Shudder!!
Added 1/11/2010
This is a remake of the Asian film of the same name, and it is very good. It remains faithful to the original film and retains its best and creepiest moments. The character focus of this film shifts to the girlfriend of Ben, whereas in the original film, Tun, the boyfriend was the main character. I think the original film was more powerful because of this distinction, but the remake is satisfyingly chilling nonetheless. And I was thankful that I didn't have to read subtitles! I have the original Asian films of Ringu, Ringu 0, Ringu 2, Juon, etc., and no one makes horror movies the way they do. But I also enjoy very much these American remakes. Shutter is a good quick paced film, faithful to the original, and I recommend it highly.
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The movie arrived quickly, however, it is a present so it has not been watched yet. I cannot say if the quality is as good as listed.
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looks and feels like too many other recent films
Added 11/19/2009
**1/2
While on their honeymoon in Japan, a professional American photographer (Joshua Jackson) and his new bride (Rachel Taylor) run over a young woman who, for some inexplicable reason, just happens to be standing in the middle of a deserted country road in the dead of night. Soon, the victim - the obligatory pasty-faced, stringy-haired brunette in a nightie - is haunting the couple's pictures in the form of a "spirit photo," first hanging around the edges of the images, then - when the novelty of that wears off - appearing to the couple in corporeal form, and generally making a first-class nuisance of herself.
As thrillers go, there are more shutters than shudders in this slick Hollywood remake of a well-received Thai film from 2004. The storyline and imagery in this version are so reminiscent of other films in the genre that I kept feeling, as I was watching it, that I had seen this exact same movie before (and, no, I haven`t seen the original). The derivative nature of the film hampers our enjoyment of even the few moderately suspenseful scenes director Masayuki Ochiai has been able to wring out of this shopworn material. All told, the movie doesn't add up to much more than a handful of creepy photos combined with a soupcon of spirit-world hocus pocus - though the worm-turning twist ending is pretty darn satisfying, I must admit.
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Should have been called Shudder. Obvious? Wait until you watch the movie.
Added 11/17/2009
To put it quite simply, this movie didn't really catch my Eye. In fact, it didn't Ring true to the horror genre, and I may hold a Grudge.
I sincerely hope that everyone who watches this film catches onto my gist. This is yet another in the long line of unoriginal Japanese horror remakes in which the actors paint by the numbers, the "scares" can be seen from orbit, and several unintentionally comical scenes (more so than the gore or original scenes evoking, you know, horror) carry the film between the ubiquitous regurgitated clichés.
After their wedding, Ben Shaw (Joshua Jackson) and his wife Jane (Rachael Taylor) move to Japan to pursue Ben's career as a fashion photographer. After Jane plows through a random Japanese girl on the highway, and a subsequent investigation takes place, the couple proceed to their Honeymoon where Ben appears unfazed. Because nothing says Honeymoon like post vehicular manslaughter romance. Soon thereafter Ben's first big shoot goes awry, and the couple spend the next hour or so investigating perplexing white splotches on the photos that look mysteriously like reflections of dust particles or perhaps photographed moisture. Needless to say, Ben could have saved a lot of time if he had simply figured out how to focus his camera and use the F-Stop.
The predictable cause/effect unravels into a revenge plot in which a specter tightens sphincters, and I laughed at the unintentional comedy. The pinnacle of this hilarity takes place when Ben photographs himself only to find the Japanese spirit sitting on his shoulders. Naturally he wrestles himself like a bad Fight Club remake. I kid you not.
Insert random light and/or sound change for cheap (read: poorly done) shocks, random twist, aaand roll credits. It's fairly well done production-wise, but if you've seen one Japanese remake, you've seen this.
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"Shutter" is not like other horror films
Added 11/8/2009
It takes awhile to get into this movie but worth the wait.I was shocked at the ending,and wanted to see the film all over again to find out the clues I missed.
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Shudder!!
Added 1/11/2010
This is a remake of the Asian film of the same name, and it is very good. It remains faithful to the original film and retains its best and creepiest moments. The character focus of this film shifts to the girlfriend of Ben, whereas in the original film, Tun, the boyfriend was the main character. I think the original film was more powerful because of this distinction, but the remake is satisfyingly chilling nonetheless. And I was thankful that I didn't have to read subtitles! I have the original Asian films of Ringu, Ringu 0, Ringu 2, Juon, etc., and no one makes horror movies the way they do. But I also enjoy very much these American remakes. Shutter is a good quick paced film, faithful to the original, and I recommend it highly.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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The movie arrived quickly, however, it is a present so it has not been watched yet. I cannot say if the quality is as good as listed.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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looks and feels like too many other recent films
Added 11/19/2009
**1/2
While on their honeymoon in Japan, a professional American photographer (Joshua Jackson) and his new bride (Rachel Taylor) run over a young woman who, for some inexplicable reason, just happens to be standing in the middle of a deserted country road in the dead of night. Soon, the victim - the obligatory pasty-faced, stringy-haired brunette in a nightie - is haunting the couple's pictures in the form of a "spirit photo," first hanging around the edges of the images, then - when the novelty of that wears off - appearing to the couple in corporeal form, and generally making a first-class nuisance of herself.
As thrillers go, there are more shutters than shudders in this slick Hollywood remake of a well-received Thai film from 2004. The storyline and imagery in this version are so reminiscent of other films in the genre that I kept feeling, as I was watching it, that I had seen this exact same movie before (and, no, I haven`t seen the original). The derivative nature of the film hampers our enjoyment of even the few moderately suspenseful scenes director Masayuki Ochiai has been able to wring out of this shopworn material. All told, the movie doesn't add up to much more than a handful of creepy photos combined with a soupcon of spirit-world hocus pocus - though the worm-turning twist ending is pretty darn satisfying, I must admit.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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