lonchaney20 The great horror directors of the nineties are sort of the genre's "lost generation," in that they were never given the opportunity to expand their visions into full bodies of work like, say, Argento or Carpenter. Filmmakers like Richard Stanley (of Hardware and Dust Devil fame) and Michele Soavi (the genius behind Dellamorte Dellamore) seemed set to create a new tradition of visionary horror, but somehow fate conspired against them; Stanley fell out with the industry after his attempt at filming The Island of Dr. Moreau went absurdly awry, while Soavi gave up a promising career in cinema after his son fell ill. I now think we can add another name to that sad list: Mariano Baino.With most of the great Italian horror directors either retired or dead, and the other greats like Argento and Lamberto Bava starting their sad declines, Soavi and Baino seemed set to inherit the throne. While Soavi cut his teeth directing films for Argento, he finally found his own voice with Dellamorte Dellamore. With Dark Waters, Baino also introduced his own unique vision. While parts of the film pay tribute to the old masters (an early murder scene recalls Pupi Avati's The House with Laughing Windows, and one image is an exact quotation from Suspiria), Baino's approach to horror is more reminiscent of Tarkovsky (who is also a huge influence on Stanley, incidentally).The narrative of a girl returning to the sinister convent where she was born, only to find the nuns guarding a sinister abomination, is reminiscent of Lovecraft, but Baino is more interested in creating astonishing images and a dank atmosphere than in his derivative plot. Some memorable visuals include nuns bearing burning crosses down stony beaches; a monstrous, crucified nun floating down a foggy corridor; and a mural of atrocities painted by a blind oracle.Though the film isn't bloodless, the approach is more stately and subdued than that of most Italian horror directors. As I said, the long tracking shots down rainy corridors and the ambitious imagery are more Tarkovsky-like, though this film is definitely more accessible than any of his works. Some people might lose patience with the meandering narrative, but I found that Baino's astonishing visuals powered it through the slower stretches; the first half hour in particular is a real tour de force of visual storytelling, with almost no dialogue. I also enjoyed the bizarre performances by the supporting cast members. Likely cast in the Ukraine, where the film was shot, most of them seem to struggle with their English-language dialogue, but it only heightens the oneiric atmosphere Baino was going for.As I said earlier, the story on hand isn't particularly original, but in every other respect this is really an undeservedly obscure masterwork, which makes the fate of its director all the more disappointing. While Stanley directed at least two great movies before vanishing into documentary hell, and Soavi gave us four really interesting horror films, this is Baino's only feature film to date. Thus we may never know what Baino would have been capable of had he been given the opportunity to hone his skills as a storyteller. He supposedly wrapped a film last year, but I can't find any concrete info on it, and it's been my experience that once promising directors tend to disappoint when they jump back into the saddle after a decades long absence. True inspiration unfortunately tends to be a limited time offer, and it's sad that these great artists were not allowed to create when they still had their inner fires; Richard Stanley's The Mother of Toads, for instance, proved to be sadly embarrassing. Still, I'd like to be proved wrong.

ernesti I had never heard of the Italian director Baino before this movie. It seems to me that this pretty much is his one and only full length feature film. The film is actually Russian-Italian-British co-production so it's actually not right to classify it as an Italian film. It of course resembles many old Italian horror movies from the past and that was the only reason i ever chose to watch it as i kind of knew what to expect.The movie is like a combination of Fulci and Soavi and sometimes even Argento but sadly its worst problem is with the pacing and obvious need for a plot, good script and better actors. All of those elements being more or less strongly on the average side, the movie still works like an effective horror should. I felt kind of claustrophobic after the film, just like like with some films directed by Soavi and Fulci.I can understand incoherency and allegory to some level but i got lost with this movie. It really is more of an art movie than anything else.I can recommend this movie for those who like truly bizarre horror and for those who like old Italian horror movies. Those who are easily offended shouldn't watch the film.It's surprising that Baino's first movie is this good and it's quite a shame that he hasn't got to make more films in his career. Maybe films of this kind don't get much of funding in these days and the other factor might just be the crumbling Italian cinema. They've seen their better days.

lastliberal This is a strange and creepy movie. It is shot in the Ukraine, and in a place with no electricity and only candlelight. It has a creepy sound throughout, and very little dialog.There are nuns that live in this harsh place and they spend a lot of time in flagellation. They also spend a lot of time doing things that make no sense whatsoever. I am sure it does to them, but we are left in the dark.Elizabeth (Louise Salter) visits this strange place. She is there to find out why dear old dad had been making regular payments to these nuns.Mother Superior (Mariya Kapnist), an old crone that must be a couple of hundred years old, assigns Sarah (Venera Simmons) to assist Elizabeth.Her friend Theresa (Anna Rose Phipps) is gone before she gets there, and I am not sure I would trust Sarah.The bottom line is that Elizabeth should have listened to her father.Bloody, gory, creepy, suspenseful, in the tradition of Argento and Bava; a must see.

drdebacle I've had this movie collecting dust in my VHS stack for about 8 years now. I decided to give it a whirl after first purchasing it back in '99 or '00, and I recall it put me to sleep not more than half way through. I didn't give it another shot for another 3 years or so, and I fell asleep again, no lie. OK, so it's been about 8 years and I finally decided to watch the movie ALL the way through to decide if it is in fact a hidden gem or just a buried turd.So last night I put it in and watched 3/4ths of the movie and, guess what, I fell asleep again. I woke up this morning and finished the rest, and here's what I think of this movie:This movie is godawful horrible! And I don't mean that in a good, creepy, Excorcist type of way, I mean the movie is literally terrible. The character development is virtually non-existent, the plot is weak, and the blood and gore is pretty lame. There were a few parts that were almost OK, but almost OK doesn't cut it for me. The movie moves at such a slow pace and has virtually no dialogue. Heck, the dialogue that exists in the movie can't be understood...and it's in English!If there is one redeeming factor about this movie, it's the music. Yes, the music was pretty creepy, and I liked it. Too bad such a great horror soundtrack was wasted on this steaming pile of a movie.Don't believe the hype (at least on this board, as I doubt too many people past this board would be desperate enough to defend this garbage), this movie is absolute junk. It fails to scare, intrigue, or even moderately interest. The only thing it succeeds in doing is putting me to sleep, and I didn't even have nightmares. Now that's weak.I've given the movie a 3/10 for the soundtrack alone.