Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

From Japanese director Masayuki Oschiai (Kansen, "Infection") comes Shutter, a U.S. remake of a Thai film of the same name. Breaking no new ground whatsoever, Shutter is pure J-Horror with a paint-by-numbers plot that could very well be lifted from The Ring or The Grudge.

Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek, The Skulls) and Rachael Taylor (Transformers, Bottle Shock) play (what else?) a couple of newlyweds from the U.S. who move to Japan when Jackson's character, Benjamin Shaw, gets a job doing a professional photo shoot. The couple spends their honeymoon around Benjamin's new job, and things don't take long to go askew when, as Benjamin and Jane (Taylor) are driving up to Mt. Fuji at night, a woman seemingly steps in front of their car and they run her over before skidding off the road into a tree.

From there, it is more of the usual -- they begin to be "haunted". Strange "lights" start appearing in all of their photographs. Jane learns from Benjamin's assistant that they are spirit photographs, photos that capture the images of the dead, and hence the film's title, Shutter. As more strange occurrences continue and Benjamin's colleagues are both killed, the couple realizes they are being tormented by the spirit of the girl they believed they ran over and the usual investigation ensues to determine why she is haunting them.

Shutter Unrated runs for a merciful 89 minutes, and even that is far too long. It has become painfully obvious that the image of these long black-haired female ghosts, or as the Japanese call them, yurei, has become a cliché in J-Horror, particularly when from one storyline to the next, the plots are nearly identical, with only minor changes made to places and names. What Shutter amounts to, therefore, is nothing more than a skillfully filmed snoozefest that is low on scares, offers little surprises, and certainly no horror. How can someone be afraid when they pretty much know what's coming already? I think it is time for this genre to be given a rest.

The Picture

Filmed in an intentionally dark, moody style with deep mid-tones and filled with shadowy nighttime scenes, Fox's wonderful 36Mbps AVC/MPEG-4 1080p/24 encoding of the film in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 superbly captures the mood and shadings of Shutter with amazing detail. The source -- as is to be expected for a film this young -- is in immaculate condition. The transfer conveys all of the finer details, including a wonderful, film-like level of grain that remains consistent throughout the presentation.

For a film that contains so many darkened scenes, crush is never an issue with excellent, deep blacks yet maintaining a wonderful amount of shadow detail. Contrast ratios are perfectly set so that blooming never occurs, but saturation is purposely highlighted in the mid-tones and deemphasized elsewhere giving flesh tones a warm but ever-so-slight pasty appearance. This is overall a very high quality transfer from Fox, showing no artifacts and maintaining the true look of film.

The Sound

Staying true to form, Fox have offered as their high-quality audio option on this release an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack alongside Dolby Digital 5.1 French and Spanish dubbed options. I am still awaiting the arrival a new BD player capable of bitstreaming DTS-HD Master Audio to my AVR for decoding, so for now, I am limited to listening to the core 1.5Mbps DTS track embedded in the DTS-HD MA program as my player, the first generation Panasonic DMP-BD10, can neither decode nor bitstream DTS-HD MA.

Barring my ability to hear the actual lossless program, I could tell straight away even with only the high-bitrate DTS core, that this was an exceptional soundtrack that would only be made more exceptional by the lossless encoding. Shutter's 5.1 mix is a completely involving, total six-channel experience. Eerie, ambient sounds swirl around you, low frequencies vibrate straight through your bones, and dialogue is clearly mixed with a beautiful amount of reverberant information sent to the surrounds to pull it all together. There is hardly a moment during the film where something isn't going on in one of the channels and it all works. The car crash in Chapter 2 offers one of the most thrilling sound experiences of the film, as screeching tires and the roar of the enginel pan all around while the subwoofer booms thunderously away. This is the stuff of reference quality showcase material.


The Extras

Shutter Unrated on BD comes with an ample amount of supplementary material that should keep one occupied for a while, but is not likely to add any enjoyment to the actual viewing of the film nor will it inspire many looks beyond the first time through. Most of the bonus material focuses on the "yurei", or ghost, in Japanese culture as well as the popularity of spirit photography in Japan. All materials are in standard definition, which is adequate for the quality of materials proffered.

Extras included on this release are:

• Commentary by Production Executive Alex Sundell, Screenwriter Luke Dawson, and Actress Rachael Taylor -- A typical audio commentary track that is more of a nuisance and distraction to listen to during the film than it is an actual added value, in my opinion.
  

• A Ghost in the Lens (4:3/windowboxed/standard definition) -- In this brief featurette the cast and filmmakers discuss the horror aspects of the film, the popularity of spirit photography in Japan and the differences between Japanese and Western beliefs concerning the supernatural.
  

• A Cultural Divide: Shooting in Japan (4:3/windowboxed/standard definition) -- The US cast members tell of their experiences while filming in Japan. They tell of the differences they noticed between Western and Japanese cultures and discuss the some of the awkwardness of having to work with translators during the shoot.
  

• The Director Masayuki Ochiai (4:3/windowboxed/standard definition) -- The director of Shutter is interviewed and discusses many things, among them why the image of the "long black-haired female ghost" is so popular in Japanese horror films and whether he believes in spirit photography himself. Apart from the heavy emphasis on the discussion of the supernatural in the interview, the director also discusses the effort he made to keep the US remake of Shutter as close to the Thai original as possible, even going as far as to intentionally use scenes from the original film.
  

• A Conversation with Luke Dawson (4:3/windowboxed/stabdard definition) -- The film's screenwriter has a discussion about his work on the film and what he sees as the differences between Japanese and US horror films.
  

• A History of Spirit Photography (4:3/windowboxed/standard definition) -- This brief mini-documentary tells the history of the world of spirit photography, from its accidental beginnings during the early days of photography in the 19th century to the present.
  

• Create Your Own Phantom Photo (4:3/standard definition) -- An instructional video on how to create your own "spirit photograph" on a computer using Photoshop.

• The Hunt for the Haunt: Tools and Tips for Ghost Hunting (1.35:1/windowboxed/standard definition) -- Assumedly tongue-in-cheek tips for aspiring ghost hunters everywhere.

• Fox Movie Channel Presents: In Character with Joshua Jackson (1.35:1/windowboxed/standard definition) -- A brief Fox Movie Channel promotional spot in which the star of the film, Joshua Jackson, discusses the film and the character he plays.

• Japanese Spirit Photography Videos (4:3/standard definition) -- Actual videos from what is presumed to be Japanese television that purport to capture actual spirits on tape, one of which appears to be a body of a woman morphing into a decrepit corpse.

• Alternate and Deleted Scenes (4:3/windowboxed/standard definition) -- A collection of fifteen extended, deleted, and alternate scenes from the film. Judging by what they left out and this being the unrated version no less, I'd say they made some very good choices in the cutting room.

Final Thoughts

Shutter will not raise many hairs on your body. It's razor thin plot is so typical of the J-Horror genre that it's nearly impossible for it to cause any fright. If you really need to see a film like this, I suggest you watch The Ring, or even The Grudge, and be done with it. Fortunately, this BD release is at least saved by the excellent picture and audio quality that capture the film's wonderful stylistic look and the superb 5.1 mix flawlessly. It may not be a title to buy, but perhaps if you'd like to experience the quality of it, a rental may be in order.

Where to Buy

• Shutter Unrated on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Product Details

• Actors: Joshua Jackson, Rachael Taylor, Megumi Okina, David Denman
• Director: Masayuki Ochiai
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Audio/Languages: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French & Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Spanish
• Region: A
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated Version
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: July 15, 2008
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• List Price: $39.98
• Extras:
  • Commentary by Production Executive Alex Sundell, Screenwriter Luke Dawson and Actress Rachael Taylor
  • A Ghost in the Lens Featurette
  • A Cultural Divide: Shooting in Japan Featurette
  • The Director: Masayuki Ochiai Featurette
  • A Conversation with Luke Dawson Featurette
  • A History of Spirit Photography Featurette
  • Create Your Own Phantom Photo
  • The Hunt for the Haunt: Tools and Tips for Ghost Hunting Featurette
  • Fox Movie Channel Presents In Character with Joshua Jackson
  • Japanese Spirit Photography Videos
  • Alternate and Deleted Scenes, Including Alternate Ending