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Posted By: groundgamer at 12:42pm, August 24, 2009
Now, firstly, this isn't a proper remake. It's a sort of "reboot" if you like. Now, despite all the horrible reviews below, like scores from 1/10 to 3/10, that's ridicoulous. It's worth a 5 atleast, and that's all it is worth. It isn't that scary, but the acting is great, and it's very suspensful. That's about it though, nothing more, nothing less. A plain and simple horror.
when you see "from the executive producers of the ring and the grudge" that should be a warning sign that you KNOW this movies gonna suck and not be scary at all.
My first short review. :)
I had high expectations for this movie, and while it wasn't completely terrible I have to admit it was not great.
The original was amazing.
I was sorely disappointed.
Remakes, remakes, remakes. It seems that 95% of all horror films that are released in theaters these days are remakes. And about 2-3 years ago, there was a wave of American directors and film companies that began scooping up popular Japanese horror movies and giving them the remake treatment for American audiences. In my opinion, this is a good thing. It opened up a Western audience to a new, unique, and outright creepy brand of horror that hadn’t been to accessible before. Things started very well with films such as “The Ring” and Raimi’s re-do of “The Grudge” (at least in my opinion, anyway)…
…and then we have this. I have not seen the original myself, but “Shutter” surely could not have done it any form of justice. Instead of a horror film, or even a slightly creepy ghost story, we have a bland and predictable Americanized thriller. There are very few cool images to speak of, if any. The jumps/scares that the director attempted to throw in are predictable and lame; I could see every one coming a mile away. And the story itself makes barely any sense, and things only get worse as the film progresses. Now I’m not usually too picky about a thing like this. As a huge fan of foreign horror, I often find myself excusing plot holes and things like that. But by the end of “Shutter,” I was really scratching my head.
The acting is the only highlight here, featuring some very big names that most American movie-goers should recognize immediately. But good acting can’t make up for a bad everything-else, and isn’t enough to save this turkey. Overall, a generic, lame cash-grabber of a horror film. Check out the original first; it’s probably much better.
this movie was horrifying...ly bad. not even Argento could have made this terrible story and good. ok, he probably could, but still. this movie was so dull and uninvolved.
I dont really understand everyone's hate of the j horror thing. Sure, maybe it is getting old, but that doesnt make it less creepy. Try watching them really late and right before bed for the best effect, thats what i just did with this one and it wasnt amazing (ie no ring or grudge), but it was pretty decent
Posted By: uraniumwilly at 1:07am, February 21, 2009
AN AVERAGE GHOST STORY IN TOKYO: 2008's SHUTTER
This 2008 remake of a Thai film with the same English title was directed by Masayuki Ochiai and stars Joshua Jackson, Rachel Taylor and Megumi Okina. It has that feel of the Grudge 2 which was also a Japanese, American collaboration. That feel, to be more precise, means that there Americans working in Japan and that the Japanese themselves all supply secondary acting roles except for the evil spirit of course. To be honest for all the Japanese actors we see this could have taken place in the States in any city with a large Asian population. The movie has a few problems but I would recommend it as a boyfriend/girlfriend type movie. I certainly have never been a devotee of ghost films but I know, from living in China, the ghost theme is really a creepy issue with people here and sometimes movies like this can really freak out an Asian audience. I was sort of left wanting more from this PG-13 bloodless, sexless thriller. But my dear Chinese wife Ivy was certainly scared more than a few times and this helped me enjoy the film a little more than if I had watched it alone. One thing is that I am so bored with is the Japanese ghost girl, a yūrei, with pale skin, long black hair and dark circled eyes who basically just sits and stares at you. However that effect sends teenage girls here in China, and I will assume Japan (the last time I was in Japan I was four years old) into a near crying fit. So while it may not effect me it certainly does others.
The story is similar to the Ring series. In that movie the intentions of the malevolent spirit are conveyed through a telephone while in Shutter they are revealed through cameras and photographs, called spirit photography. Benjamin and Jane Shaw (Jackson and Taylor) travel to Tokyo after their wedding so that Benjamin, a professional photographer, can do a high paying assignment there. He has worked in Japan before and has connections and a history there that Jane knows little to nothing about. While traveling down a dark country road one night Jane hits a woman in a thin white dress who appears in the middle of the road causing an accident. Later there is no body or blood on the road and Jane remains shaken up.
Soon blurred white streaks begin to appear on the photographs she and Benjamin take. This is interpreted as spirit photography by Benjamin’s sexy and flirty Japanese assistant Seiko, who it so happens, has an ex-boyfriend who runs a magazine that focuses only on spirit photography. How lucky can you get? While many of the photographs are Photoshopped the ex, Ritsuo, shows Jane his private collection of Polaroids and explains that these cannot be faked. He suggests she see a medium and when she and Benjamin do later the situation does not go well and we get the sense that Bejamin is holding something back as he refuses to translate what the irritated medium has to say.
Jane begins to have vivid dreams and visions and senses an evil force is stalking her and Benjamin, and while Benjamin too is having similar visions he does not talk about it to Jane. Jane is able to deduce the whereabouts of the spirit from studying some of the photographs. She is actually able to determine the building and exact floor number. There she encounters the yūrei and even learns its identity. She really missed out on a career with the FBI here. Turns out the ghost is the spirit of a translator Benjamin had worked with before in Japan named Megumi. He and Megumi had an affair where she became obsessive and dependent on him after her father’s death. This is a small dilemma for Benjamin and he does what most foreign men working in Asia do when confronted with a neurotic and despondent girlfriend: he gets his two friends to help dope her up and gang bang her and take compromising pictures which he can use to blackmail her with later if she does not chill out. Of course I am jumping the gun a bit here as this is not revealed until the end of the movie but it really doesn’t matter. You can see it coming with its headlights on bright.
Later his friends get what is coming to them by sexy, brooding ghost girl Megumi. Adam (John Hensley) gets his eyeball gouged out through his camera while shooting a cowgirl in her underwear and Bruno (David Denmen) comes running out of bedroom in his underwear and jumps off the balcony. Benjamin reveals the affair part of his history but leaves off the date rape drug gang bang blackmail session. Maybe if he had just been honest with Jane form the start? After they go to Megumi’s apartment and find her in a mummified state following her suicide by poisoning they figure the matter is settled and her spirit is at rest. Of course this is not the case and just like The Grudge 2 the spirit follows them back to the sates for a final confrontation. As it turns out the spirit all along has been trying to help Jane, to warn her (which is why the ghost jumped out in front her speeding car and caused it to veer into a tree the movie’s start we realize now). Jane becomes aware of the truth and leaves Benjamin whining and begging for a second chance. He is left alone with the spirit which he tries to burn off his back, where she has been all along, causing him back and neck trouble, with some photography lights. He winds up in an institution with Megumi’s ghost slouched over his back.
I did not hate this movie at all but there is nothing original here in my book. The acting and direction is good. The story is weak in the sense is the same old Asian ghost plot we have seen a million times before and will continue to see again and again. And giving the fact this low budget film ($8 million) pulled in almost $44 million in the three months following its release I would expect a sequel if not a franchise soon. I doubt I will check out the Thai since I basically hate any Asian cinema outside Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. I may give it a try if I see the DVD but will not seek it out. It gets an average 2 1/2 skulls. More gore and more naked Japanese girls would have certainly helped this one.
omg shit shit movie....why do they remakes after asian films they can;t make them good at all....I wouldn't watch this one its awful totally.
Posted By: txvoorhees at 2:25pm, February 18, 2009
i was kinda suprised with it heard alot of bad reviews and didn't expect to much but it was better then i had thought it was going to be rachael taylor was good and it even had ando from heroes i can't say it's one of my favs but it was entertaning.
Posted By: horrorfan25 at 4:44pm, November 2, 2008
Can you smell desperate? Shutter is desperate, boring, dull, flat, and ridiculously too long because of its boredom. You may think that I'm just bashing on the film because I like to. No, I wanted to see Shutter so bad I rented it. I wanted to see this so bad and it turned out to be CRAP. Shutter is one of the worst movies of 2008 and honestly beside Prom Night, Meet the Spartans, and 10,000 B.C. I can't think of a worser film than Shutter.
I haven't seen the original, and was reading some "buzz" about this movie. So, I rented it. Granted, there are a couple "creepy" moments, especially about 50 minutes in (the "flash" moments with ghost girl creeping around). However, at the end of the movie I had no lasting "creep-factor" going and didn't lose any sleep. Like many other recent films, this didn't leave nearly the impact it could have. Oh well. Better luck next time.
I wish I could give this movie a 0. This was absolutely one of the worst god awful pieces of crap i've ever been forced to sit through, and my wife, who loves these generic, white faced, greasy haired, jumpscare flicks said to me when the credits rolled "Ok, I've learned my lesson"
I'd rather rape a bee hive than have to watch 1 minute of this movie again.
Posted By: riotsquid1408 at 11:22pm, August 24, 2008
I fuckin hate hate hate people who didnt liked this movie because i am a die hard fan of the original and i liked the remake so why people who havent even seen the original are bitchin about this because its PG13 thats way its like what people did with the prom night remake(but that did sucked balls)and i dont even know they say the trailer looked stupid because i dont think it is actually on e of the creepiest trailers i have seen so far and the japanese girl was really scary even if she didnt had any blood or a deformed face so PLEASE PLEASE DONT BE SO HARSH ITS A REMAKE WHAT DID YOU EXPECTED.
On the whole, creepy but forgetable. The end is justice served. Karma is a bitch with spiked heels. I loved that part. And the blonde left him (good job).
Did not life up to the hype.
WTF this wasnt scaryat all it had no moment and was a terrible movie, but my friend dovie was scared and jumped a lot and i laughed at the m,ovie a lot
so if jerry springer were to make a horror film, this would be it. Very boring, not scary, and no action. there was like once that i thought it was gonna get good, but i just got shat on! terrible film and deff. not one i would recommend, even to a bored person, whos blind and deaf.
People are actually admitting that this movie scared them? what a total snoozfest just the typical Japanese ghost story that lost my interest after the first 5 minutues. Heres a question, what is it with all these ghost movies where the asian ghost has the same haircut, white face, and a white dress? pretty lame.
Holy shit this was scary even without blood and gore this should of have been one of the best remakes in years if it wasnt for the shitty reviews of critics.
Ok this was one of the stupidest movie i have ever seen. It was so odvious what was gonna happen. The only good thing about this movie was the laugh i got when the cubby guy jumped and killed himself.
I dont think Me Disgusting should of bashed this film so hard,this film was really GOOD because the ending was shocking(to me),it had a good story and a little of blood(comun other ghost remakes dont even have a tear of blood)and yes i have seen the original and the only difference is that the original is scarier but this is also scary and the actors are really good.(The only thing bad is the scene where the ghost of megumi tries to kill Ben by drowning him with a kiss)
I just want to see this was one of the shittest horror movies ive ever seen. It was so boring and had no point. When something was supose to be scary it wasnt at all not even a little bit. This movie sucks ass me and my friend walked out of it so dont even bother. I mean dont get me wrong I like some J-horror but this no...never.
basically the worse movie ive ever seen. i was like "are u kidding me?" the whole time. it was like a mixture of the grudge/the ring. why was this even made?
Did not yet see the original but thought this was a decent Asian ghost story.
Posted By: Repo!Screams at 11:32pm, March 28, 2008
OmG! This movie was horrible I was excited and I really wanted to see it but I sat 15mins in the theater and I was ready to leave. The best part was when they hit the girl with the car in the begining
I figured this would suck ass. The moment I heard they were going to remake this my hand hit my forehead and did a homer DOH! Seeing the trailer I knew it would be horrible. When I saw the origional I was like YES finally Thailand made a legit horror movie. Being my family is half thai I grew up watching some terrible Thai horror movies so when I stumbled upon Shutter I was hesitant in watching. Man was I wrong and now the remake just destroyed it. Seriously hollywood STOP remaking stuff and invent new stuff seriously!
SHUTTER is one of my favorite scary movie coming from Asian Horror...When i saw a free screening for the remake, I was surprised at how creepy it was...Even though they changed the story a bit, it managed to keep the scares from the original...I would have to agree that the score/soundtrack was a bit odd and too much that it didn't go with the movie. Also, the movie was too bright. They should have used dark scenary to make the movie more gloomy. Something from the original that they should have kept in the Remake was the part where the ghost was following the car as they were driving...that was SCARY!...Other than that...I would have to say its one of the better remakes of the century....and it was better than THE EYE....
I am kinda suprised by the review that this movie has gotten on here but than again I never saw the original one however from what I hear that really woulda screwed my experiance. But however if it was either the 2 captains and cokes and smoked acouple of bowls before going into the theater. But what I thought is that it did take some time to really start good but however once it got going it was a great movie. And atleast I think it was a lot better than the grudge so give it a chance and if you dont try and compete this movie with the orignal one you might like this one.
