Shutter

NEW YORK (CNS) -- A Brooklyn couple endure a hellish honeymoon in "Shutter" (20th Century Fox), a glum, morbid and mostly forgettable horror tale.

Shortly after arriving in Japan for what will also be partly a business trip, photographer Ben Shaw (Joshua Jackson) and his bride, Jane (Rachael Taylor), are on a nighttime car trip from Tokyo to a remote cabin when a young woman (Megumi Okina) suddenly appears in the middle of the road and they strike her head-on. Swerving into a tree, the two are slightly injured and temporarily knocked out. When they revive, all traces of the girl have disappeared.

Ben wants to forget the incident, but Jane is haunted by it, all the more so once the spectral figure of their unidentified victim begins appearing in the background of his fashion shots and her holiday photos. Jane consults an expert on "spirit photography" (a popular subject with the Japanese, apparently) and analyzes the images for clues.

Eventually she discovers that this wraith is no stranger to her new husband or to his shady expatriate friends from the modeling business, Bruno (David Denman) and Adam (John Hensley).

Director Masayuki Ochiai's film is a remake of the 2004 Thai feature of the same name. While not as gratuitously bloody as many offerings in this genre, "Shutter" lacks coherence and originality. Okina infuses her almost silent role with smoldering menace, but otherwise there's a feeling of business as usual.

The film contains implied nonmarital sex, occasional vulgarity, including one use each of the f- and s-words, five uses of profanity, a suicide and a rape theme. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops