Review of Shutter (2004) by Maria Eugênia B — 24 Feb 2011

7.6/10.

I chose to take a break from American horror films, so for a change I watched a foreign flick in the genre of horror. The film I chose to watch was "Shutter", a nice and plenty scary little Thai horror film. Unexpectedly chilling, well-acted, and all around nicely told, "Shutter" is a pleasantly surprising movie that definitely has flaws, but they're all ones which I can get around. The film is true to its claim; that it will grab you by the throat and take you for a damn freaky ride. It delivers on doing just that, and adds a little bit of extra awesomeness to spice up the situation. I don't think it's a masterpiece of horror, nor is it a classic for the genre; but horror fans will enjoy it, and I believe that even less devoted movie watchers could enjoy it too. It's rare for a film to scare the viewer out of ideas rather than imagery, and that's probably why this film does not do that. "Shutter" is pure imagery; which works for me since the filmmakers somehow manage to make otherwise repetitive tactics interesting every time they come up. You know the (somewhat) iconic creepy face of the girl? Well, let me just tell you that I jumped nigh every time I saw it. And yeah, that's kind of a good thing considering how much crap I see every day out of the horror genre. So if you're looking for a tight, well-directed, and overall solid horror film; try this one out. It's a nice, refreshing freak-out of a horror film; and in a time of such eternal darkness for the genre, that's quite good enough for me. "Shutter" may never get the kind of universal appeal that would have made it a classic, but it sure had me hooked. And few horror films even have a good rod to attach the hook to; thus, they're mostly boring. This one has some damn good bait too, as it would seem. And that's because it works not only as a horror film, but also as a thriller. It's an instant win for me, and I recommend it overall. It's not for everyone, as I said, but I enjoyed watching it. After all; if being consistently creepy doesn't make a horror film good, then people must be damn crazy. I assume that they are.

A couple accidentally hit a girl with their car on their way home one night. They are grief stricken, but never so much as make an attempt to see the girl again. They assume that she died, and that's probably why they feel so bad. The male of the couple (his name is Tun) is a photographer, and his girlfriend is Jane. One day, Tun notices something peculiar about his photos. Not only is the girl that they hit appearing in the dark corners of the photographs, but there's a light that gets in the way of portions of the picture. Confused, Tun confronts several people about the light; although gets no proper answer. Then he begins to have severe hallucinations involving the girl whom they hit that one night, and he seems to recall her face a bit better than he may have thought. You see; you've got a damn good concept right there: a movie about spirit photography. The film poses the legendary possibility that perhaps, we are not so alone in this world. Perhaps spirits linger in the darkness, obscured from the naked eye's vision; awaiting the day for when their own love can go back with them to where they now belong. It's a good concept to grasp, and while the message of the film has been used many times before, it's still effective here. The film also has some solid characters going for it, and that alone makes it a worthwhile little horror movie. You can easily make a horror movie scary, but few of them actually have good characters. This one does, and that's why it's a sort of "scary good" horror movie. I did indeed enjoy myself whilst watching it.

The acting here isn't all that bad. None of it is amazing, but I think there are enough competent performances here to make an overall competent film. Ananda Everingham plays Tun pretty darn well, although at times he felt less believable than he probably should have been. Natthaweeranuch Thongmee plays Jane decently enough, although for the most part, she doesn't feel quite as important as she probably should have been. Natre (the spiritual antagonist of the film) is played rather well by Achita Sikamana. As I said, there's nothing truly "great" going on here as far as acting goes, but it's still good performances from just about everyone. Nothing memorable; nothing uninspired. That works for me.

Horror films exist because the audience likes to be frightened. I love watching horror movies on a personal level because they have powers that some films just don't have. For instance, they can scare you. And only horror movies and thrillers (often times they are combined) can do that. Some horror films can even move the viewer emotionally; thus drama is embedded. Only special horror films can be memorable, and while "Shutter" isn't exactly the kind of "special" horror film that I'm speaking of, it's still better than a LOT of crap that's out there. The film uses tactics that I have seen misused too many times before. For instance, the legendary "jump scene" is used here, but it's used quite well. Most times, it's not even scary; and people use it excessively. Here, it doesn't even slow down to let you so much as breathe. The thing wants to scare you, and for the most part, it will succeed. The creepy scenes are creepy, the scares are scary, and the overall atmosphere feels as right as it should. This is a winning little horror movie; not the most memorable, but effective as far as formula goes. I admired the film because it knows not one but two ways to scare me. Needless to say it only uses one of those ways, but that doesn't matter to me. I never thought that imagery could scare me as much as it honestly did here, yet here we are; and here we have a film that has surprised me. The film is not gory, it's not gruesome, and it does not aim to disgust. Simply put; I haven't seen a horror flick this rich in a long time. I think it's about time I start watching the good stuff yet again, wouldn't you think? Otherwise, the film's visual presentation is great, and the music is pretty nice. The direction is spot-on, and the movie is scary enough for me. I kind of like what they've done to the movie; and how they didn't insult a damn good premise. Demonic ghosties always win me over somehow, and this time, it's not in a "guilty-pleasure" sort of way. It's in a "well-made horror movie" sort of way. Gee, that's really something.

I wonder how good the rest of the Thai horror films are. I imagine that some of them are at least good if not better than this film, because I sure as hell was pleased with "Shutter". It's a must-see for those who like good horror, and I'd personally recommend it to anyone who likes a good thriller all the same. The film works on a lot of levels; and it's both creepy and scary enough to entertain. It's not perfect, but few horror films really are. But keep in mind that very few are as fun and suspenseful as this one. It's a real genuine ride, both visually and atmospherically. I feel as if I haven't been watching the good stuff in horror lately, and I feel bad about that. "Shutter" has somewhat reminded me that modern horror can still be done right, and I that I just have to look harder. Lord knows how the hell I came across this one, but I'm kind of glad that I did. It's a precious little horror gem from Thailand, and there's a part of me that wants to watch it again. And there's also a part of me that wants to watch the remake. But there's no knowing how much they decided to screw that one up. I have predictions on how bad it is, but I won't know until I see it. All I know is that it can't possibly be good like this "Shutter". Few horror films really can be, mostly since they lack the ambition and intelligence that this one has. I wish all horror movies were like it, but there's not really a whole lot of hope in that sense. I guess we've just got to watch what we've got and let the money-hungry studios have their embarrassingly pathetic fun. But hey; as long as they make money, everything alright, right? Nope, that would be wrong. But at least we have stuff like "Shutter" to entertain us while they continue to market their trash. But "Shutter" is not "trashy" horror; it's smart and quite awesome, at least when it wants to be. I appreciate it, and that's also why I enjoyed it so much. For scares, chills, thrills, and some spills; I recommend "Shutter". I liked it; and that's pretty much that.