"Dark Water" is a remake of a 2002 Japanese thriller, which was directed by Hideo Nakata, who made the Japanese films that "The Ring" and "The Ring Two" movies were based upon. It’s as good as "The Ring" and much better than "The Ring Two." All contain the central element of women and youngsters in peril.

Jennifer Connelly stars as the recently separated Dahlia Williams. She and her young daughter Ceci (Ariel Gade of "Envy") are trying to start a new life on shaky financial footing on New York’s Roosevelt Island, a tram ride and a world away from "the real city," which is how Ceci describes NYC. A residential enclave of dull, foreboding apartment buildings, the saving grace for their new home is twofold, the best school around and cheap rent.

Dahlia and her husband Kyle (Dougray Scott) are going to a marriage mediator to try and work out shared custody of Ceci and it’s not going well. He lives in New Jersey, with his new girlfriend Dahlia suspects. Dahlia’s mental and emotional health seems fragile at best. She also takes medication for blinding migraine headaches.

The ghosts of the past haunt Dahlia as she recalls her childhood in Seattle, with a mother who created few, if any, fond memories for her. It was the norm for her obviously strung-out mother to show up late at school, with the clear attitude that she was doing Dahlia a favor to pick her up at all.

The fast-talking managing agent for the decrepit building is Mr. Murray (John C. Reilly). Neither mother nor daughter is impressed with the appearance of the apartment at first, but after the promise of a fresh coat of paint, Dahlia agrees to the terms, and Ceci becomes enthusiastic when she finds a girl’s backpack with a doll on the stairwell. The building super, a weasely guy named Veeck (Pete Postlehwaite), promises Ceci that she can have the bag and the doll if no one claims it after seven days.

A mysterious, heavy dark water stain creeps across the corner of Ceci’s bedroom ceiling, and footsteps move across the floor in the apartment above¾ where there are no tenants, according to Murray and Veeck. There’s no doubt that the surreal and the real will merge.

Ceci’s dad Kyle seems to be unreasonable and Dahlia hires a lawyer, on the mediator’s recommendation. Platzer is his name, and his faltering, questionable work habits (he appears to work out of his car) are against type for his portrayer, Tim Roth, who’s usually the bad guy and in complete control.

Strong supporting performances run throughout "Dark Water." Camryn Manheim ("The Practice") is a concerned teacher at Ceci’s school and provides a bright spot in the story.

Yes, there are some scary moments and nearly everyone’s motives are suspect at some point. The real frightening thing in the film, however, is what Dahlia has to do to ensure she will look out after her child, at all costs.

Unlike many other action-thriller films, often what you see during the first fifteen minutes of the literal landscape sets the stage for what can happen during the climax. While you do need to pay attention to the landmarks, the unlocked door to the roof of the apartment building with its water storage shed, the significance of the deep, dark water, the clues you get are not later used just for cheap thrills¾ they are not red herrings.

This is the NYC that Donald Trump has managed to avoid. This film proves that good horror-thrillers can come in PG-13 packaging.