Shutter is a GREAT movie!

[Juan Rayo]

Man, I'm gonna have to update my answer in the thread "last time a movie really scared you" 'cause Shutter REALLY did it for me last night!

While waiting for the DVD to arrive, a friend got a, erm, copy of the movie somehow :D and so we settled down last night to watch it.

Now, could be that I was in a special mood. Could be the beer, too. But the movie managed at times to scare the life out of me. I have to give special thanks to Mr. Boxeador Espiritual for pointing this one out for me. I really, really enjoyed it and I am looking foward to it on DVD.

Since the beggining, it had that famous and hard to pinpoint quality, the "sense of dread" that effectively keeps you tense the whole time. Oh, it starts innocently enought with some friends having drinks and a good time, but about 5 mins into the movie things begin moving very nicely.

As Mr. Spiritual Boxer said, this one really telegraphs the scares, you KNOW they are coming and despite that they work every single time. I think there is very clever use of misdirection by the Director, who also upsets the viewer by "changing the rules" on the timing of the scares. He even manages to do something that's really hard in horror movies: make and extended sequence (a couple of minutes, at least) keep the same level of intensity and sheer horror. Great stuff.

The vengefull ghost is nothing you have not seen before, really, it clearly borrows from previous movies, but man it was WELL DONE and I sincerely think the girls in RINGU and JU ON have nothing on this one, she is SCARY AS HELL. And there is hardly any gore in the movie too, as many of these Asian horrors have proved, you don't neccesarily need it to scare the audience.

It was also refreshing to see a movie that didn't have to go for gimmicky storytelling to confuse the viewer. Shooter is pretty straight foward and EVERYTHING makes sense at the end, every single plot point is nicely tied and closed. Take THAT, "Infection".

Finally, I have to say that the end is completely satisfactory, and though I only "got it" a couple of seconds before the film showed the "twist", nevertheless my jaw hit the floor, hard.

I cannot say enough good things about this movie, everything works here, and my only concern now is that it probably raised the bar to a level where it's gonna be hard to find another movie that makes me jump as hard and as often as "Shooter" did.

[spiritual boxer]

Hey Juan,

Glad you enjoyed the film! It sounds like the film had a positive effect on you. The film did the same to me the first time I watched it. I love how it starts out all nice and friendly with old high school buddies enjoying their time together at a friend's wedding. From that point on, the film begins to lay the dread on, and we get the sense that some bad shit is about to ensue. The cool thing is that the downbeat feeling that we get keeps getting stronger as the film progresses, and the sense of dread that we feel gets laid on thicker and thicker towards the end. Another positive thing about this film is the story. Sure, JUON had a good premise, but the story - with its non-linear structure took something away from it. So far, I would say the story that revolves around SHUTTER to be one of the best in asian horror cinema, and is only second to RINGU. Another thing that I loved about SHUTTER was how it is able to change how we feel about the characters. At first, we are sympathetic towards Tun and Jane, and hoped that they make it out of this ordeal alive. But towards the end, when the story is revealed, I started to feel empathy for the vengeful spirit, Natre, and started to despise Tun, and felt that he got what he deserves. The ghost photographs were pretty cool too, but the best part about the film was the ending. Man, what a sucker punch to the gut! At that point, I was falling to the floor like my legs were a pair of Jenga blocks, and my jaw looking like a fleshier version of Ghostface from the film, SCREAM. In the end, SHUTTER was a roller-coaster ride of a movie and is definitely one of the gems in my dvd collection.

I heard somewhere that Hollywood is planning a remake of this film. This could be just rumors, but considering the fact that Hokeywood is in a remake craze due to a drought in creativity and imagination, I wouldn't rule out the idea of a possible remake.

[Juan Rayo]

Exactly, that is one of the parts I most enjoyed of the film:

Possible SPOILERS AHEAD:























FIrst, we simpathize with Tun. Then we loathe him, then we forgive him (at the same time Jane does) and then, later, we hate his guts and believe that he had (they ALL had) this coming. This kind of manipulation of our feelings by the director was GREAT and I truly enjoyed it. And you are right, man, that ending, ugg, it was intense and nasty and delicious at the same time!

[DevilMan]

Originally posted by spiritual boxer+Jul 30 2005, 07:50 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(spiritual boxer @ Jul 30 2005, 07:50 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>Sure, JUON had a good premise, but the story - with its non-linear structure took something away from it.[/b]
Certainly NOT trying to put down SHUTTER (I love it as much as you guys do) but I think JUON THE GRUDGE would have had a similar final impact if the actual ending would have made alittle more sense. I mean, the interchanging chapter timelines was a great idea and every time two eventually matched up, you placed your finger on your lip and said, "Ah, okay, so that's how that goes."

Again, too bad the ending left you feeling alittle unsatisfied.

<!--QuoteBegin-spiritual boxer@Jul 30 2005, 07:50 PM
So far, I would say the story that revolves around SHUTTER to be one of the best in asian horror cinema, and is only second to RINGU. [/quote]
RINGU over A TALE OF TWO SISTERS?! That was a typo, right?

Two other great Asian spook movies, even though they're not groundbreaking, are the newer Korean flicks, DEAD FRIEND and FACE. Great creepiness to them both, and decent endings. I absolutely know you two will enjoy the pair.

Here's the awesome poster designs...

DEAD FRIEND

http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/dead%20friend%20ad%2001.jpg http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/dead%20friend%20ad%2002.jpg

FACE

http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/face%20ad%20art%2001.jpg http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/face%20ad%20art%2002.jpg

-Steve

[spiritual boxer]

Originally posted by DevilMan+Jul 30 2005, 08:40 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DevilMan @ Jul 30 2005, 08:40 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>Originally posted by spiritual boxer@Jul 30 2005, 07:50 PM
Sure, JUON had a good premise, but the story - with its non-linear structure took something away from it.
Certainly NOT trying to put down SHUTTER (I love it as much as you guys do) but I think JUON THE GRUDGE would have had a similar final impact if the actual ending would have made alittle more sense. I mean, the interchanging chapter timelines was a great idea and every time two eventually matched up, you placed your finger on your lip and said, "Ah, okay, so that's how that goes."

Again, too bad the ending left you feeling alittle unsatisfied.

<!--QuoteBegin-spiritual boxer@Jul 30 2005, 07:50 PM
So far, I would say the story that revolves around SHUTTER to be one of the best in asian horror cinema, and is only second to RINGU.
RINGU over A TALE OF TWO SISTERS?! That was a typo, right?

Two other great Asian spook movies, even though they're not groundbreaking, are the newer Korean flicks, DEAD FRIEND and FACE. Great creepiness to them both, and decent endings. I absolutely know you two will enjoy the pair.

Here's the awesome poster designs...

DEAD FRIEND

http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/dead%20friend%20ad%2001.jpg http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/dead%20friend%20ad%2002.jpg

FACE

http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/face%20ad%20art%2001.jpg http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/face%20ad%20art%2002.jpg

-Steve
Quoted post
[/b][/quote]


Oh man! haha! I totally forgot about A TALE OF TWO SISTERS while writing this post. My brain is overloaded and my thought process is all scrambled. Let me rephrase that by saying that it comes in second, right after RINGU and A TALE OF TWO SISTERS. I consider RINGU and A TALE OF TWO SISTERS to be equals because RINGU was my first real introduction to serious asian horror, which will always have a special place in my heart, while ATOTS really showed us how good an asian horror film can be with its good production values, great writing, and a fantastic story. So to me, these two films are equally important towards my love and fascination regarding asian horror movies. Thanks for pointing that out DM.

[DevilMan]

Originally posted by spiritual boxer@Jul 30 2005, 09:49 PM
I consider RINGU and A TALE OF TWO SISTERS to be equals because RINGU was my first real introduction to serious asian horror, which will always have a special place in my heart, while ATOTS really showed us how good an asian horror film can be with its good production values, great writing, and a fantastic story. So to me, these two films are equally important towards my love and fascination regarding asian horror movies.
Oh, I can certainly appreciate that. Before I ever saw RINGU myself, I had lucked into a few lesser known Japanese horror flicks like KAKASHI (aka Scarecrow), KAIRO (aka The Pulse), and UZUMAKI (aka The Spiral), all of which still hold that special place in my heart as you said.

And also as you mentioned, they set the ball in motion and the later efforts snatched it up and ran with it providing far more and newer entertainment than the ones that preceeded them. But you can't turn your back on the ones that got it all started, no matter what.

-Steve

[Juan Rayo]

Hmm, I would put A tale of two sisters first and then Shutter, and I think they are different animals. One goes for thriller and suspense and it's BEAUTIFULLY shot, the other almost made had to change my underwear :D . Ringu and Ju-ON follow closely. The last one, I really see no reason for the story to be told that way, and that kinda puts me off, as opposed to ATOTS where the story begs to be told in the way it is. Of course, I did enjoy Ju ON.

How about the ones you mentioned, Mr. Devilman? Kakashi, Kairo and Uzumaki? are they on par with the ones mentioned above?

The posters for DEAD FRIEND and FACE look both great, and I will TRY to get'em both. "sighs" and I thought I was spending a lot on my telescope... asian horror will drive my finances to the ground...

[versus]

This'll sound really annoying but all these asian movies not all but some try to be to suphisticated and make no sense and they all have a girl whos a ghost i find it so boring although the grudge was cool, but cant they just make a entertaining monster film with lots of blood, thats my opinion anyway.

[spiritual boxer]

Hey versus,

you should look at HIRUKO THE GOBLIN which is pretty entertaining, and also check out UZUMAKI which has a pretty original story and is also entertaining as well.

[Juan Rayo]

Originally posted by versus@Jul 31 2005, 06:14 PM
This'll sound really annoying but all these asian movies not all but some try to be to suphisticated and make no sense and they all have a girl whos a ghost i find it so boring although the grudge was cool, but cant they just make a entertaining monster film with lots of blood, thats my opinion anyway.
Quoted post


Mr. Versus. I don't think it's annoying, different tastes is all. I think you are kinda right, some movies try so hard to be "smart" and end up just being stupid or, worse, boring and confusing.

That is not the case with "Shooter" though, it really is a great horror movie. Hmm, as for "lots of blood" well in that department I guess "Shooter" really won't make it for you. As I said, different tastes.

[versus]

Thanks, hiruko looks really funny, do you have the grudge 2?

[spiritual boxer]

Originally posted by versus@Aug 1 2005, 11:53 AM
Thanks, hiruko looks really funny, do you have the grudge 2?
Quoted post


Actually, I don't have THE GRUDGE 2. I thought it was decent, kind of a rehash of the first one, but not as memorable, even though I did enjoy the "hanging body" scene in the film. As for HIRUKO, I really enjoyed that film. It was funny at times, gory at times, and entertaining the entire time.

[DevilMan]

Originally posted by Juan Rayo@Jul 30 2005, 10:59 PM
How about the ones you mentioned, Mr. Devilman? Kakashi, Kairo and Uzumaki? are they on par with the ones mentioned above?
KAKASHI, based on a Junji Ito manga story and it's really heavy on traditional Japanese folklore and the whole thing is like a dream.

Here's a review I did for it sometime back...

KAKASHI: I've always thought scarecrows could be kinda scary and a movie, if done right, could make them downright evil. Now, I'm not too sure how many scarecrow films have been made over the years, but this Japanese horror comic writer, JUNJI ITO's "old-fashioned legend turned horror movie" spookshow is certainly the best one I've ever seen on the subject. It's also one of the few recent movies adapted from his Horror Manga Collection. His UZUMAKI (aka THE VORTEX) spinetingler is another great addition (see other review).

And what's even better, the "bad guy" of the movie is none other than KOU SIBASAKI, who played the super-sexy, yet totally psychotic Mitsuko from the GREATEST Japanese film of all time, BATTLE ROYALE. We even get a guest appearance by starlet, GRACE IP. So to me, all that's worth the price of admission right away. But let's not get off track here and go back to the review.

It tales the story of an old misplaced village that holds a Kakashi (scarecrow) Festival once a year and if you construct one representing a family member or loved one who passed away, his or her spirit will return from the beyond to embody that scarecrow. Thus, allowing them to become flesh and blood again. But just like all the other "dead returning to life" movies, something always goes wrong and the newly resurrected one in question, tends to go about killing, maiming, or generally threatening any and all those around the area. And this film is no different.

I've heard people say that the movie is rather slow in places but I don't feel that way because it's all "build-up" in my opinion. Now, I will agree that the actual ending could be somewhat anti-climatic but I must say that the pace might have been intended to do nothing other than to creep you out. And I will go on the record and say that it's direction is probably it's best asset, well, other than Kou that is. It's one of those movies where the camera follows the character as he or she looks into a darkened doorway where nothing can be seen, then turns away for a sec to speak to someone, then turns back to the doorway only to come face to face with something horrible looking back at them. And at that same moment, the music booms in, giving you a shock and causing you to flinch in your seat. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. I'd call them "scare moments" and this movie's full of them.

So with that in mind, make sure you watch this one on a dark, quiet night, by yourself to enjoy the full effect.

KAIRO is another good movie with a supernatural doomsday theme. I never did a review of it but I gotta say it's a pretty spooky thing. The scene with the couch will really impress. And there's a suicide fall that looks absolutely fucking REAL!

UZUMAKI still works well today. Here's my old review of it...

UZUMAKI: I've never read any of Japanese writer and artist, JUNJI ITO's actual UZUMAKI horror manga (which this movie is based on) but if it's half as creepy as the film version, then it's gotta be downright spooky because this movie is without a doubt, one of the eeriest puppies I've seen in a LONG, LONG time.

Yeah, I know you're saying that the ending was kinda weak (because it doesn't have an ending) but that would be the ONLY strike against it, in my opinion. But if you take the time to analyze the movie as a whole, you can overlook the ending.

And, you know, after watching it more and more, I'd go on the record to say that I can totally forgive it because it's really quite scary, and that's something you just don't find in many horror movies these days. NOT so much scary as in the presentation of the provocative scenes of juicy moist, crimson-colored gore and glorious bloodletting that's so abundant in the Asian Horror Cinema, but it's the slight-of-hand and the witty quick swaying camera work that will actually "do you in" instead of it's many visceral surreal images.

Well, I kinda take that back, there are o-plenty of scenes of the human body horribly twisted and contorted by the UZUMAKI (the Japanese word for "Vortex"). And it can be rather unsettling to see a person spun into a dough-like, quivering fleshy pulp stuck inside a running washing machine. But it's really when the camera pans in close to see it's face, and it suddenly snaps open it's eyes and starts to scream, that's when you get your shock, or as I like to call them, your "Scare Moments".

But enough of the spoilers, here's the basic storyline, it stars ERIKO HATSUNE and her town's inhabitants begin to suffer from a phobia of swirls, or vortex patterns, or better known as the already mentioned term, UZUMAKI. If you don't die from it right away by stuffing yourself into a washer, or cutting out your circular inner ear parts, growing spiral snail shells from your back (?), getting ran over and stuck in the truck's tire well, or plunging to your death from a spiral staircase, (see any similarities yet) then you're bound to become insanely possessed by it and attempt to kill any one else not already infected with this UZUMAKI disease. Of course, the only fun way to really kill someone is to twist your body into horrid, elongated shapes and try to strangle your potential victim.

But contary to what you may be thinking now, all this is shown in a way as to NOT "gross" you out with the "red stuff". And that I think (Lord forbid I should ever say this) it actually works better for this kind of movie. Let me know if you agree so I can re-assure myself that I'm NOT loosing my appetite for excessive human carnage and blood-filled carnal slaughter.

So, what do you think?

-Steve

[Juan Rayo]

Originally posted by DevilMan@Aug 8 2005, 03:15 AM
[So, what do you think?
-Steve
Quoted post


*drools*

They look great, every one of them. Thanks for the very helpfull response, Mr. Devilman. I have been looking around for this movies ever since you mentioned them, to no avail (in Honduras, that is). So they have been just added to the "Coming in xmas list" and it's gonna be a LONG wait 'till I finally see them.

On the other hand, come january 10th I will have TONS of asian horror stuff to talk about :teeth:

Oh, and these weekend we skipped our "Asian horror of the week" in favor of Ong Bak, since I had been wanting to see that one for a while, and we needed a brief rest after a couple of weeks in wich we've seen ATOTS, Whispering Corridors, Memento Mori, The Eye, Infection, JU ON (again!) and Shutter (twice, too). Next week follow Koma, H and Acacia I believe is the last of them.

[DevilMan]

Originally posted by Juan Rayo@Aug 8 2005, 05:01 AM
I have been looking around for this movies ever since you mentioned them, to no avail (in Honduras, that is). So they have been just added to the "Coming in xmas list" and it's gonna be a LONG wait 'till I finally see them.
If you're interested in buying DVD's from some online sellers and dealers, just let me know and I'll post the addresses to the stores I usually use. And I'm sure JAY can help out there too.

-Steve

[Jay]

I loved Kairo! It was damn creepy and the themes of isolation really got to me. A minor masterpiece in my opinion.

Juan, I'd be happy to point you to some retailers if you'd like. You can get HK dvds fairly cheap direct from HK, but I don't know the import laws of your country.

[Juan Rayo]

Muchas gracias a los dos. I believe I mention my girlfriend's brother is looking for the movies in Canada (Vancouver, to be exact) and he'll tell me if the finds them or not. I asked him to do this because the shipping cost of DVD's from the USA to Honduras would probable DOUBLE what I have to pay for them (same from KH, but I am not sure really and will check it out) and I don't like that prospect, so it works much better to have someone who is already coming to visit buy them and bring them.

Of course, I don't suppose he will make a priority out of looking for obscure asian horror flicks, and I will have to give it a while to know if he finds them or not. That said, if he doesn't, I will probably buy them over the net anyway. I will pm you guys to let you know and will greatly appreciate the help.

edit: is actually MORE expensive to get them here from HK that from the US. arghhh.