It's best to walk into Dark Waters knowing that it's going to be an exercise of style over substance. As great and moody as the atmosphere of this movie is, the story itself is murky and hard to pin down. As best as I can tell, it's about a young woman whose father dies and she visits a strange island monestary that her father had been sending money to for years. Once she gets there, she gets the feeling that she's very unwelcome and she might unearth some truths that are better left buried.

One thing Dark Waters gets right is the atmosphere. If I didn't know any better, I'd truly believe this was a film shot in the mid-70's by some Italian horror master. It's beautifully shot with so much attention to detail. It's just a shame that the script didn't seem to have as much thought put into it. At one point, the lead character is attacked by a psychotic nun and she reacts to this as if she's just stubbed her toe. There's no sense of urgency at all. Wouldn't someone who'd just been attacked want to get out of there as soon as possible?

Troubled young Elizabeth (well played by the lovely Louise Salter) goes to a remote Crimean island to investigate the death of her father and the disappearance of a missing friend. The island is populated by a bizarre order of sinister nuns who reside in a convent. Assisted by the friendly Sarah (an engaging performance by Venera Simmons), Elizabeth uncovers some dark secrets pertaining to her past and discovers an ancient evil force in the bowels of the convent. Director/co-writer Mariano Baino shows a remarkably sharp and stunning eye for unnerving visuals. Moreover, Baino does an expert job of creating and maintaining a compellingly spooky atmosphere and punctuates the picture with occasional outbursts of startlingly brutal violence. The grim, brooding tone gets more progressively gloomy and unsettling as the story unfolds and culminates in an especially chilling last third. The island setting projects a potent sense of dread and isolation. While the narrative is a bit vague, the suffocating brooding mood keeps the film on track and really gets under your skin. Another interesting aspect of the picture is that men are relegated to minor roles; the main characters are all female. It's this willingness to break from standard horror conventions that in turn gives this movie an extra refreshing edge. Alex Howe's handsome, fluid cinematography, Igor Clark's shuddery score, and the uncompromisingly bleak ending all further enhance the overall nightmarish quality of this supremely eerie shocker.