Shutter (2004)

directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun & Parkpoom Wongpoom

Thailand

97 minutes

3.5 stars out of 5

----

This was one of the first horror movies I ever watched a long, long time ago, but I've been meaning to rewatch it because I first saw it under less-than-ideal circumstances. I'm not an evangelist for the theater-going experience, but no movie deserves to be watched on an iPad 2 (on portrait mode) in an uncomfortable desk chair in somebody else's crowded office. I also very recently saw Banjung Pisanthanakun's latest movie The Medium, but to be honest I see few similarities between the two films, and this one had a different screenwriter as well.

As I've mentioned before, analog horror is my favorite thing. Any film where the haunting or otherwise supernatural event central to the plot has to do with the physical medium of film, or any technology that has now been streamlined out of existence, is inherently fascinating to me. You (or at least I) don't notice it that much when you're watching Shutter, because it really feels like a movie that could have come out this year, but it hinges on technology that, while not entirely defunct yet, is slowly disappearing. The protagonist can't immediately see that he's captured a ghost on film; he has to physically go to a print shop and get his pictures developed (or otherwise develop them himself in his home darkroom). This, to me, is infinitely more terrifying than waving your phone around and being able to instantly see ghosts through the screen. The element of waiting and being uncertain if there's things around you that you can't perceive, but can perceive and possibly harm you, is much more potent than the instant gratification of digital photography.

This is one of those movies that has such a stellar concept that I feel like it would have made an amazing short film, but a lot gets added in to make it a normal runtime, and while the depth of the plot doesn't ruin the movie, it does make the central idea - capturing ghosts on film - less central. We know from the start that the protagonist is not the best guy, but for a while we're still able to put ourselves in his shoes, and that alone is upsetting - who can say what they would do if they ran somebody down on the road by accident? We all hope that we would stay and help, and most of us probably would, but people are unpredictable when their panic instinct kicks in. It's oft-used horror fodder to have somebody become haunted for a one-time mistake that eventually overtakes their life, no matter how big or small. But as the story unfolds we gradually become more and more aware that the main character is not just somebody who did the wrong thing under pressure, he's been actively making bad choices and hurting people in the events that happened before the start of the film. This is not a movie where the horrific message comes from the possibility that any small mistake could cause you to become haunted. This is a movie that shows the awful side of humanity, that follows the descent of a terrible person into the depths of the retribution he deserves.

The only conceivable way I could compare this to The Medium would be that they both get much more intense in their second halves, but like The Medium, Shutter is way better when it's more subtle. There's a vibe to this. It's very laid-back when it's not being terrifying, and the easygoing way that the non-involved characters (like the print shop guy) interact with the protagonist show us there's a world that exists outside of the crises the film's characters are having, which is something horror movies don't do a lot. When I think about this movie, even before this last rewatch, the thing that has always stuck in my mind isn't the end, when the protagonist is finally able to see his ghost without the aid of a camera, but his lingering neck pain throughout the film. I don't know what it is about that small sideline of the story, executed with no real need for CGI, that is so lastingly creepy. Feeling something and knowing it's there but not being able to get anyone else to corroborate it or gather enough proof to show it to someone else is something I feel like we've all experienced at some point, not just in the context of a haunting.

There's a reason why this is a cult classic. It's a good movie. Despite one baffling and totally unnecessary scene of comedy relief that felt like I'd stopped watching the movie and started watching a parody of it, Shutter manages to keep up the scare factor steadily and even work in a "plot twist" (some call it a twist, but I think it's more like a slow reveal). It doesn't do a thorough, academic-level deep dive into any one subject, but its themes of personal responsibility, character, and ghosts on film all work together to make something that still stands out as unique today.