Don't expose yourself to Shutter

Shutter
20th Century Fox

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I have only one for this movie: "YAWN."

Recently, I posted a blog about Hollywood's love affair with the horror movie remake. This particular little gem is part of the epidemic of Asian horror remakes. You know the ones... The Ring really started the onslaught. That's one remake I didn't mind at all -- thought it was wonderfully scary and entertaining. The Ring made me go searching through the plethora of Japanese horror flicks, resulting in the location of The Eye and Audition. Both are spectacular, I think. Anyway, for a while, I raved about the talents of the Japanese for producing horror until I realized something very disheartening -- the Japanese have the same problem we do - nothing is different, nothing is new.

After The Ring, we had The Grudge - which creeped some people out; it only made me afraid of small Asian boys who meow at me. Being as this is America, there's no surprise that The Ring 2 and The Grudge 2 followed shortly thereafter. We were then hit with Dark Water, Pulse, One Missed Call, The Eye, and other terrible Hollywood versions of Asian films. You'll notice the remake of The Eye in that list. When I mentioned it earlier, I meant the original....not the Jessica Alba thing. All of these movies feature some young girl with dark hair who lurks in corners and wreaks havoc on the lives of the main characters. Sometimes there are children involved, but typically, you're faced with a young twenty-something girl who has been wronged in some way.

Shutter is the latest in the Asian remake craze. These movies are like a bad sinus infection that just won't go away. I, unfortunately, cannot speak to the original film (from Thailand, this time), because I have yet to receive it from Netflix. Our Americans-in-Japan version, starring Joshua Jackson and Rachael Taylor, was released today and, being the resident horror buff, off I went to see it, hoping for something good. No such luck.

Shutter follows two newlyweds to Tokyo, the location of Ben Shaw's (Jackson) new job. He is a photographer who does model shoots and advertisements, I expect - it's never really addressed, as it's not really important. His darling wife, Jane (Taylor), is exploring Tokyo for the first time and is getting used to her new life with her husband. Driving along the road one evening, they hit a girl who - prepare yourself for this BRAND NEW ELEMENT - disappears. The pair continues to their honeymoon, then to Ben's new job. Ben forgets the incident; Jane is freaked out (as I think most of us would be) and can't let go of this girl who vanished after the accident.

The focus of the film is on the photographs being taken throughout. There appears to be a glitch in the film....perhaps it's in the camera itself. Whatever the trouble, there are flaws in the photographs. Jane begins to delve into the idea of spiritual photography - photos in which spirits appear, trying to get messages somehow to the others in the shots. What unravels for the rest of this 85min snoozefest is a cliched haunting of our fresh-faced bride and groom and an even more cliched mystery to solve that involves an Asian woman with long dark hair that hangs in her face all too often....shocking, I know.

The one saving grace to this film...and it's not much...it the ending. The big reveal is interesting and justice is served...or is it? Again, another slight cliche in the resolution of this one, but how could you present a cliched remake of an Asian film without a cliched ending?

Unfortunately, this film is not worth your $10.00 at the cinema. Nor is it worth the discount movie ticket I had to give up. It's not even worth the bargain $2.50 you might pay at a value cinema near you.

Another word has occurred to me that shows what this picture is worth: "UGH." Shut your eyes to this one, folks.

...and here's hoping the remake of Prom Night (Apr 11th) is a little better.

Shutter is playing in theaters now.