Shutter (2008)

Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 09/30/2008 Run time: 89 minutes Rating: Ur Product Description

Shutter - Blu-ray Info

Version: U.S.A / Region A
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / High Profile 4.1
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Running time: 1:29:37
Movie size: 27,54 GB
Disc size: 34,01 GB
Average video bit rate: 33.59 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 4007 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 4007kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio French 448 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 448kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 448 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 448kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 224kbps

Subtitles: English SDH / Cantonese / Mandarin / French / Korean / Spanish
Number of chapters: 24

#Audio Commentary
#Featurettes (SD - 18 minutes)
#Create Your Own Phantom Photo (SD - 4 minutes)
#Deleted Scenes (SD - 18 minutes) November 13, 2008

One of the better Japanese cooperative efforts

First off, unless I'm mistaken, this is a remake of a movie from Thailand -- so I was a bit surprised when it ended up becoming a sort of Japanese-Hollywood hybrid.

Of course, the whole concept fits very well with the Grudge-like Japanese genre, and the Thai version was likely also inspired by that sub-genre of horror, so in the end that's beside the point. I just felt the need to question whether this is "just another J-Horror crossover".

Anyway, having lived in Japan for nearly a decade, I found this one hit very close to home and was authentic and believeable.

Compare to a show like Heroes that uses Japanese-Americans and Korean-Americans pretending to be Japanese with awful accents - or reading clocks with Kanji digits... well, let's just say it was nice to see some real Japanese actors who weren't playing to American stereotypes.

See, I knew more than a couple of American guys who dated Japanese women, and stories of the Japanese girlfriend who refused to say goodbye -- often bordering on the creepy stalkerish type -- were not rare.

Something about being a Gaijin and the way Japanese relationships are rarely as casual at their core makes the girlfriend who could not say goodbye story ring very true here.

I also knew a few less than wholesome American guys there with awful reputations, and the "ugly American" in this movie likewise hits the nail on the head.

These realistic, drawn-from-tales-of-experience background story elements make Shutter more than the typical watch the teens die one by one type of B flick, and made it very entertaining for me. I also found it to be more realistic than the Grudge remake because of their less than pretty take of the American guy in Japan.

If you are a guy (or girl) who lived in Japan for a while, you'll enjoy the authentic feel of this one. If not, it may just be "another J-horror crossover" to you.

It's a buy for me! November 7, 2008

Good movie

This movie was a good horror film. It has a twist at the end but hey what movie doesn't have that now these days. =P I wasn't disappointed in purchasing this film. September 11, 2008

Rent it. (Spoiler warning.)

For a while I thought this movie was going to be different in that the ghost is not someone wronged and looking to set the world right, but a psychotic sociopath in life that brought her craziness into the afterlife to haunt the people she knew. Holding onto the notion that this movie was going to buck that trend, and being compelled by a couple of genuinely suspenseful moments, I thought the trend of horrible Hollywood remakes of Japanese ghost movies was coming to an end.

Instead, Shutter fits the general Japanese ghost movie ad lib storyline: pissed off Japanese girl wronged by someone in life goes on to haunt and kill those she perceived to do her wrong, all while the viewer lies in suspense with the protagonists trying to figure out how the ghost was slighted and how they can eliminate the poltergeist. In this movie, the husband let the obsessive former girlfriend be raped by his coworkers in a foolish attempt to get her to be less obsessive and clingy after her father died. The ghost is running around getting her revenge and looking out for the new baby mamma by trying to send her a message to stay away from her ethically challenged husband. New wife leaves and the husband goes insane, off to live in a loony bin being haunted by the wronged former flame for the rest of his life.

*Yawn...* Same story every time. Why did I rent this movie? I should have been able to tell by the stylized cover art that looks the same in each of the Japanese ghost film remakes, but I didn't bother to take a closer look.

I have to admit, though, Shutter had me going for a while. It does a better job than some of the other recent Japanese ghost remakes (One Missed Call comes to mind) of holding the viewer in suspense until the end. The reason for less than four stars is that it ended up fitting the same tired ad lib storyline. The reason for more than two is that there was some genuine suspense. July 17, 2008

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