Critically acclaimed Japanese horror films - Dark Water

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Plot summary

In the heat of a divorce settlement and custody hearing, a mother and her daughter move into an apartment building. Along with a never ending leak in the ceiling, strange supernatural activities take place, leading this mother and her daughter to uncover the history of the previous owners of the apartment above.

What (if any) are the differences to American and European horror films?
***NOTE - to prevent repeating myself on certain differences, I will be elaborating on differences I have not yet brought forward and listing previously mentioned differences that I have noticed again in this film below in bullet point form***
As the forth critically acclaimed Japanese horror film I have watched, this film was the first to avoid as many recognisable or common characteristics found in the previous three titles I have researched. Yes, it did use some recycled characteristics, however, it brought forth new ones. Scenes involving flashbacks were displayed in tones of yellow, separating these sequences from the regular or real-life footage clearly and effectively. I noticed that background ambient sounds and noises were played at a greater volume, allowing me to hear them more clearly. Finally, I noticed that in this film and the three horror titles I had watched prior to this one, built up the suspenseful moments more effectively, stretching them out further, making them last longer which in turn, had me on the edge of my seat, dying to see what would happen next.

Previously mentioned, discovered again in this film:

• Female character(s) usage - protagonist and antagonist are female
• Focus/attention needed - plot requires constant focus and attention to keep up and fully understand 
• Curse - the plot circles around a curse of sorts, someone has died in the past and is now killing the living
• Sound - audio is used more effectively to reinforce the atmosphere of horror and drive suspense
• Unique sounds - a unique noise/sounds are used to depict the presence of the antagonist(s)
• Visual gratuity - there was little or no use of blood, violence or gore in this film
• Scary - more frequent moments using scary images or visual sequences rather than shocks
• Focus - cameras are focused on the point of interest and does not suddenly change
• Inconclusive - the ending to this film was inconclusive and/or left unanswered questions relevant to the plot 
• Child - a child is used to develop the plot of this film and/or is one of the cursed beings
• Secondary - male characters are secondary characters and do not play the central role/central protagonist or antagonist
• Pauses - there are long, dramatic pauses within the character dialogue

Were there any cultural differences in this film? 
***NOTE - to prevent repeating myself on certain differences, I will be elaborating on differences I have not yet brought forward and listing previously mentioned differences that I have noticed again in this film below in bullet point form***
Besides the usual design choices and common mannerisms, there were a lot of cultural differences in this title. Firstly, the Japanese people make more effective use of the umbrella when it begins to rain, even the children, regardless of gender, everyone seems to have an umbrella during rainfall.

During an interview with what appears to be the principal, a child is brought forth and yelled at firmly by both the principal and the teacher whom brought him up for unacceptable language. I have seen this many times before, even in my childhood, however, the two adults project the idea that the child's actions were shameful instead of wrong.

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A sequence in which we see the mother and the daughter bathing, the daughter is seen kneeling in the shower to scrub/wash, then she takes a bath. This is not common western tradition as it is usually either just a bath or just a shower. The doors for apartment buildings open outward, instead of inward, totally contrasting with traditional western design.

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Previously mentioned, discovered again in this film:

• Wood - the majority of any building interiors or exteriors were made using wooden materials
• Colours - brown and white are favoured colours for building interiors
• Furniture - interior setting furniture appeared smaller and/or lower to the ground
• Bowing - characters bow when introducing themselves or displaying gratitude
• Shoes - shoes are removed by characters when entering someone's home 

What evidence is there that this horror title is critically acclaimed?
'Dark Water is a suitably creepy ghost story - best enjoyed on a dreary rainy night.' (David Nusair, reelfilm.com)

'Dark Water is another ideal reason to turn your eyes in the direction of Asian horror; it's a totally diverse field for the genre. An excellent film, from a director with a remarkable vision.' (Dellamorte, classic-horror.com)

'Dark Water is not the equal of Ring by any stretch of the imagination, but it is still a first class horror film.' (Ian Shone, horrornews.net)

'Hideo Nakata strikes again with this sodden chiller which had me nearly crawling over the back of the seat to get away from it.' (Mark Morrison, heroic-cinema.com)

***NOTE***
This film has also received six awards, including a Silver Raven at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film in 2002 and a Special Mention at the 2002 Stiges Film Festival.

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Are there any atmospheric projections, feelings and moods evoked or symbolisation in this film?
At the start of this film, a young girl (the daughter) is left sitting on her own, whilst other kids are picked up by their parents, evoking feelings of sadness and themes of abandonment. A red bag (plot device) is found by the daughter, to which the mother tells her it is wrong to take things that do not belong to you, effectively symbolising human morality. The mother is successful on finding new employment and dances around the room in celebration with her daughter, evoking feelings of happiness and joy. After all the central character's/protagonist's problems, a friend of the mother (a lawyer, male, secondary) looks into the conditions of the apartment building and helps the mother and her daughter get back on their feet. Through this, feelings of hope are evoked as things are finally looking up.

What relevance does this research have towards the development of my project?
The relevance of this research is to identify the unique characteristics of Japanese horror in the medium of film. This research has helped me identify that not all Japanese horror films carry such repetitive or common characteristics. The three titles I investigated before this one were very high in similarities, whereas this film has taken a different approach, using only some of the characteristics found in the previous researched titles, helping me realise that the framework may be similar, but none of them are the same, which in turn helps me develop other visual possibilities for my personal horror interpretation.

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Resources:
http://www.reelfilm.com/darkwatr.htm
http://classic-horror.com/reviews/dark_water_2002
http://horrornews.net/65162/film-review-dark-water-2002/
http://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/dark-water-2002/