Shutter

All I can say about this film is "about time". Thailand has sadly been plagued with horror films filled with unoriginality, unintentional lame-ness, and a lot of silly and unnecessary humor. Of course there are a few exceptions -- Nang-Nak, and now Shutter. I really liked this movie; it was an interesting mixture of Hong Kong's The Eye and Japan's Ju-On: The Grudge, but with a twist of realism. That realism is that of the use of actual photos that supposedly show the spirits of passed loved ones, that I guess still stick around even after death. It seems as though Thailand is finally catching up to Japan and South Korea with their countless ghost flicks. Hell, this movie kicks a lot of those unoriginal and predictable South Korean flicks square in the nuts.

The movie follows a young couple as they drive home after a night of boozing with friends. On their way home they hit someone, and instead of seeking aid, they flee. Shortly after, they begin seeing strange things and encounter events that can only be explained as that of the supernatural. The man is a freelance photographer, so his first encounter is from a picture he took recently. It doesn't take the duo long to figure out that a good way of spotting a ghost before it shows itself is to use photography, so armed with a Polaroid camera and little knowledge of the woman they supposedly hit, they set out to dig up the history of the person, in hopes of putting a stop to the haunting.

Like I said above, I really like this movie. Most of the scares aren't the same-old crap that we usually see and they don't try hard to turn it into another Ringu copy-cat. No, the scares are effective and the atmosphere is creepy. Although the events that lead to climax is somewhat predictable, I still enjoyed it as though I didn't know what was going to happen. I only hope that North America doesn't catch wind of this film and decide to remake it. I think it's a movie that'll be best just getting a limited theatrical release and a straight-to-video effort, slipping under the radar and slowly becoming a cult favorite among horror fans. I even liked the DVD it came with, because even the deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes stuff had subtitles, which is very rare when it comes to import DVDs. Actually I think this is the first import DVD I've seen that has subtitles in the bonus stuff.

OVERALL

This is a solid Thai ghost flick that's an interesting mixture of The Eye and Ju-On: The Grudge. Definitely worth a check if you're into Asian horror.

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frightie :

Posted 53 days ago

Haha, indeed. Nothing is safe anymore.

Shayla :

Posted 53 days ago

"I only hope that North America doesn't catch wind of this film and decide to remake it."
< Tear >

Justin :

Posted 82 days ago

i loved this, i watched it the other day. can i say that to fully enjoy it, watch it in the dark with the volume turned up. really made me jump a lot. and the ending!! my god. amazing. pure scary. better than the ring, grude and the eye, for scares j

Heather :

Posted 92 days ago

My sister and I bought this from FYE the other day. Completely worth it. Asian Horror [and Foreign Horror in genral] is kicking the ass of American Horror.

Jon G :

Posted 118 days ago

i really didnt like this movie that much. there were some parts i liked but overall id rather see something like the ring, when it comes to that kind of thing.

tonie :

Posted 135 days ago

i love this film
when i saw this film in cinema it's one of the best honor film for me and fucking fuunny cuz girl always scream hahaha
it's really shock and scared

Monse :

Posted 162 days ago

Definitely, one of the best asian horror films I've ever seen. I loved this movie, especially the end of it :P

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