Video:
Shutter is presented in a good but not great 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Obviously taken from a PAL source and converted over to NTSC for this release, there are a few scenes where there is some very slight ghosting evident on the image. The colors look a bit flat but I’m quite certain that this was a stylistic choice and isn’t a problem with the authoring. Also worth mentioning is that a few scenes blur a slight bit when things move quickly. This may sound horrible but really it’s pretty minor. Most of the time the image is pretty solid. There’s a surprising level of detail present throughout the movie and the black levels, which play a really, really big role in the movie, stay strong throughout. There are no problems with mpeg compression and I only really grimaced at on glaring instance of edge enhancement.
Sound:
You’ve got your choice of watching the film with one of three audio options, all of which are in their native Thai language – DTS-ES, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound. Optional subtitles are available in traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and English. The Surround Sound mixes on this disc are great. Both the Dolby Digital and DTS mixes are of very nice quality and use the rear surround channels very wisely to really enhance a few of the creepier scenes in the film (the studio/flash in the dark scene immediately comes to mind). The dialogue is balanced very nicely against the background music and the sound effects and is always clear and coherent. The English subtitles are easy to read and didn’t contain a single typographical error.
Extras:
First and foremost, I want to point out how nice it is to find a Hong Kong import disc that has all if the supplements subtitled in English. Let’s hope this is a trend that continues!
What’s one the disc aside from the film itself? First up is a short featurette with the awkward title of Scoop In The Picture gives us a brief rundown on spirit photography and how ghosts appear on film. Seeing as this is the main theme of the film it’s a rather appropriate little bit to se here and it is quite interesting – but it should have been longer. With such a brief running time (it’s only a couple of minutes long) it feels like they’re really just glossing over the surface when there were so many different things that they could have included on this feature that were touched on in the film.
There is also a brief (under two minutes) behind the scenes featurette that takes a look at the making of the film, as well as interviews with the two leads and the director (again, very brief) in which they talk about the themes and content of the film.
Finally, three different trailers for Shutter have been included on the DVD as well. Worth noting is that the packaging comes with a little red gel that, when you hold it over the back of the box, reveals a little ghost hidden in some of the imagery. A nice touch.
...The DVD looks good and sounds great even if the extra features aren’t what they could have been. Recommended. | 
Technical Notes:
