Thai Horror Film Given Japanese And American Treatment

[Mulboyne]

[YT]VryEHnctPm8[/YT]

Moviesonline: Remaking a Classic
SHUTTER is based on the 2004 film of the same name, which became the highest grossing film in Thailand. The horror-thriller was directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom. Its story is simplicity itself: a girl suddenly appears, gets hit by a car and disappears, only to return to haunt the perpetrators...The film's enormous success in Thailand did not translate overseas, because some of its references had meaning only in the context of Thai culture and perceptions. Looking to make the story more accessible to American and Japanese audiences, producer Taka Ichise...conceived a new version of...filmed entirely in Japan...[Says] screenwriter Luke Dawson..."Tokyo is the perfect setting for this story, in which Jane feels like she's surrounded by chaos, and is unable to fully comprehend the situation into which she's been thrown. American audiences don't see a lot of the inner workings of Tokyo, so we had a lot of fun capturing how the city would seem strange to an outsider"...Like Dawson, Ochiai was intrigued by spirit photography and eager to boost its burgeoning presence in the West. "Japanese audiences are very familiar with it," he explains. "Everyone in Japan at one point or another has had a sleepless night after being exposed to spirit photography. "Spirit photography is so popular in Japan because ghosts mean more to the Japanese people than to Americans," he continues. "In Japan, ghosts don't have to do anything to be scary. In American ghost stories, they have to wreak all kinds of havoc [to make an impact]"...more...

In what seems like something of a first, this L.A. Times article says that Ochai made two different versions of the film so the print which will show in Tokyo has more Japanese language scenes, the idea of "evil" is played down and the cultural confusion of the American leads is given a different spin.

[Greji]

Did you see that tongue on the J-ghost? She can haunt me just any old time she would like. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, coming for.....
Or something like that..

[succubusqueen]

I love ghost movies....they rule!:D

[Mulboyne]

Shocktillyoudrop: Exclusive Clip from the Shutter DVD

20th Century Fox Home Entertaiment has provided us with a sneak peek at the bonus features contained on the upcoming DVD release of Shutter. It's a revealing slice of the tensions that can arise when you strap American actors to a Japanese director - in this case Masayuki Ochiai - who doesn't speak a lick of English. Watch below as the translator expresses her frustrations

Clip here.