Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Ops, I did it again. I tried to watch another Asian horror movie. And for the third time in a row (the second one being Wishing Stairs, the first one I don't even remember the title) I turned it off before one hour of running time.How many more films do Asians have to make where there is a ghostly, white faced, long messy haired girl appearing here and there and scaring the various characters? There is really nothing original in this movie, NOTHING. Ghosts appearing in photos, wow, big deal, we've never seen that before. Gory scenes that turn up to be nightmares, suddenly interrupted by the dreaming character who gasps and jumps seated in his bed. Big effing deal, once again. And the clichés go on and on and on...But the biggest problem about this movie is that it's BORING. It is painfully slow paced, the acting is among the lamest you could ever hope to avoid witnessing, the dialogues are monotonous, there is no atmosphere at all, it only relies on trite, corny jump scares and not much more.I'm done with Asian horror, I swear.

This is the original Thai version, not the US remake that I have heard is rubbish, as most remakes are. The Ring being the most notable example.In an unprecedented first for OGR I did a few clicks research to find that the original Shutter was rated a paltry 40%, but the US remake was universally loathed with a 7% grade. Before this I hadn't seen either but as a rule of thumb where I have the chance I'll check the original first.Now 40 minutes in I thought I was watching a remake anyway, that of an amalgamation of The Ring and The Grudge. There were repeated occasions where the scares seemed directly ripped from either of those pretty good flicks, and even the ghost (when in ghost-mode) looked exactly like the pale chick from Ju-on (The Grudge). Even though Shutter partially redeems itself in the last 15 minutes I was a little disappointed by these scenes that blurred the line between homage and copying.The first scene is pointless, unless you are a fan of what appears to be bad acting by a guy with a Thai Jerry Lewis voice (it's hard to pick bad acting when you don't understand the language). However on the way home from the drinking session the central couple Jane and Tun are sorta chatting in the car when a girl appears out of nowhere on the road and is promptly bowled over. After realising what has happened and making sure they are both OK Tun urges Jane to drive off without checking on the victim, and as she is in a state of panic she agrees.In the ensuing days Jane starts regretting her indecisiveness, and the next 20 minutes are straight Ring-lite. It turns out that Tun is a photographer and after completing a job he finds all of his exposures are blurry and in one particular shot it appears there is a "mystery" guest. The Ghost appears at various spots, each time with a personal "BOO" soundtrack jolt and many times with the old misdirection trick of the guy looking one way, then turning back to be face-to-face with their would be assailant.A better title at this point in the film would have been "Ghost Camera", lousy title but reflective of what had transpired to that point. Upon visiting a tabloid magazine it turns out that the best way to get a true, tamper proof picture using a polaroid camera is the go, as it only shows what it sees.Then things gradually take a turn for the better, Jerry Lewis shows at Tun's pad pleading for the "photos" before abruptly disappearing. Then Tun discovers that Jerry and the other two faceless amigos from the opening scene in the movie have all topped themselves, Tun understandably gets even more concerned, and Jane says she'll stand by him. Cut to a baffling scene in the public loos, only a 2 minute scene but worthwhile nonetheless, as without spoilers it is pretty funny.Even though the first hour and a bit should owe royalties to The Grudge and The Ring, the movie is redeemed and worth watching for the last 15 minutes alone. There are a couple of scenes that provide real chills and the payoff is actually cool and original.Turns out that the ghost has a name, as many movie ghosts do - Natre. Can't say much more about the plot without giving things away so I'll wind up with a few questions that this movie raises:Why haven't Thai car manufacturers gotten better worldwide recognition? In one scene Tun is driving at 120 km/h and is able to veer off the road and stop before leaving the bitumen, that's 120 km/h to 0 km/h within the width of two lanes!If you own your own darkroom in your house why would you get your holiday happy snaps developed at the local photo shop.If you have anything that you would rather no-one else saw, why would you leave it lying around the house?Final Rating - 7 / 10. Pretty sure it isn't worth a 7 overall, but a good ending will help you ignore many of the faults and flaws in the first hour.If you liked this (or even if you didn't) try oneguyrambling.com

I was halfway through watching the American version when I had to sleep for work next day. Then I started watching the original version shortly after, and I have to say, I was not scared one bit in the American version, which is a pity because it tries so hard to scare you.The Thai original achieves what the American one, I could probably say, can only hide in its shadow. There is something about the way Asian horror that seems so much more effective. I think it has to do with the fact that they don't seem to sensationalise everything whereas the remakes are simply putting a sign to the audience saying 'Something Scary: Please be scared'.Shutter is a story about a photographer and his girlfriend, whom the girlfriend accidentally runs into a girl who mysteriously appears on the road one night. Soon after, photos that are taken by the photographer show more to the photos than just the nice scenery and people who are in it, but a mysterious figure who just might be after more than just a shot in a photo that was taken with her not in it.....What makes this effective is that during the scary scenes, you are obviously expecting the scary part to happen, but what surprised me is that it came without me sort of expecting it at that moment or in that way. It actually made me gasp outloud. I think the story does follow a simple formula in which the characters go on a discovery journey to discover the past of this mysterious figure, who is a girl, and that was done in the Ring and the Eye, but it is still effective nevertheless. The camera shots are quite eerie, and the two main actors are pretty good in their performances.What is good about this movie is that they don't reveal so obviously who this mysterious haunting girl is, whereas in the American version, you see her face fully in the first five minutes! I think this is what made it less appealing in the remake. The fact that subtle means the viewer has time to think about what is happening and discover it for yourself instead of thinking we are really stupid and need to have everything thrown at us all at once.Recommended for fans of the horror genre, in particular the Asian horror genre. Forget the remake, this is the one you want to see!

I wanted to watch the American remake and had just missed it, when I used my cable box to search for the next showing this came up as the only option. I'm not usually a fan of Asian or Eastern films because they are slower paced than what I am used to but wow, this was very good. The pace of it didn't bother me in the least. It kept my attention the whole movie, my attention span has definitely been destroyed by years of American television. I really loved the twist and story. Also I don't like watching subtitles. I pretty much hate it. I feel like subtitles take too much of my attention away from the film itself but this movie was not ruined by the fact that I had to read subtitles. To me that's saying a lot! I don't want to give anything away so that's all I'm going to say!