Shutter (DVD)

Synopsis

A young photographer and his girlfriend discover mysterious shadows in their photographs after a tragic accident. They soon learn that you can never escape the past as a ghost continuously haunts them!

Based on a 2004 Thai horror flick, this surprisingly effective Hollywood remake is actually set in Tokyo. That's where newlywed hubby Joshua Jackson has taken bride Rachael Taylor (Transformers) for an ill-advised honeymoon. They hit a woman standing in the middle of a spooky road, after which all sorts of ghosts seem to emerge from Jackson's camera (he's come to Japan for a fashion-photography gig). Can our plucky heroine, a fish out of water in a confusing city, find the answer to this haunted puzzle? Well, yes, but she won't like what she finds.

SHUTTER is distinguished by director Mayasuki Ochiai's compositional eye, which favors the empty, creeped-out spaces in which ghosts might dwell. The movie also gets into the phenomenon of "spirit photography," which suggests that the dear departed make their presence known as white flashes in snapshots.