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Very disappointing...

Expected more

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I remember watching the American version at a sleepover and instinctively knew it was a remake of an Asian film (I had wrongly assumed Japanese) and that I had to watch it. The story stayed with me and I decided it was time to watch the original version and be spared the crassness of the Hollywood version. This makes use of a few jump-scares but also uses slow horror to freak the viewer out. But its the plot here that nails it. Good acting by the leads. This is Asian horror at its near best. I wouldn't say its one of the greatest (I will leave that title to the Jap ones), but this is a pretty good attempt.

Here we have a Thai horror film, very much in the style of RING, THE GRUDGE, and THE EYE, that absolutely excels at what it does. A slow burning chiller with a handful of standout scares, SHUTTER is a film set in familiar territory that nevertheless revitalises the genre and goes to show that genuine scares can still be had from the most predictable of situations. The story itself is about a photographer who begins to see strange things in the photos he takes; a mysterious, ghost-faced woman seems to be haunting him.Before long, his girlfriend and his buddies are involved in the mystery, which gradually begins to be solved in a piece-by-piece style. By the time of the climax, there have been loads of twists and turns, and all of them are superior. They're topped by a final reveal, complemented by some flashbacks, which has instantly become one of my all-time favourite twists, up there with THE SIXTH SENSE for sheer, breathtaking, rug-out-from-under-your-feet surprise.The cast is strong and Ananda Everingham copes very well in what is a difficult, multi-layered performance. As the ghost girl, Achita Sikamana is sweeter rather than scary, but her presence in the film gives it a moving, emotional edge lacking in the Japanese chillers. SHUTTER is all about emotion, and the same can be said of that other classic, THE EYE. That's not to say that there isn't horror, because the film is awash with creepy moments. The ghost girl pops up in all manner of unexpected situations, and the encounter with some real-life spirit photography is supremely disturbing. In the end, this polished movie is a rare beast: a flawless effort, exemplary in every respect and a modern day classic.

Once you've seen a few Asian horror films you begin to notice patterns emerging, most galling is that often the main horror element is a placid-looking girl in a white dress with long straight black hair, who lost her life in some unjust way but has come back to haunt either randoms or somehow-related peoples.The Ring, The Grudge, Tale of Two Sisters, a few more I've now forgotten about, and add Shutter to this list too.I was still happy to go with it if the pic was well-made, with some good scares and uneasy moments, but to be honest the scares are very standard predictable jump fare: increase in tense music -> protagonist looking uneasy -> loud bang accompanying a brief flash of zombiefied Asian girl (in a white dress).The narrative jumps about quite randomly in ways that only make sense at the end of the film, and it's the end which saves this from being a poor experience. It's not quite on the high-end dread level as the climax of an otherwise quite dull Ringu (6/10) but it's spooky enough to be satisfying. On the other hand the ending reveal also made me chuckle a little, so not exactly scary.The two main female actors are also very average, with the male character being an utterly pathetic figure: it's not quite clear how he was written, but I just wanted to punch him in the face.Generally there's nothing memorable on offer here, tho' there could've been: the idea of polaroids showing us apparitions is a potentially fantastic concept, covered effectively by the Fatal Frame (Project Zero) series of games on the Playstation 2 console, which was very likely the source of inspiration for Shutter (tho' the game I believe used Camera Obscura). Speaking of Fatal Frame, a film was made last year, but seems very obscure: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3684484/ Back to Shutter: to be fair there is one nice scene which stands out: the photo-flip series showing the apparition moving towards something. Again it could've been so much more: if you've seen Paranormal Activity 4 and always thought they didn't maximise the potential of those X-Box Kinect lighting scenes, then you'll be thinking similar here.Regarding the language: as ever, you should watch a film with its original audio as long as subs are available. The beginning is almost impossible to keep up with the quick-fire banter, but shortly afterwards it's fine. Thai sometimes has Korean-ish inflections, but mostly reminds you (if you, like me, have never heard Thai before) of Vietnamese.Worth a watch if you're addicted to typical Asian horror and are interested in how Thailand does it.Not worth your time if you're a horror fan looking for unique scares or original story.

I read about this movie on IMDb and reluctantly decided to give it a try because I really liked the concept of the story but didn't think it would amount to much. I can't even remember when I last saw a good horror movie. I couldn't have been more wrong. What I found was a really creepy and amazing movie from beginning to end.This is by far the best horror/thriller movie I have watched in years, maybe the best I've ever watched.Ignore any negative reviewsA must see!