I distinctly remember when this movie came out. It was crazy. This was Wes Craven. Nightmare on Elm Street. That’s what he was known for. And this movie looked like a documentary horror movie about voodoo and a drug that makes real life zombies.
But it’s just a movie, right? Except it is rooted in the science of a drug called tetrodotoxin. And it does kinda make zombies.
It’s a very different type of movie. It really does play out and feel like a documentary. It doesn’t have the flash and polish of the normal horror movie. No big monster bad guy named Freddy. It’s a slower paced movie, but also very surreal.
Honestly, this is a movie you are either going to dig the idea of, or not. I don’t feel like it needs a lot of discussion, watch the trailer and see if it peaks your interest.
This feels like one of those cheat movies. Because it is an American movie, but it is a remake of a Japanese horror movie with the same name. (Although there is no single movie that I can think of that is a bigger cheat in this manner than the Let Me In remake of Let The Right One In. A mere 2 years after the original, and with a filming script almost identical to the original…But this isn’t about that movie.) Shutter is a remake of a Japanese horror movie that came out 4 years earlier. And follows pretty close to the original script.
Ok, so maybe there are some connections between the Let Me In comparison. But this one has Joshua Jackson in it, the main guy from Fringe. And that is a draw in and of itself. Makes me want to rewatch Fringe. But I have a feeling if that project is put on the table for the site, McKenzie will want it.
An American photographer, recently married, returns to Japan for a big project. There is a driving accident where a spectral woman is run over. I say spectral, but she is real. Until they get out of the car and there is no body.
His job as a photographer begins to unravel as spectral images begin showing up in every picture he takes. As a professional, it makes things tough for him. As a recently married man, the revelation for his wife about the spectral images and the woman she appeared to hit are devastating.
Not just devastating to him, but to those around him as well.
The way the ending wraps things up and back around to pieces throughout is fantastic. Not all endings are happy.
From the director of Rec, the original Spanish movie. But to be honest, this is the first Spanish horror movie I think I ever saw. I was late to the scene with Rec, seeing the American one first (Hey, it had Dexter’s sister in it. You had me at Deb.)
This is absolutely a slow burn movie. But with a weird twist for the viewer. I found it creepy and scary, but McKenzie had a much stronger reaction to it.
Cesar is the concierge/manager of an apartment complex. The man with all the day to day responsibility. But what happens when that person violates that trust. And violate it he does. At levels that boggle the mind. There are little things, like over watering plants to kill them. Feeding a pet something to give it diarrhea. But Cesar has much darker intentions.
He goes into the apartment of a young woman named Clara and sleeps under her bed without her knowledge. At some point with her having fallen asleep, he comes out and chloroforms her. Then while she is knocked out, he goes around her place and messes with her stuff. Uses her toothbrush and various things of the sort.
There doesn’t seem to be a reason behind his machinations. He isn’t trying to get closer to her. It’s like he is trying to cause as much chaos and havoc in her life as possible.
Things keep escalating until he gets caught.
The nature of trusting people and them hiding who they are is front and center in this story. How does one tell when someone is genuine and nice? How do some people hide such innate darkness? The idea that some people have a nature akin to the Heath Ledger Joker where they just want to cause as much chaos and disruption in the lives of others. It is a harsh reality to consider. And when someone with that nature finds themselves in a position of power, well the amount of harm they can do is staggering.
It’s a good movie, and I understand it slips into that category of not quite the typical horror movie. Not all horror needs to hove the excess over the top gore of the Saw franchise. I have always found the slice of life type of horror to be fascinating on a different level.
Cthulhuville 