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If you have nothing to do this weekend and like Asian horror films, then the new horror film Shutter may be for you, though I didn’t say this movie was actually any good. For those true horror film enthusiasts, Shutter is a dull, flat rip-off of other films you’ve seen before. Though there are a couple of tense scenes, but it’s a big yawn when it comes to being frightened, unless you’re including Shutter’s acting, directing, writing and editing.

A newlywed American couple Ben (Joshua Jackson) and Jane (Rachael Taylor) hardly past their honeymoon, move to Tokyo for a promising job opportunity for Ben. While driving in a dark forest in Japan, they’re involved in a tragic car accident that supposedly leads to a young girl’s death, though strangely they cannot locate her body. They eventually get settled in Tokyo, but weird things start to happen. Ben’s back keeps bothering him though the doctor cannot find anything wrong with him. Jane sees strange things in photographs, leading them to believe the girl’s spirit has come back to haunt them. When they realize they have a connection to the girl’s past, the strange occurrences could change their lives forever.

As with most Asian horror flicks, this looks much better on paper than when it’s actually on film. And it’s been executed better before, in the 2004 Thai horror flick of the same name, remade into a Japanese horror film designed to attract American audiences. How original is that? With strange Japanese young spirits crawling around all over the place, you’ll be reminded of The Ring and The Grudge, and while those were far from perfect, they’re much better than the mess of Shutter.

It helped that those earlier horror remakes had at least mildly interesting actors in Naomi Watts - and I thought I’d never say this – Sarah Michelle Gellar. Shutter features two of the blandest actors around – Dawson’s Creek’s Joshua Jackson, and another TV actress, Rachael Taylor, who make Gellar seem as if she’s aspiring to true greatness (Buffy notwithstanding). Their blank expressions add little to the proceedings, and uttering unmemorable dialogue such as “Get out of here! Leave us alone!” and “She came back to warn me” doesn’t help, either. Relying heavily on an inexperienced actress like Taylor is the film’s biggest mistake. The blond-haired actress tries hard to channel either Watts or Gellar, but we end up with a cross between Denise Richards and Rebecca Romijn – pretty but empty.

Shutter’s initial chapters are mildly interesting, but the script from Luke Dawson takes utterly ridiculous, predictable turns in the final act, when the spirit comes stalking other people in their lives, and we find out the real reason she’s coming back in the first place. That leaves little interest and few truly scary, frightening scenes. Shutter’s two climactic scenes are executed so badly they’re downright laughable, with lots of tongue and camera parts scattered around.

Something in Shutter must have been lost in translation, missing some crucial story elements like believability and a story line that seems disjointed at best, leaving it too choppy to make a real impact. That leaves the creepy, crawly pale spirit trying to scare up something out of an audience that will be bored very quickly. What seemed fresh and inventive with the first chapters of The Ring and The Grudge are now much less inspired and original here.

Don’t bother with Shutter unless you really don’t have anything to do, even at 85 minutes, it’s a real time waster, and one of the worst of the year. You’re better off with Horton, March Madness or watching reruns of Lost, all of which will engage you far more than this bore. If you hear a Ring-ing in your ears, it’s another pale spirit with a Grudge, so run fast while you can.

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