Dark Water, director Nakata Hideo's follow-up to his Ringu movies, is an astonishingly creepy movie that features a suffocating and almost unbearable build-up - followed by a somewhat disappointing finale that nevertheless managed to bring more goosebumps to my neck than any recent Western horror-slash-ghost story.

Aside from being similar in tone to the Ring movies - all grey and rainy and, well, Japanese - Dark Water reminded me a bit of Nicolas Roeg's seminal Don't Look Now (scariest movie ever - that ending is still giving me nightmares); with the water theme and the little (dead) girl in the raincoat. When I say 'disappointing', I mean that the set-up is so intense, it's hard to live up to it - and Hideo doesn't quite manage it, but it's still a knees-up-and-heart-pumping ending, with some truly frightening imagery. It's also a very sad movie, but that's about all the spoling I'll do today.

Suffice it to say, I stayed true to my word and watched two DVDs (as well as completing another level in Buffy; I'm growing increasingly weary with that game, but I battle on...God do I battle on). Aside from the aforementioned Dark Water, I finally watched LOTR:TTT again (for the first time since January, actually), and there's not much to say about that. I'm already itching to spin the DVD again, but I think I'll hold off until the extended version arrives.  ¶ 23:41