Dark Water 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Dark Water 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 19, 2024

Arrow brought out its 1080 version of Dark Water almost eight years ago, in a release that I personally found to be a bit lacking on the video quality side, which makes this new 4K UHD release of the film from Arrow perhaps a bit more intriguing than it might otherwise be.

For my thoughts on the film, please head over to my Dark Water Blu-ray review of Arrow's 1080 release from several years ago.

Dark Water 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from Arrow's old 1080 release. Per Arrow's standard operating procedure, this 4K UHD release does not include a 1080 disc, which is why the 1080 video score above has been left blank.

Dark Water is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer (listed somewhat oddly in the plural as transfers, perhaps due to the disc offering both Dolby Vision and HDR10):

Dark Water has been restored in 4K and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 5.1 audio. The film is presented in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The original 35mm camera negative element was scanned and restored in 4K resolution at Imagica, Tokyo. The 4K grading was supervised and approved by Director of Photography Junichiro Hayashi.

The grading was completed at Imagica by Kadakowa Corporation in collaboration with Arrow Films. All materials for this restoration were made available by Kadokawa Corporation.

A prefatory text card before the actual film also further specifies that the 4K digital restoration was completed in 2023. This is a remarkably better looking presentation of the film when stacked up against the old 1080 version. While some of the anomalies I addressed in our 1080 review still remain, both detail levels and palette are to my eyes substantially improved in this new version. There are still some passingly variant color temperatures that can range from ice cold blues to somewhat buttery warm yellows, but Dolby Vision / HDR really show some new nuances here that make these choices seem more deliberate and less almost random than the 1080 version offered, and fine detail tends to penetrate a bit better throughout some of the more aggressively graded scenes, though a number of moments, including the opening swirling underwater view, can understandably still be pretty murky looking. Grain is much more natural looking throughout this presentation, with none of the overly processed, weirdly near pixellated or macroblocked appearance that attended the 1080 version, though grain resolution can still encounter some difficulties, as in a late bathroom scene which also offers a lot of steam, and where things are rather yellow and splotchy looking. A lot of the outdoor material offers some of the most noticeable improvements in warmth (a relative term in this often cool, wintry looking story) and more natural flesh tones. Despite these impressive restoration efforts, there are still some very minor but noticeable white flecks and other nicks that occasionally are discernable, but nothing of any major import.

Dark Water 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This 4K UHD disc offers the same really excellently evocative and spooky DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that was on Arrow's 1080 release. See my original Dark Water Blu-ray review for a bit more information.

Dark Water 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has commendably ported over all of the supplemental material from its 1080 release to this new 4K UHD disc, with a very slight difference in how the promotional material is arranged (all three trailers are listed individually under the main Extra Features Menu, instead of being lumped into a "Promotional Materials" submenu.

• Hideo Nakata: Ghosts, Rings and Water (HD; 26:03) is a nicely in depth 2016 interview with the director.


• Koji Suzuki: Family Terrors (HD; 20:20) is a good interview with the celebrated horror author whose short story provided the basis for the film.


• Junichiro Hayashi: Visualizing Horror (HD; 19:16) features the director of photography, who discusses this film and others he's done with Nakata.


• Making of Featurette (HD; 15:50) is an archival EPK.


• Hitomi Kuroki Interview (HD; 7:59) is another archival piece.


• Asami Mizukawa Interview (HD; 4:38) is an archival interview with the actress playing the teenaged Ikuko.


• Shikao Suga Interview (HD; 2:54) is a brief piece featuring the musician discussing the closing theme he wrote for the film.


• Trailer (HD; 1:13)


• Teaser (HD; 00:37)


• TV Spots (HD; 00:50)

Additionally, this limited edition offers a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain, and an illustrated collector's booklet featuring writing by David Kalat and Michael Gingold. Packaging features a slipcover.

Dark Water 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As I mentioned in my original 1080 review, Dark Water is really less of a traditional horror film than might be expected (or even as it was marketed at the time), and instead tends to ply a more psychological route, one that examines the bonds between mother and child, especially bonds that are threatened both by "real world" traumas as well as supernatural elements. While the film is a "slow build" and therefore probably not to some typical horror fans' tastes, it ends up delivering a pretty potent emotional wallop. My major qualm with Arrow's 1080 release was its video quality, and that has been noticeably improved in this new 4K UHD version. The excellent audio and supplementary material from Arrow's 1080 release are also included here. Recommended.