Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

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

Lucabrasisleeps It is not a bad movie. I just wasn't as interested as I thought I would be. The movie moves very slowly in the first half and I was actually losing interest in the proceedings. I was not able to understand the English accent and I was having some difficulty with the plot. The dialogue was often muted. Maybe they should have just hired some American guys to dub for these guys and make it clearer. I am not such a fan of the visual style. Honestly I am never a fan of this grainy dark style anyway. The old Argento/Fulci/Bava movies were always bright and beautiful to look at. The visual style was a major reason for my lack of interest at the start.The second half really gets going and we get a sequence of weird scenes. It didn't make sense at first but I just read a blog which details the story and the intricate plot points. The ideas are very intelligent and many scenes towards the end are quite creepy. The dream sequence is also quite creepy and the ending is done very stylishly. This is one of the few movies where the idea of the evil child actually creeped me out. The concepts involved are actually disturbing (cannibalism??). The child actors have done very well. Louise salter is good in her role as well.Considering the budget and all, I thought they did well with the ending and it doesn't give the impression of a low budget movie.I liked it but there are many elements that could be improved.6/10

Woodyanders Troubled young Elizabeth (well played by the lovely Louise Salter) goes to a remote Crimean island to investigate the death of her father and the disappearance of a missing friend. The island is populated by a bizarre order of sinister nuns who reside in a convent. Assisted by the friendly Sarah (an engaging performance by Venera Simmons), Elizabeth uncovers some dark secrets pertaining to her past and discovers an ancient evil force in the bowels of the convent. Director/co-writer Mariano Baino shows a remarkably sharp and stunning eye for unnerving visuals. Moreover, Baino does an expert job of creating and maintaining a compellingly spooky atmosphere and punctuates the picture with occasional outbursts of startlingly brutal violence. The grim, brooding tone gets more progressively gloomy and unsettling as the story unfolds and culminates in an especially chilling last third. The island setting projects a potent sense of dread and isolation. While the narrative is a bit vague, the suffocating brooding mood keeps the film on track and really gets under your skin. Another interesting aspect of the picture is that men are relegated to minor roles; the main characters are all female. It's this willingness to break from standard horror conventions that in turn gives this movie an extra refreshing edge. Alex Howe's handsome, fluid cinematography, Igor Clark's shuddery score, and the uncompromisingly bleak ending all further enhance the overall nightmarish quality of this supremely eerie shocker.

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!