Review of Shutter (2004) by Nilufer R — 29 Jan 2011

A lot of critics seem to consider this Thai film very derivative and overplayed, but I feel the exact opposite. From about two minutes in to the very last scene, this film was a grueling test of endurance for my wife and I.

It gets under your skin almost immediately and maintains a fever pitch of tension and dread throughout the duration. Scene after scene, the tension is ratcheted up constantly by the horrifying ghost haunting the two main characters, many times in very clever and unnerving scenes, most of which involve cameras and pictures.

Wildly underrated for it's intelligence, the film concludes with a pair of very unsettling and unforeseen twists that make the perspective of the whole film shift, and shadow the whole landscape of what was just seen in a creepiness far exceeding even the fiercely jolting scares that led to it.

Highly recommended.