Reviewed by Johnny McNair 

Twentieth Century Fox – 89 minutes – 2008 – Unrated – 1080p Widescreen 1.85:1 – DTS HD 5.1 Lossless Audio

Have you ever received your vacation or other pictures from back from a lab and noticed an odd ghostly image in one or more shots? Well this is the whole premise of the film Shutter, another lame American remake of an Asian horror film, hoping to be the next “The Ring.” Fox Home entertainment has released Shutter on Blu-ray, but unless you’re the type of person who’s afraid of there own shadow, you really won’t get any chills from this one.

THE MOVIE

Shutter stars Joshua Jackson (Dawson’s Creek) as Benjamin Shaw, a photographer who has just married Jane Shaw (Rachel Taylor) and they have gone to Japan for their Honeymoon. While driving, Jane sees a young Japanese woman run out on the road and hits her, causing their car to go off-road. But after the accident, there is no body present and Benjamin convinces her that its just stress and she should relax. After viewing various photos of their wedding, as well as current photos taken, Jane notices strange images that that appear to be ghost. Her curiosity gets to her leading her to the awareness of a cult belief known as ‘Spirit Photography,’ which is a way for the dead to make their presence known and contact the living via photographs. Realizing that the spirit in the photographs is the woman she hit with her car, Jane wants to unlock the truth of what this woman is trying to tell her. What Jane didn’t realize is that the path to the truth leads to her husband, and the dark secret he has been holding back from her.

The main problem with Shutter is that it unfolds like a typical straight-to video movie that you rent at Blockbuster because they didn’t have any more copies of Hairspray. Directed by Japanese filmmaker Masayuki Ochiai, Shutter doesn’t offer the creepy atmosphere it’s trying so hard to emulate. Asian horror films work because they don’t go for the gore are cheap cat-jumping-into-the-frame gimmicks that western films do; in Asian horror movies it’s all about making you feel so uncomfortable with what you’re seeing and exposed to that you’re always alert. Shutter instead uses the recycled elements from all of these films and tries to make it look fresh, but fails.

The leads characters are so boring that it’s as if they’re just pretending to be the cast of Friends, but in a horror movie. Joshua Jackson and Rachel Taylor just don’t have any on-screen chemistry, so you don’t feel involved with their turmoil. And the supporting cast is completely wooden, but it’s not the cast that’s to blame, it’s the material that is so watered down it couldn’t scare a little girl locked up in a dark room.

The subject of spirit photography is actually very interesting and has been around since picture taking was created; and maybe if handled with more care it would work as a horror film, but unfortunately Shutter is not that movie. Shutter is by no means a terrible movie, it’s just bland, and that’s not what you want in a film that’s attempting to scare the hell out of you. Shutter is not the Blu-ray experience that we’ve come to expect from hi-def titles; at most it’s only a rental.

VIDEO

Offering a 1080p image and a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, Shutter has an acceptable image, but it will not blow you away. Some of the character’s close-ups look great, displaying plenty of details in their faces; and the exteriors of Tokyo look picture perfect. But then there are scenes that look completely flat like a standard DVD. There are plenty of sequences that take place in the dark, and for the most part they look fine with limited grain. You would think that a film based around photographs would have a supreme image, but Shutter just gives you the basics.

SOUND

A horror flick must have excellent sound quality, but someone forgot to tell the guys who did the audio for Shutter that. With its DTS-HD Lossless 5.1 audio track, Shutter’s sound design leaves a lot to be desired. You even need to turn on your surround sound system for this one, because the TV’s built in speakers barely even get a workout. There are some moments in the film when sound really would have added something to immersing you, but like the picture it just sticks with the basics.

EXTRAS

Shutter’s bonus material is pretty bland, which matches the overall tone of the movie. All the features are in standard definition and after you scan through them once, they’re forgotten.

There’s an audio commentary, which has to be one of the worst ones out there, mainly because it does not include the director. Masayuki Ochiai does not speak English, but hey that’s what subtitles are for. Instead actress Rachel Taylor, writer Luke Dawson and producer Alex Sundell talk a lot of miscellaneous, boring you within minutes.

There are five featurettes lumped together that run about 20 minutes, detailing the production of the film. ‘Ghost in the Lens,’ ‘Shooting in Japan,’ ‘A conversation with Screenwriter Luke Dawson,’ ‘The Director: Masayuki Ochiai,’ and ‘A History of Spirit Photography,’ are all basic spots that try to make this film sound better than it actually is. The only featurette that’s somewhat interesting the one that spotlights Spirit Photography, but it’s barely 5 minutes and by the time you get into it, it’s over.

Eleven deleted scenes and an alternate ending are accessible, but after watching through them it’s pretty clear why they were removed from the final version of the film.

‘Create Your Own Phantom Photo’ is a 5 minute segment that demonstrates how to make your own spirit photo; a trick that anyone who knows Photoshop can do with their eyes closed.

BOTTOM LINE

Shutter is another western version of an Asian horror film that really never needed to be re-made, falling into the category of One Missed Call. And for an Unrated version, there’s really nothing here that would make the censors look twice. Offering only basic image and sound quality, this Blu-ray is not worth the $39.98 retail price Fox is asking for it, and can only recommended as a rental for those geeky Dawson Creek fans who still think that Joshua Jackson is cute.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 2.0

Video: 2.5

Sound: 2.5

Extras: 2.5

Bottom Line: 2.5