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Shutter

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Shutter (2008)

7%
0%
38%
N/A
N/A
N/A
7 %
Reviews Counted: 55 Fresh: 4  Rotten:51 Average Rating: 3.5/10
 
Consensus: Being a remake of a Thai horror film instead of Japanese doesn't prevent Shutter from being another lame Asian horror remake.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: 15

Runtime: 89 mins

Theatrical Release: 16-05-2008

Synopsis: Treading territory similar to JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (2003), RINGU (1998), and ONE MISSED CALL (2003), all Asian horror films remade for American audiences, SHUTTER is the first English-language film for director Masayuki Ochiai, whose career has been primarily within the horror genre. The... Treading territory similar to JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (2003), RINGU (1998), and ONE MISSED CALL (2003), all Asian horror films remade for American audiences, SHUTTER is the first English-language film for director Masayuki Ochiai, whose career has been primarily within the horror genre. The result is another potent ghost story able to conjure up feelings of dread through a single longhaired, poker-faced female apparition. Newlywed New Yorkers Ben (Joshua Jackson, THE SKULLS) and Jane Shaw (Rachael Taylor, TRANSFORMERS) have traveled to Tokyo, where photographer Ben is investigating a potentially lucrative job opportunity. While driving on a dark road at night, the couple runs over a mysterious woman who seems to appear out of nowhere and can't be found after the accident. Over the next few days, Jane goes sightseeing while Ben works, only to see strange apparitions that also appear on the photos she takes. After Ben's photos show the same ghostly forms, he confesses that he knows something about the woman they ran over, but it may be too late to stop her trail of terror. Another Hollywood remake of an Asian horror film, SHUTTER has a tricky lineage: the 2004 original was made in Thailand, while this version is U.S.-financed, but shot mostly in Japan. By setting the film in Japan, director Ochiai retains an element of exoticism for American audiences, which also allows Ben and Jane to be out of their element, à la DON'T LOOK NOW. As the menacing spirit, Megumi, Megumi Okina is adept at conjuring fear with a simple glare in a minimal but effective performance. SHUTTER doesn't stretch the boundaries of horror cinema, but it provides a handful of decent shocks and a couple of crowd-pleasing gross-outs, all within the limits of a non-restrictive PG-13 rating. [More]

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Starring: Joshua Jackson, Rachael Taylor, David Denman, James Kyson Lee, John Hensley

Director: Masayuki Ochiai
Screenwriter: Luke Dawson
Producer: Taka Ichise, Roy Lee, Doug Davison
Composer: Nathan Barr

DVD Info

Release:

Mar 7, 2009

[DVD Details]
  • A picture-perfect honeymoon develops into a snapshot of terror in this bone-chilling shocker from executive producers of The Grudge and The Ring! Soon after New York newlyweds Ben (Joshua Jackson) and Jane (Rachael Taylor) arrive in Japan for Ben's latest photography assignment, they discover disturbing, ghostly reflections of a young woman in their own photos. This inexplicable "spirit image" may be connected to Ben's past, but she's determined to provide the couple with a horrifying future of relentless vengeance from which there is no escape!
  • Source: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

    • Reviews

     
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    1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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    Ratings Image
    2/5

    Click to read the article

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/16/08
    Empire Magazine
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
    Ratings Image
    C-

    Similar to a theme park ride that scares kids, this Asian horror film frightens only newcomers to the genre from which it practically bootlegs.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    07/19/08
    Bruce Bennett
    Spectrum (St. George, Utah)
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    Shutter the latest photographic enlargement of an Asian horror picture, is clearer and sharper than many of its predecessors, but even the most expert re-touching cannot obscure the fact that we have seen it all before.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    07/08/08
    Steve Biodrowski
    ESplatter
    Ratings Image
    2/4

    Shutter features another pale, scraggly haired young woman a la The Ring haunting our protagonists. Yawn.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    06/30/08
    Christian Toto
    Washington Times
    Ratings Image
    1/5

    paramenei eksisoy, an ohi kai perissotero flyaro ap' tin pigi tis empneysis toy. Apo tin opoia krata episis to megethos ton logikon almaton, oksynontas ta opoy mporei gia na klepsei merikes eykoles fantezi tromares, eno kseperna to prototypo sto epipono t

    Full Review | comment Comment
    06/29/08
    Joseph Proimakis
    Movies for the Masses
    Ratings Image
    1.5/4

    As pretty and bland as its lead actors.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    06/20/08
    John Beifuss
    Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
    Ratings Image
    .5/4

    Yeah, this movie is a must avoid.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    06/18/08
    Austin Kennedy
    Sin Magazine
    Ratings Image
    2/5

    Workmanlike at best; derivative, predictable and slightly dull at worst.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/15/08
    Tony Horkins
    Empire Magazine Australasia
    Ratings Image
    3.5/5

    It’s an effective scary story that depicts women with spirit – on both sides of the divide.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/15/08
    Margaret Pomeranz
    At the Movies
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    It's all rather predictable, and often irritatingly derivative

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/12/08
    Urban Cinefile Critics
    Urban Cinefile
    Ratings Image
    1/5

    SHUTTER should have been the scariest horror film since THE RING, but instead it was infuriatingly bad. This joins ONE MISSED CALL in the ranks of worst horror remakes of all-time and I highly recommend skipping this one for the original...

    Full Review | comment Comment
    04/17/08
    Brad Miska
    Bloody Disgusting
    Ratings Image
    1.5/5

    The latest in the downward spiral of remakes

    Full Review | comment Comment
    04/01/08
    Jason Morgan
    Filmcritic.com
    Ratings Image
    2/4

    Are more of these Asian remakes in the offering? I "Shutter" to think.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/30/08
    Linda Cook
    Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
    Ratings Image
    3/10

    What happens is the same as every other J-horror remake only less so, at least in part because it stars Rachael Taylor and Joshua Jackson instead of actual famous people.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/28/08
    Tim Brayton
    Antagony & Ecstasy
    Ratings Image
    1.5/4

    No one needs a telephoto lens to see what's coming in Shutter.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/28/08
    John Wirt
    Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)
    Ratings Image
    2/5

    Only the punning title distinguishes this one from...other entries in this exhausted genre.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/28/08
    Jim Lane
    Sacramento News & Review
    Ratings Image
    2/4

    Really, what's the point? It's a business deal rather than a movie.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/27/08
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Combustible Celluloid
    Ratings Image
    C-

    Will the next terror-minded remake involve a possessed telegraph machine or a grudge-minded ox and cart? Neither option could be any lamer than the shock-free Shutter.

    Full Review | comment 1 Comment
    03/26/08
    Clark Collis
    Entertainment Weekly
    Ratings Image
    2/5

    Suffers from cumulative mediocrity. In other words, there's only so much recycled rubbish you can endure without wanting to take a hostage.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/26/08
    Ken Hanke
    Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
    Ratings Image
    2/4

    Your soul will be intact after Shutter, but it will cost you 85 minutes.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    03/24/08
    Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
    St. Paul Pioneer Press
    1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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