UnderworldRocks A photographer's ex girlfriend's ghost appears in the photos, haunting him.Such a cliché. Might have been new in 2004.None of the human characters make me care. The photographer is an asshole. His current girlfriend has more sense than he.The first half is boring, tedious, occasionally funny. But it is never scary. Halfway through the movie, I couldn't wait for it to end. Absolute trash. Awful.Gradually, I was rooting for the ghost, hoping it would kill that asshole of a guy. And then, the second part of the movie became interesting, especially when the ghost was revealed to be always resting on his neck.When the photographer dropped to his supposed death, I cheered.When he was revealed to be hospitalised and saved... Nooooooooooooo!When he was revealed to be tortured forever by the ghost resting on his neck, YES!The second part saved this movie.

bassplace88 Being an avid horror fan I thought I'd seen it all, until "Shutter". This movie has a scare formula that works effectively throughout the entire movie. The music and editing create the atmosphere that the set design did not, while the sound aided repeatedly for the many great startling scares. Combine this with a thrilling mystery, unnatural visual imagery and make up, and you get one of the creepiest ghost stories ever told. The pace was wonderful as the biggest scares came every 15 minutes throughout this fright fest, with some thrown at you machine gun style. Watch this in the dark, with the sound cranked up, and if you dare...alone. It made my hair stand up at least 4 times and my goosebumps had goosebumps. Enjoy this tasty morsel of horror!

oneguyrambling 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

Chrysanthepop 'Shutter' starts off with a group of friends celebrating graduation. Young photographer Tun (Ananda Everingham) and his pretty girlfriend Jane (Natthaweeranuch Thongmee) have been drinking and while driving their way home, they accidentally run over a young woman (Achita Sikamana) who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Shocked and terrified, they flee the crime scene and from then on are haunted by guilt except that guilt isn't the only one haunting them. Now one may be expecting a more sophisticated and refined Thai version of 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' but comparing 'Shutter' to trash like that goes beyond mere insult. Now there are plenty of jump moments that may give the impression that it's your typical East Asian horror movie but just hang on and let the layers of the story slowly unravel for there is far more depth than what it initially appeared to be. Nothing is as it appeared to be. The writing is clever and Pisanthanakun and Wongpoom's direction is brilliant. The camera-work, light effects, cinematography, special effects and score are first rate. The scare 'jumps' may have been a tad overdone and perhaps toning it down a little would have helped. The intense atmosphere is well maintained. Everingham and Thongmee are great and Sikamana is impressive in a small role. Overall, 'Shutter' is an cleverly layered film and those looking for something more than mere momentary fright ought to see this.