Shutter (2004 film)

Shutter
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Banjong Pisanthanakun Parkpoom Wongpoom
Written by	Banjong Pisanthanakun Sopon Sukdapisit Parkpoom Wongpoom
Produced by	Yodphet Sudsawad
Starring	Ananda Everingham Natthaweeranuch Thongmee Achita Sikamana
Cinematography	Niramon Ross
Edited by	Manop Boonvipat Lee Chatametikool
Music by	Chartchai Pongprapapan
Production companies	GMM Pictures Phenomena Motion Pictures
Distributed by	GMM Tai Hub
Release date	September 9, 2004 (2004-09-09)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Thailand
Language	Thai
Box office	฿109.98 million (Bangkok, Metropolitan & Chiang Mai)

Shutter (Thai: ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ Chattoe: Kot Tit Winyan, "Shutter: Press to Capture Ghosts") is a 2004 Thai supernatural horror film by Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom; starring Ananda Everingham, Natthaweeranuch Thongmee, and Achita Sikamana. It focuses on mysterious images seen in developed pictures. The film was a box office success.

Besides being remade in English under the same name, the film was also remade multiple times in India, in the languages Telugu as Photo, Tamil as Sivi and Hindi as Click.

Plot

After a friends' party, Jane (Natthaweeranuch Thongmee) and her photographer boyfriend Tun (Ananda Everingham) get into a car accident, with Jane accidentally running over a woman. Tun prevents her from getting out of the car; they drive away, leaving the girl on the road.

Tun begins to discover mysterious white shadows and faces in his photographs. Jane thinks that these images may be the ghost of the girl they hit. Tun, who has been experiencing severe neck pains since the accident, visits a specialist and is dismayed to find that his weight is double his regular weight. He dismisses the idea of being haunted, though his friends are also being disturbed by this mysterious entity.

Jane discovers that the girl was Natre, a shy young woman who had attended the same college as Tun. Tun admits that he and Natre were in a relationship, which Tun had kept secret from his friends. Natre loved Tun and threatened to kill herself when he broke off the relationship. Tun witnesses his friend, Tonn, completing suicide, and discovers that his two other close friends from college have also committed suicide. Believing that they have been coerced into doing so by Natre's ghost, Tun becomes convinced he will be next.

Tun and Jane visit Natre's mother and discover Natre's decaying body in the bedroom. Natre had killed herself, but her mother could not bear to have her cremated. They convince her mother to have a proper funeral for her, after which Jane hopes that everything will return to normal. They spend the night at a hotel, where Tun is confronted by Natre's ghost. While trying to get away, he falls off a fire escape and is injured.

On returning to Bangkok, Jane collects some photographs. One of the films shows a series of images of Natre crawling towards the bookcase in Tun's apartment. Jane finds a set of negatives hidden behind the bookcase. She develops them to find photographs in which Tun's friends – the ones who committed suicide – are sexually assaulting Natre. Disgusted by her findings and now convinced that Natre tried to warn her, a teary Jane confronts Tun. Tun admits that he witnessed the rape but did nothing to stop his friends, and that he was the one who had taken those photos. He says he did it out of peer pressure and has never forgiven himself but Jane leaves him.

Knowing that he is still haunted by Natre, Tun begins taking pictures of every room in the house, but does not see her. He throws the camera in a rage, only for it to go off and take a photograph of Tun, showing Natre sitting on his shoulders and revealing the true cause for his neck pain and double body weight. Natre covers his eyes, making him lose balance and fall out of the window.

The final scene shows Tun bandaged and slumped over, sitting on a hospital bed while Jane visits him. As the door swings closed, the glass reflection shows Natre still sitting on his shoulders.

Cast

• Ananda Everingham as Tun
• Natthaweeranuch Thongmee as Jane
• Achita Sikamana as Natre

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 63% of 24 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.50/10.

Asian Movie Pulse praised the film as a remarkable work that planted the flag of Thai horror films on the world film map.

Public response

The film opened at #1 at the Thai box office, grossing $867,800, and remained at the top in its second weekend, grossing $607,300. The film grossed a total of $2,584,600 in Thailand, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year.

The film was nominated for the 2005 Golden Kinnaree Award for best film at the Bangkok International Film Festival and has won various awards at smaller festivals.

Remakes

The film was remade thrice in the Indian languages Telugu as Photo (2006), Tamil as Sivi (2007) and Hindi as Click (2010). The English-language remake was released in 2008 under the same title.

See also

• List of ghost films
• Spirit photography – Attempt to capture images of ghosts or spirits

External links

• Shutter at IMDb