Shutter

Name: Shutter
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Horror
Released: March 21, 2008
Duration: 85 min
Rating: 37
Cast: James Kyson Lee, Joshua Jackson, Rachael Taylor

2008

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 213 Ratings

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8.5

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8.5	User Score Universal acclaim based on 213 Ratings

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Shutter

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Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: March 21, 2008 | PG-13

Starring: James Kyson Lee, Joshua Jackson, Rachael Taylor

Summary: For photographer Ben and his new wife Jane, his new assignment--a lucrative fashion shoot in Tokyo--was supposed to be a kind of working honeymoon. With this exotic professional opportunity and the limitless possibilities of a new marriage, Ben and Jane arrive in Japan. But as they make their way on a mountain road leading to Mt. Fuji,For photographer Ben and his new wife Jane, his new assignment--a lucrative fashion shoot in Tokyo--was supposed to be a kind of working honeymoon. With this exotic professional opportunity and the limitless possibilities of a new marriage, Ben and Jane arrive in Japan. But as they make their way on a mountain road leading to Mt. Fuji, their new life together comes to, literally, a crashing halt. Their car smashes into a woman standing in the middle of the road who has materialized out of nowhere. Upon regaining consciousness after the accident, Ben and Jane cannot find any trace of the girl Jane believes she hit. Shaken by the accident and by the girl's disappearance, Ben and Jane arrive in Tokyo, where Ben begins his glamorous assignment. Having worked in Japan before and fluent in the language, Ben is comfortable there, and he eagerly reunites with old friends and colleagues. Jane, a newcomer to the city, feels very much like a stranger in a strange land as she makes tentative, unsettling forays through the city. Meanwhile, Ben has discovered mysterious white blurs--eerily evocative of a human form--that have materialized on an entire day's work from the expensive photo shoot. Jane's concerns escalate as she believes the blurs in Ben's photos are the dead girl from the road, who is now seeking vengeance for them leaving her to die... (20th Century Fox)… Expand

Director: Masayuki Ochiai

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Horror

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 85 min

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Critic Reviews

TV Guide Magazine Maitland McDonagh

Surprisingly effective supernatural tale in which there's more to fear from the living than the dead. Read full review

Stephen Cole

Shutter has the look and feel of a proper J-horror film. Tokyo is seen as a series of gloomy gun metal skies. And the acting is more subdued than in Hollywood horror movies. Read full review

Michael Hardy

If Shutter is any indication, the reputation of professional photographers is still on the wane. Not only are photographs creepy, the film suggests, but so are photographers. Read full review

Andy Webster

The director, Masayuki Ochiai, conjures textbook J-horror miasma: clammy clinical interiors; overcast skies; diffuse cityscapes. He also gives Alfred Hitchcock a nod, with a sequence nakedly stolen from “Psycho,” and draws unease from Jane’s disorientation in a foreign city. Tokyo, in fact, may be the movie’s most fascinating player. Read full review

Dennis Harvey

A blandly cast and crafted remake of the same-titled 2004 Thai pic that itself emulated J-horror norms, which seemed a lot fresher back then. Read full review

Andy Webster

Fans of J-horror (for Japan, where the genre was born; its conventions have since spread to South Korea and Thailand) will find Shutter familiar; others may just doze. Read full review

Marc Savlov

The very Thai-specific charms that made the original Shutter such an unforeseen, unpredictable delight when I first saw it – and when I screened it again, last night – are almost entirely absent here, eclipsed by the annoying blonde highlights of Taylor, ex-Transformer babe and forever, as the Thai say, farang. Read full review

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User Reviews

GenaC.

Mar 22, 2008

Surprisingly this is a good remake !

0 of 1 users found this helpful

MartinC.

Mar 24, 2008

As far as Asian remakes go this is one of the best ones - much better than films like Pulse. Creepy atmosphere, great score, definitely worth checking out.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

JLau

Sep 25, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Remake where the same ghost girl loves the guy who let his friends rape her while he took photos of it so now, she just hangs on his shoulders.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

[Anonymous]

Mar 21, 2008

I can't say I was disappointed because I didn't go to the see the move with very high expectations. You really can't expect much out of horror flicks these days. But anyways, while the movie was maybe even halfway done I had the whole thing figured out, the plot has been used I can't say I was disappointed because I didn't go to the see the move with very high expectations. You really can't expect much out of horror flicks these days. But anyways, while the movie was maybe even halfway done I had the whole thing figured out, the plot has been used a million times and all the scares are, hey look out behind you scares.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

tug

Aug 8, 2008

This movie is ridiculous. Predictable, boring and the exact same imagery and themes as most other Japanese horror remakes. Almost no redeeming qualities. We laughed out loud more than a couple of times watching the awkward attempts to scare.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

SeanC.

Mar 31, 2008

Pretty cookie cutter with the overacting by all the major players. The films doesn't seem to want to scare. Pretty boring... If you really want to see it, wait till dvd and let your friend buy it, then borrow it. Don't waste your money.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

RileyG.

Mar 21, 2008

Worst film I've seen it a while.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

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