laurazeg ......................................................................................................................................

quinnox-1 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.

The_Void I've been looking forward to seeing Dark Waters for ages, and with that in mind; I have to say that the film is a huge disappointment. The film is definitely style over substance, and it would seem that director Mariano Baino (a man with only one film credit) was happy to have it that way as Dark Waters features a wealth of memorable nasty sequences, but hardly anything in terms of plot and coherency. Italian films aren't exactly renowned for making a whole lot of sense; but the plot here is completely pointless, and this ensures that the film is actually really boring and the stylish elements just aren't enough to save it. The film focuses on an island where strange things are afoot. The island features a bizarre convent full of nuns who don't seem to be interested in God, as well as a load of other strange and eerie characters. We follow Elizabeth; a young girl who travels to said island, where she just happens to have been born, as she constantly suffers from nightmares about it. It's obvious that there's a strange ancient evil on the island, and after staying there; she soon finds that there is no escape...The main influence on this film would seem to be the work of H.P. Lovecraft, as themes of ancient evil being reawakened are rife, and the film features a typically Lovecraftian atmosphere. It is for this reason that Dark Waters is so disappointing as if it could only have been fused with an interesting storyline, we could have had a masterpiece. If I were to slot this film into a genre, it would be somewhere between nunsploitation and good old Gothic horror as the film features themes from both sides of the spectrum. I'm guessing that the director didn't really know what he wanted the film to be, as it's all very disjointed and that makes it a shame that Mariano Baino was the man at the helm as someone with more experience could have done a lot better. It's hard to really judge the acting performances given the nature of the film, but lead actress Louise Salter at least looks the part and fits into the film nicely, which is to Dark Waters' credit. The island itself certainly has presence, and the cinematography is generally of a high standard too, which is nice in that it ensures the film is easy on the eyes. Still, it all boils down to the fact that there is no plot here and, unfortunately, the style isn't enough to save it!

Quark25 Many reviews praise this movie as atmospheric and I have to say, the cinematography is very well done, the locations and sets are beautiful, and there is some eerie (though derivative) imagery. All the icing can't hide the tasteless cake underneath, however. Movies are about story telling, not just the visuals, and too many movies these days are based on how good they look, not how well they work (M Night Shamalama-ding dong, anyone?).This movie suffers from this problem. Looks great, but it's essentially empty. The story moves at a snail's pace; this is not atmospheric, it's just dull. Nothing is explained by the scant dialogue or even inferred visually, we just move slowly from one surreal scene to the next. The lead actress seems to suffer no sense of dread, she pretty much sleepwalks through everything.A lot of stuff is ripped off from Bava and Argento, as well as several 70's movies like The Sentinel, and a dose of Lovecraft is thrown in for good measure (The last 8-10 minutes are essentially Dagon, which Stuart Gordon did very well several years later).I can see what the director was aiming for, but it just doesn't work. It's too bad, because you can tell he put a lot of effort into this movie.