“SHUTTER” (2008)

Starring: Joshua Jackson, Rachael Taylor, Megumi Okina, David Denman, John Hensley, Maya Hazen & James Kyson Lee
Directed by Masayuki Ochiai
Written by Luke Dawson (screenplay), Banjong Pisanthanakun (original writer), Sopon Sukdapisit (original writer) & Parkpoom Wongpoom (original writer)
Official Site
Release Date: March 21, 2008

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Asian horror is still fairly unfamiliar territory for most Hollywood executives. But that’s not the case with producers Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment. The duo was the main force behind Gore Verbinski’s “The Ring,” which opened mainstream American eyes to J-horror cinema in 2002. Lee and Davison followed the success of that film with productions of “Dark Water,” “The Eye” and “The Grudge,” which is perhaps the scariest PG-13 horror film of the last decade.

Now the producers, along with Taka Ichise (“Ringu,” “ Ju-on”) and 20th Century Fox bring a remake of the Thai supernatural thriller “Shutter” to the screen. The movie centers around the phenomenon of spirit photography and stars Joshua Jackson (“Cruel Intentions,” “Urban Legend”) as Benjamin Shaw and Rachael Taylor (“Transformers”) as his wife Jane.
Photographer Benjamin Shaw has just recently married the woman of his dreams when he gets a lucrative fashion shoot gig in Tokyo. This exotic professional opportunity should be the perfect working honeymoon for the couple. Or so they think.

One night on a mountain road leading to Mt. Fuji in Japan, a woman seems to materialize out of nowhere, Jane is unable to stop fast enough and her new wonderful life with Ben comes crashing to a halt. Upon regaining consciousness after the accident, the newly weds cannot find any trace of the girl Jane believes she hit with the car.

Shaken by the accident and by the girl’s disappearance, the couple arrives in Tokyo and Ben begins his new assignment. Though he has worked in Japan before and is fluent in the language, Jane is a newcomer to the city and feels very much like a stranger in a strange land as she makes tentative, unsettling forays through the city.

Soon Ben discovers mysterious white blurs – eerily evocative of a human form – on an entire day’s work of photos. Jane’s concerns escalate as she believes the blurs are the dead girl from the road, who is now seeking vengeance for them for leaving her to die.

Did they even really hit anyone that dark night? If they did, is there a connection between the death and the blurs? Are the blurs manifestations of a long-haired dead girl seeking revenge? Or is Jane just so full of guilt and anxiety that she can’t see straight and she’s driving Ben crazy to the point that he is screwing up his high paying gig by overexposing his photos? We’ll just have to wait and see wait happens when “Shutter,” which also stars Megumi Okina (“Ju-On: The Grudge”), David Denman (“The Office”), John Hensley (“Teeth”) and James Kyson Lee (“Heroes”), opens March 21.

The original 2004 film it is based off is the all-time highest grossing film in Thailand, but the movie didn’t really translate well for American and Japanese audiences due to Thai culture and perceptions. In hopes of appealing to both audiences, American screenwriter Luke Dawson, who also wrote an adaptation of the famed Japanese manga “Lone Wolf and Cub,” penned the script and Japanese filmmaker Masayuki Ochiai (“Infection,” “Hypnosis,” “Parasite Eve”) was brought on board to direct it. Two-time Japanese Academy winner Katsumi Yanagishima served as cinematographer and Nathan Barr (“Cabin Fever,” “Hostel”) scored the soundtrack.

“On the surface, the Thai version of ‘Shutter’ doesn’t really tie in with Japan or its culture because it was made in Thailand, by Thais, for the Thai people,” Ichise said. “Yet after re-watching it, I came to realize how certain elements, such as its depiction of the ghost and of spirit photography, were similar to Japanese horror. It was then I chose Ochiai to direct because I knew he could find ways to make a very good film for both American and Japanese audiences.”

The award-winning Ochiai seems to have pulled it off quite well in his English-speaking debut as the visuals and suspense factor look to be on par with Takashi Shimizu’s “The Grudge” and both Jackson and Taylor had high praise for their director. Jackson said Ochiai “has this ability to set a mood and create tension throughout the story,” while Taylor noted, he “has a really good eye for what’s authentically scary – and that translates to all audiences.” Making sure things translate well seems to be the key in pulling off a project like “Shutter.” Not just scares, but languages as well, as Ochiai doesn’t speak English himself.

“I had nightmares about the difficulties that would come with working with actors whose language I don’t know,” Ochiai said. “But my fears went away at our first rehearsal, when I realized we had a wonderful interpreter (Chiho Asada) and that everyone was moving toward the same goal. It was so seamless that I always felt like I was talking directly with the actors.”

Taylor, who is originally from Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, explains that she was just as scared as he was. But feels the culture shock helped with characterization in “Shutter,” which featured a number of interior location shoots at the famed studios of the Toho Company – the home of many Akira Kurosawa movies, as well as “Godzilla” and “Mothra.”

“I’m a country girl, so Tokyo was a complete other world for me,” Taylor said. “I had some serious ‘Lost in Translation’ moments while filming. I think it’s similar to what Jane goes through in the film. She’s very much out of her depth and desperately trying to cope with a culture she’s unfamiliar with.”

- CCF, March 2008