3/4  Shutter #1 - Photo Finish
"Shutter" was the best J-Horror film I've seen in a while.

Although utilizing the over-familiar formula of scorned-spirit-haunting-through-technology, this one at least seems a little more clever than most. And I really liked the endin... (read full)

3/4  Shutter Quick Review
I watched this after seeing the American version. It's a good, suspenseful movie. The story was good and flowed well. I do prefer the American version just a bit more. I liked the little changes in it.

3/4  Shutter Quick Review
The Tartan Asia Extreme has released some great horror films and some duds - this is one of the better offerings. A little like the Ring or Grudge, but with its own twist - it builds, it jumps out at you - its pretty damn scary.

4/5 A ghostly 'picture'
  by Pramod De Silva (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
This movie is from the people who brought you the acclaimed `Ring' and `The Grudge', so it does have some scenes which will remind you of the two movies. The only difference is that the original in this case is a Thai film. Having said that, it is a remarkably effective film. The basic premise of the movie is spirit photography, whereby ghosts appear in photographs. The plot aside, the movie offers an interesting glimpse into this all-too-real subject.
The film won't scare you in that sense of the word, but there are plenty of tension-filled moments and totally unexpected twists. It works more as a revenge flick in my opinion than an outright horror movie. The acting by both US and Japanese actors is of a good standard. If you like Japan and/or J-horror, you will find this film very interesting.
The blu-ray offers a very convincing picture even in the night and dark scenes and the soundstage is also well constructed. You will find worse ways to spend 90 minutes than this well paced movie, so give it a go.

4/5 Good film in an excellente blu-ray video quality !
  by Gilberto Dotti Cesa (Flores da Cunha, RS Brasil)
In the high-def review this blu-ray received 3 stars for the video quality. I think it deserves 4. In the review of X-files I want to believe blu-ray they give 4 stars to the video quality, but x-files just deserves 2,5. I really don't understand what some critics understand about video quality !!! I think they received specials copy ...

5/5 Blu-Ray Shutter
  by David Margules (Englewood NJ)
The video and audio are great and thats on the standard DVD... I can't wait to recieve the Blu-Ray edition.

2/5 Shutter - Blu-ray Info
  by LGANS316 (Tokyo Japan)
Version: U.S.A / Region A
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / High Profile 4.1
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Running time: 1:29:37
Movie size: 27,54 GB
Disc size: 34,01 GB
Average video bit rate: 33.59 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 4007 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 4007kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio French 448 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 448kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 448 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 448kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 224kbps

Subtitles: English SDH / Cantonese / Mandarin / French / Korean / Spanish
Number of chapters: 24

#Audio Commentary
#Featurettes (SD - 18 minutes)
#Create Your Own Phantom Photo (SD - 4 minutes)
#Deleted Scenes (SD - 18 minutes)

5/5 One of the better Japanese cooperative efforts
  by W. Mason
First off, unless I'm mistaken, this is a remake of a movie from Thailand -- so I was a bit surprised when it ended up becoming a sort of Japanese-Hollywood hybrid.

Of course, the whole concept fits very well with the Grudge-like Japanese genre, and the Thai version was likely also inspired by that sub-genre of horror, so in the end that's beside the point. I just felt the need to question whether this is "just another J-Horror crossover".

Anyway, having lived in Japan for nearly a decade, I found this one hit very close to home and was authentic and believeable.

Compare to a show like Heroes that uses Japanese-Americans and Korean-Americans pretending to be Japanese with awful accents - or reading clocks with Kanji digits... well, let's just say it was nice to see some real Japanese actors who weren't playing to American stereotypes.

See, I knew more than a couple of American guys who dated Japanese women, and stories of the Japanese girlfriend who refused to say goodbye -- often bordering on the creepy stalkerish type -- were not rare.

Something about being a Gaijin and the way Japanese relationships are rarely as casual at their core makes the girlfriend who could not say goodbye story ring very true here.

I also knew a few less than wholesome American guys there with awful reputations, and the "ugly American" in this movie likewise hits the nail on the head.

These realistic, drawn-from-tales-of-experience background story elements make Shutter more than the typical watch the teens die one by one type of B flick, and made it very entertaining for me. I also found it to be more realistic than the Grudge remake because of their less than pretty take of the American guy in Japan.

If you are a guy (or girl) who lived in Japan for a while, you'll enjoy the authentic feel of this one. If not, it may just be "another J-horror crossover" to you.

It's a buy for me!