sandwich.4/10: Below Average, the story though interesting moves way to slow for its own good and by the time your into the 2nd act your movie partner may be nudging you ever-so-often to make sure you stay awake. Again not a horrible movie but horrible pacing make this a letdown.