Shutter (Cert 15) Cinema Review

3:52pm Saturday 12th July 2008

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THE digital camera bridges the divide between the living and dead in this American remake of the 2004 Thai horror-thriller Shutter.

Fashion photographer Benjamin Shaw (Joshua Jackson) and his wife Jane (Rachael Taylor) travel to Japan, where they are involved in a car accident with a ghostly figure.

"Shutter is an underdeveloped reprint of a movie that wasn't particularly scary in its original incarnation."

Damon Smith

What happens next is a ho-hum (and not particularly scary) journey into the paranormal.

Jane begins to suffer nightmarish visions of Megumi (Okina), the girl she is convinced they knocked down that fateful night. During the day, he is on set while his wife explores the city.

Ben is sceptical until the spirit causes blurring to his photographs, jeopardising the entire shoot.

Shutter is an underdeveloped reprint of a movie that wasn't particularly scary in its original incarnation.

Jackson and Taylor don't share any palpable screen chemistry, undermining Ben's mounting concern for his wife's wellbeing.

Indeed, in the absence of any indication that the newlyweds care deeply for one another we struggle to muster genuine concern for them.

Some of the dialogue is dreadful, such as one character's confession about a secret from the past that has us snorting with derision.

5/10 Mediocre