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Shutter (DVD, 2008)
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"Shutter" is a by the numbers entry in the dying (or now contemporarily dead) Japanese ghost remake genre fad. Nothing is gained, but nothing is lost. You're the same going is as you came out. As always, that's not a bad a thing. It's an escapism piece and purely entertaining in the moment. For that I have no complaints, but unlike the far superior counterparts in the genre such as "The Ring" and "The Grudge", no desires of understanding the mysteries beyond what's shown to us exist. There's no residual interest, and that's what holds it from being anything more than mediocre. "Shutter" takes us into the life of a newly wed couple living in NYC preparing to move to Japan. Upon arriving in Japan, instantly random ghost sightings happen. A sorrowful, all white, Japanese lady with her hair draped over her face. Again, typical, and it really doesn't pose any intimidation anymore after 7 years of it. But as time goes on, the ghost becomes more aggressive, leaving clues that this is a vengeful spirit from the past wanting resolution. Been there, done that. "Shutter" gets up and going pretty quick. It wastes no time diving into it's shallow mystery to please it's ADD audience that has no time for patience or proper development. The characters are barely developed, sub plots on the mystery of "spirit photography" and consulting experts come and go with no justice done to the valid subject, and the film just isn't scary. No suspense. Predictable. No sense of impending doom or dread. Things just happen, and the story ends. And we don't care. While not the misfire "One Missed Call" was, "Shutter" is probably the runner up for most cliche and pointless title in the sub-genre. It is slick and polished, the actors do fine for what they are given, and some clever points do exist. But as I said, it brings nothing new to the genre, rolls over old territory with ease, and unlike it's relatives in the genre, it provides nothing worth thinking about beyond the confines of the screen. "The Ring", "The Grudge" (even "The Grudge 2"), offer so much story and mystery you want to know more; you have no choice but to be engaged. With "Shutter", you just go for the ride and eject the disc when it's over. "Shutter" isn't a bad film, and will entertain for the 90 minutes you invest in it, but, you can do better.Read full review
The Good News: There was actually a lot to like about this one. One of the best features is that there's just a literal ton of encounters with the ghost, and all of them are handled well enough to earn some great moments. One of the best is the first dark-room encounter, which is brilliant. From the darkened location to the strange action with the ghost, it makes for some really enjoyable times and comes off really well. The encounter deeper into the film with the ghost in the boardroom is another stand-out, due to the fantastic innovation of the Polaroid camera allowing for some suspense to be had with the waiting for the photo results to come about, and the interaction that happens once the revelation has occurred is really good. Another rather good one is an encounter where, after a scare on the phone, one rushes home to the other and finds them in a chair opposite the door, leading to a fantastic scare that is quite solid and makes the sequence enjoyable. Perhaps the best, though, is the flashing-camera encounter, which is all-around awesome. From the sheer inability to see anything, with only the flashing camera to provide any light in brief spurts, and the sounds of what's going on making it so fun and creepy. It's also quite long and intense, which makes it stand-out a little more than the quick-shot appearances throughout the beginning phases. It works so well that it's featured in another scene, mainly the set-up before the final confrontation. Using it again, only this time combined with the same overall effect of the boardroom where it's goal is to find the ghost hiding amongst the shadows, works well in it's favor and makes those scenes quite fun. The aforementioned quick-cut scenes are also are pretty good, with their being a fantastic collection of banging noises off in the distance, ailing cries throughout the house and different pop-ups everywhere, from a great appearance on a train that results in a fun freak-out to a really creepy scene with the ghost appearing in photos all across the apartment. As there's more throughout the film, these are all quite fun and really worthwhile. As well, there's an incredibly fun and enjoyable encounter late in the film through an attack at the house, which has a lot of good points about it. From the creepy ghost action to the great setting and what it signifies for what has happened so far, it's a great scene and really makes a great lasting impression. Even the early car accident here with the ghost appearing in the middle of the road and causing a severe accident comes across as really nice here, being a nice shock jump and done early in the film as well. The last plus is the conversation at the magazine, which is quite fun, spilling the basis for the film's mystery and getting it all out in the open with the discussion of what's going on, it makes for some really good times and the photographs along the edges aren't that bad at all. These here all work to make this one quite enjoyable. The Bad News: There oddly wasn't a whole lot really wrong with this one. One of the biggest issues is an encounter in a friend's apartment late in the film following an attack being way too short for what it was intended to do. This here just doesn't really do much to make it feel special, and just really has a feel to it that should've been had it been given time to really do something special.Read full review
This movie while it's not nearly as good as "The Ring" Or "The Grudge" does deliver a few scares..I was greatly disappointed in this film, but still rather enjoyed it..I loved the twist at the end and the ending was a good one..however the sweet Megumi is definitely NOT in the same horror class as "Kayako" she's sadly a very forgettable character..not the Actresses fault though she was quite good in this film she just didn't have much to work with..more could have been done with her Character...and the storyline could have stood some tweaking..still if you want a movie you can turn the lights down and watch without alot of gore or suspense this is the film for you!!
The trailers for this movie made it look pretty good, but it turned out to be not the best movie. It delivers the scares, but there are too many 'false alarms'. A lot of the love stuff in the beginning could've been left out. The real horror starts a little too late, and basically is pretty corny. Most of the acting is pretty bad, and some of the dialogue seems to be totally improvised. This is one Japanese horror remake that shouldn't have been made at all in my opinion. It has a pretty bad plot that takes a long time to unfold and, at times, is rather boring. Warning - If you want to see a movie, just avoid this, and see something else instead. Trust me.
Taking into account all the photos taken in this film, you might be really afraid to know that actual ghosts have been seen presenting themselves on the digital print of this film. - NOT If one could go back and capture a moving apparition on a disposable camera, I'd have been the first to do so. Nice effect though, but very hard to believe that you can get such sophistication in a throw away camera. I'm definitely afraid of this ghost, who seems to be right on the heels of the main character and his wife. You've got to see this one. I'll give this a 5/5 scare, but you have to get through the first 12 minutes before the film finally starts going somewhere. IF YOU LIKE MY REVIEWS, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO LET ME KNOW BY VOTING. THANKS!
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