Dark Waters (1994)

Perhaps it was the almost lethal dose of Nyquil I consumed before the movie (summer colds suck), or maybe, and more likely, it was the movie itself, but this Italian flick had to be one of the weirdest damn movies I’ve ever seen. With her father’s recent death a young woman named Elizabeth sets out to attend some business on a mysterious island. On the island is a convent, which Elizabeth’s father mysteriously kept running by providing money to. Also, the island and its convent were home to Elizabeth during the first seven years of her life, of which she hardly remembers anything from this time. Curious as to why she should continue her fathers payments to the convent, as stated in his will, she heads back to the island to visit her sister Sarah, who is a nun there, and discuss the financial matter with the Mother Superior. Soon Elizabeth is seeing all sorts of weird shit, murderous nuns for example, and having loads of trippy flashbacks from her childhood stay on the island. The convent is full of mazelike catacombs where the nuns practice some very peculiar rituals and also where a big demon thing is walled up. Why, I’m not sure…but it is. This film has been compared to the styles of both Dario Argento and Mario Bava, and with the excellent camerawork and atmosphere, not to mention non-existent storyline; it’s easy to see why. The film is full of weird characters and the like but it’s hard to understand any of the dialogue between the accents and poor sound, making it nearly indecipherable. Story wise things move along ok, just don’t expect for this one to end and have all aspects of the story explained for you’ll be just as confused as you were at the beginning of it all. “Dark Waters” is not a film for mainstream moviegoers, fans of old school Argento and Bava however, may want to take a look.