Shutter

Let me begin by saying I'm not a very big fan of remakes of Japanese horror films. However, Shutter was surprisingly good. While not the scariest movie I've ever seen, it did offer some frightening scenes. By relying more on lighting than gore to create fear, Shutter allows for the viewer to feel true fear rather than disgust. The movie follows a recently married couple as they move to Japan for work. One their first night in Japan, they are driving along the road when the run into a young Japanese woman standing in the road. This accident is only the beginning of many frightening accidents and experiences that happen throughout the movie. I was truly surprised by the depth of this movie. The plot was not some superficial love story gone wrong, but a story of confusion and lies that leaves the viewer wondering what really caused all of the young couples problems. With a shocking twist ending, Shutter will shock and surprise many viewers.

The story, however, is not all that makes this movie so scary. The visuals are stunningly scary for a horror movie remake. There is one scene in particular that was very creative with the visuals. The young man is in his photo studio and the lights turn out. It's completely black in the studio but then his camera begins to go off. And by the light of the camera we can see the ghost of a young woman crawling around the room. The creative lighting in this scene causes it to be very suspenseful.

I was very surprised that I enjoyed this film because as I have said before, I'm not a big fan of American remakes of foreign horror films but this movie was very creative and shockingly disturbing.

-H