Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Italian
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Noshame
• DVD Release Date: September 26, 2006
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000HEWEXU
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,936 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Dark Waters" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Young Italian director Mariano Baino may hope to be the new Dario Argento, but he isn't there yet. In this cool box set that includes the cement medallion from Dark Waters, the feature, Dark Waters, is actually a weak link. Broaching the Italian Catholic subject of mysterious, demented nuns, Dark Waters tells the story of Elizabeth (Louise Salter), a sexy Londoner whose father has died and requested that she donate a portion of her inheritance to an isolated monastery in the Black Sea where her mother used to live, and where she was born. When Elizabeth visits, she becomes stranded, discovering that the nuns make blood sacrifices to appease a water demon, and her only confidant on the island, friend-turned-nun Sarah (Venera Simmons), turns out to be equally psycho. Candlelit sanctums, chanting, blind nuns, and bloody crosses liken this nunnery to a torture chamber, but the clichés ruin scary moments. Slow pacing in Dark Waters also lowers the scare factor. That said, the second disc featuring Baino's early shorts, is full of brief, eerie spectacles. "Never Ever After" is about a girl whose wish to rid herself of her body results in her beheading. "Caruncula" stars a grizzly serial killer, who is transformed into TV dinner upon encountering his match, a seemingly harmless young lady. In "Dream Car", a young man's demise is attributed to an evil red sports car. In these shorts, plots move along and gore happens faster, their ideas concise, original, and nightmarish, making the Dark Waters box set satisfying on the whole. --Trinie Dalton

Product Description

Elizabeth is tortured by horrible visions from her childhood. She travels to a primative island to discover the truth about her dark past. On the island Elizabeth finds a malevolent order of nuns. There seems to be no escape from the menacing evil that inhabits this strange island.DVD Features:Available Subtitles: English ItalianAvailable Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)Audio Commentary by writer/director Mariano Baino moderated by NoShame Films producer Michele De AngelisDirector's IntroDeleted ScenesDeep Into Dark Waters - featurette on the making of Dark Waters. All new interviews with writer/editor/director Mariano Baino lead actress Louise Salter camera operator Steve Brooke Smith co-editor Rick Littler and associate producer Nigel Dali. Also includes never-seen-before behind the scenes photos from Mariano Baino's personal collection. (55 mins. approx.)Silent Blooper Reel - with audio commentary by director Mariano BainoPhoto and Artwork GalleryFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 882853004295 Manufacturer No: NS42

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars what are your choices?, January 21, 2007

By 

IKCWMBFD - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Waters (DVD)

Keeping in mind that this obscurity was made on the cheap in Russia in the early 90s, there are a lot of positives here. The director tried to make a straightforward atmospheric ode to Lovecraft in a style influenced by the Italian greats, no ironic postmodern jokey humor here to dilute things. There are too few horror films of recent vintage with that kind of lofty ambition and so I give the movie an extra star for that. Some of the other reviewers have complained that the movie is way too derivative: there's really no question that Suspiria, Inferno, and Phenomena in particular influenced the makers of this movie and there are a few obvious/deliberate visual swipes/hommages here and there, but I don't see that as a problem myself. I'd rather see work by a filmmaker perhaps overly influenced by great work than one by someone who's imitating a bunch of crap.

Several of the sequences have nicely done and memorable imagery, are well lit and shot, and overall the movie looks pretty darn good for the low budget. The look of it (lots of rain in an old remote seacoastal town populated by sinister natives) sort of made me think of Stuart Gordon's later Dagon, though the two have a very different approach in tone. The acting is surprisingly not bad: the lead, Louise Salter is pretty and talented and it's a shame that this seems to be really her only movie (and the director's as well). The problems? Well, there are many awkward transitions and moments of poor plot/factual exposition which gives the film a somewhat random cobbled together feel (although the same charge can be said of Argento or Bava or other Italian greats to be fair); some scenes particularly in the middle drag quite a bit; the whole thing should probably have been quite a bit bloodier honestly; the low budget is a problem in a few key places; and unfortunately, the director cannot resist the temptation to include some creature effects toward the end that wind up bringing the whole thing down rather than doing anything positive (Didn't anyone learn from Curse of the Demon? Many other films of course make this same mistake: see Carpenter's Mouth of Madness for another Lovecraftian style narrative from this time period that also blows it badly by showing more than it should).

Bottom line, if you are a fan of serious 70s/80s euro-horror (particularly of a supernatural bent), you should probably give this a shot and watch it (perhaps rent first then decide on a purchase). After all, despite the shortcomings, there haven't been that many films made for those with these tastes in recent years, so it's not like there's a ton of other choices waiting.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brooding, "Lovecraftian" Nightmare, January 25, 2007

By 

Jerome Y. Hebert (Québec) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Waters (DVD)

From the previous reviews, it seems that one either really likes this film or really detests it. After a bit of reflection, I'll have to count myself in the first camp.

"Dark Waters" is definitely not a usual off-the-shelf, paint-by-numbers horror film. Its appeal (from my viewpoint) is more subtle and mature by far than the hack-'til-you-drop gore-fare that some use to define "horror" today. For me, the dread and horror in "Dark Waters" developed gradually as the film slowly brought the viewer to the point of realizing that he (or she) is inexorably entangled in the tentacles of an inescapable living nightmare. I found myself thinking that if H.P. Lovecraft had nightmares, and if a film crew could enter into them and capture their essence visually and psychologically, the result would not be unlike "Dark Waters."

The film certainly isn't for every taste. If you like lots of violent action, tons of gore and quick gratification, "Dark Waters" will be unsatisfying. But if you enjoy being slowly drawn into a vortex of nightmarish hopelessness in a setting very reminiscent to haunted Innsmouth (with truly crazed nuns perhaps standing in for the depraved Cult of Dagon), then I think you might give "Dark Waters" a viewing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very wierd and awesome horror flick with Satanic nuns!., October 11, 2010

By 

Puzzle box "smockey_421" (Kuwait) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Waters (DVD)

Dark Waters has got to be one of the best and most underrated obscure horror flicks ever, this unknown horror gem was definitely influenced by Italian horror and you could tell that the director was inspired by Dario Argento. The setting, atmosphere, acting ect. were all top notch but what really set this film off was the dream-like or nightmarish type of atmosphere that prevails throughout the film. Although much of this film is told in a loose narrative style (like many Eurohorror classics), we can gather that a girl named Elizabeth (Louise Salter) is traveling to a convent that her father donated generously to. She is going there to meet her friend Theresa (Anna Rose Phipps) who she has not seen in some time. Upon arrival, Elizabeth is introduced to a girl named Sarah (Venera Simmons) and together they try to uncover the mysteries of the convent and the mysterious disappearance of Theresa. Along the way there are a variety of murderous nuns, a creepy looking amulet, strange characters, a beach full of dead fish, a climax that turns into a barrage of Lovecraftian weirdness, and an aquatic demon. Director Mariano Baino has delivered the feel and look of a European horror movie from the 70's or 80's. Dark Waters also had some great scenery, beautiful cinematography, a great score and each scene has its own personality that may or may not fit into the rest of the film, I was actually surprised that this horror film wasn't as well known during it's release but then again it was released during the early 90's, a time when the horror industry was practically dead. Overall I would have to say that Dark Waters was stylish, coherent, artsy and deeply disturbing, all rolled up into one. You owe it to yourself to go out and pick up a copy of this right now. My only complaint is that it wasn't longer.