Dark Water appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Despite an intentionally drab vibe, the Dolby Vision image satisfied.
Stylistic choices meant delineation could occasionally sag, as interiors sometimes leaned a little soft. However, this felt intentional, and the vast majority of the movie seemed accurate and concise.
Neither jagged edges nor moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain felt somewhat heavy but appropriate, and print flaws remained absent.
As implied by my remarks about the movie’s drab feel, the palette of Water seemed low-key and favored a mix of cold blues or subdued ambers/yellows. Though the colors never jumped out, they suited the story, and HDR gave the hues greater depth.
Blacks seemed dark and tight, while low-light shots appeared smooth and clear. HDR granted extra punch to whites and contrast. Within photographic decisions, this picture worked well.
Similar thoughts greeted the atmospheric DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Dark Water. As befit the tale, the mix emphasized creepy ambience over more overt jolts.
Music showed nice stereo spread, and effects broadened around the room in a fairly satisfying manner, with an emphasis on a whole lot of rain. A few elements came across as a bit “speaker-specific”, but I still thought the soundscape filled the spectrum well for this moody mix.
Audio quality worked fine, with speech that appeared natural and concise. Music offered full and dynamic tones.
Effects came across as accurate and robust. Though not a terribly active soundtrack, the mix seemed appropriate for the narrative.
When we move to extras, we find a mix of video programs. Ghosts, Rings and Water goes for 26 minutes, two seconds and features writer/director Hideo Nakata.
Nakata discusses aspects of his career as well as Water. Nakata provides an engaging look at his work, especially when he goes into his Hollywood experiences.
Family Terrors spans 20 minutes, 19 seconds. Here we get notes from author Koji Suzuki.
Unsurprisingly, Suzuki talks about the origins of his story, aspects of his work and the tale's adaptation to the movie screen. Suzuki delivers a strong discussion of the subject matter.
Next comes Visualizing Horror. It lasts 19 minutes, 15 seconds and involves director of photography Junichiro Hayashi.
“Horror” offers his thoughts about horror movies and what got him into filmmaking as well as aspects of his job and his work on Water. This turns into another frank and informative reel.
Shot for the film’s 2002 release, a Making Of featurette fills 15 minutes, 51 seconds.
It boasts shots from the sets. This delivers a fun "fly on the wall" view of the production, and I especially like that we sometimes see the movie's finished scenes in the bottom right corner of the screen.
More archival materials follow as we get three separate Interviews. These provide info from actor Hitomi Kuroki (8:00), actor Asami Mizukawa (4:39) and composer Shikao Suga (2:55).
Kuroki looks at what brought her to the project, her character/performance and aspects of the shoot. She offers a short but fairly interesting chat.
Mizakawa presents thoughts about her role and the film. We don't get many real insights, but I do like shots from her audition.
Finally, Suga talks about his composition for the movie. Too brief for much detail, we do get a decent overview, at least.
Ads complete the set. We get the movie’s trailer, its teaser and three TV spots.
Oddly dull and uncompelling, Dark Water provides a rare example of a movie that worked better via its Hollywood remake. The original comes with an iffy lead performance and a lack of tension. The 4K UHD provides positive picture and audio as well as a decent array of bonus materials. I wanted to like Dark Water but it never engaged me.