I’m back, Ravens, and here to wish you a happy third Wednesday of November! For this month’s paranormal movie review, I’ve chosen a 2008 American remake of an old Thai horror blockbuster, Shutter. Remakes aren’t typically my favorite, but this one was better than I expected.
Title: Shutter
Sub-genre: Supernatural horror
Current available format(s): DVD and Blu-ray
Length: Approx. 1 hr. 29 min.
Movie rating: UR
Review rating: B-
Everything starts off all romancey and perfect as an attractive couple (played by Joshua Jackson and Rachael Taylor) marries and heads off on a honeymoon to Japan and their new home in Tokyo where he has just been hired on as a big-shot photographer for a large corporation. Eerie things begin to occur when the new husband and wife (honestly, I can’t recall the characters’ names) are driving along a pitch-black Japanese rural road late at night and a lady appears in the headlights. They’re unable to stop in time, and the car barrels right over the top of her. Finding no dead body post-crash is only the beginning of the creepiness. Next comes the ghostlike images in the photos they later develop, shifting shadows, objects flying across the room, friends committing suicide or being murdered, and the woman from the road reappearing here and there to taunt them.
As the hair-raising story progresses, they suspect the reason for the haunting might be due to a huge secret between the couple that could mean the end of their marriage…or their lives.
Though this movie received mostly average to lower-than-average ratings from other reviewers, I found it a bit above average—for an at-home-on-a-Saturday-night kind of cheap entertainment, that is, but not as a $7-$10 per person theatre showing. I give it a B- and recommend it as a rental if you’re in the mood for a spine-chilling flick.
Titania’s special spooky note: In the final scene, keep your eye on the reflection in the glass of the closing door…
P.S. Happy Early Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate the holiday!
Titania Ladley is an erotic romance author multi-published with Ellora’s Cave, Samhain, and Red Sage in a wide array of genres including paranormal. Please visit Titania at her website, join her newsletter, friend her on Myspace, and follow her on Twitter for updates and contest announcements.
