DVD Collectors Online

Dark Water, a review by Rich

Title: Dark Water

Movie Count:32 
TV Ep. Count:17 

Runtime:103
Certificate:NR
Year:2005
Genres:Suspense/Thriller, Horror

Plot:Far more terrifying than what was seen in theaters, this special unrated version of Dark Water is a thoroughly absorbing, suspense-filled thriller starring Jennifer Connelly. Dahlia Williams (Connelly) and her five-year-old daughter are ready to begin a new life together. But their new apartment — dilapidated and worn — suddenly seems to take on a life of its own. Mysterious noises, persistent leaks of dark water and other strange happenings in the deserted apartment above send Dahlia on a haunting and mystifying pursuit — one that unleashes a torrent of living nightmares.

My Review:
Hollywood remake of a Japanese chiller, the pace is electric but sadly the hide behind the cushion moments were not as numerous as expected until the finale. The characters are well established, with Postlethwaite as always the stand-out performer, but the overall feel until the end is rather bland and lacking in atmosphere. In the end I did not care enough for the characters and their fates, and the eerieness took nearly 90 minutes to arrive.
When it did, Hollywood had laid it on a bit too thick and dumbed it down, but one scene did creep me out and bought the hairs on my neck up.
Worth a watch, and when I feel braver I may get to viewing the higher rated Japanese original.


(From Rich's October Horror Fest on October 25th, 2009)

State of Play, a review by Rich

Title: State of Play

Runtime:128
Certificate:12
Year:2009
Genres:Drama

Plot:My Review:
despite a wealth of stars, this 'thriller' did not spark for me, and left me scratching my head. It was boringly slow, to the point I had to rewind several times as I lost concentration. The storyline is so riddled with coincidences it loses any sense of reality, and come the end with the inevitable twist it all fits too neatly in place with all loose ends tied.
Crowe is quite good in the lead role that was quite fitting, and Affleck cruised such an easy character, but miscasted Daniels and Mirren were uncomfortably poor in roles that did not suit their talents.
I will try and watch the BBC series of this soon, as a comparison.
For a better political thriller, and downfall of newspaper industry, I'd stick to All The Presidents Men.


(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 11th, 2009)

Angel Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

3. In the Dark
Oz arrives in L.A. with a ring from Buffy which must be kept from Spike at all costs - and which would allow Angel to walk in the light of day.

Guest Stars:
Seth Green
James Marsters
Kevin West
Malia Mathis

My Thoughts:
I always liked it when cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer came guest starred on Angel. This is the first time we get that when Spike follows Oz taking the ring to Angel. Since this story started on an episode of Buffy... I went ahead and watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4 - The Harsh Light of Day before watching this episode so I could get the entire story in. Not sure if I will do that with every cross-over episode or not... but I wanted to do it tonight. This episode is good. I actually kinda liked seeing Angel getting tortured and needing help. It is a nice change from how the series usually goes.

My Rating:

(From Angel Marathon on December 24th, 2009)