'Shutter' fails to develop

From the producers of “The Ring” and “The Grudge” comes another Asian horror film remake. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before: scary long-haired girls turning slowly to look at the camera and lots of jumpy moments.

“Shutter” is the story of two newlyweds, photographer Benjamin Shaw (Joshua Jackson) and his wife Jane (Rachael Taylor) honeymooning in Japan. Along the way, they keep seeing a strange girl everywhere who begins to haunt their vacation photos as well. (It’s amusing to see just how many photos show up in this movie, and how quickly they are all developed.)

These spirit photos tell the story of Benjamin’s last girlfriend, who stalked him and killed herself after being rejected. One by one, his friends begin to die off in mysterious photo-related accidents. Sound ridiculous? You’d be right.

Sporting tired old horror-movie formulas, “Shutter” leaves its audience bored and empty inside. The only entertaining part of this movie is the small satisfaction of how accurately you predict the order and timing of the deaths of characters. It caters perfectly to the 14-year-old-girl crowd, with its cheap attempts at gross-out horror and jumpy moments that can be spotted from a mile away. Ending in a twist that’s not so much unsurprising as it is uninteresting, Shutter is like a dry bowl of Total: bland, hard to finish, and leaving you thirsty.

Actual horror is lacking. Nothing in this film is scary, though some parts are odd, slightly unnerving and gross. There is absolutely nothing scary anymore about occasionally seeing a white blob on a photo or a girl who shouldn’t be there.

All in all, avoid this movie. The plot, though tired, at least makes sense (well, at least until the end). The acting isn’t horrific, and the movie is adequately filmed. The fright level is low enough for an audience with heart problems. So if you’re a fan of yawning in dark theaters, make sure you check this out.