For photographer Ben and his new wife Jane, his new assignment--a lucrative fashion shoot in Tokyo--was supposed to be a kind of working honeymoon. With this exotic professional opportunity and the limitless possibilities of a new marriage, Ben and Jane arrive in Japan. But as they make their way on a mountain road leading to Mt. Fuji, their new life together comes to, literally, a crashing halt. Their car smashes into a woman standing in the middle of the road, who has materialized out of nowhere. Upon regaining consciousness after the accident, Ben and Jane cannot find any trace of the girl Jane believes she hit with the car. Shaken by the accident and by the girl’s disappearance, Ben and Jane arrive in Tokyo, where Ben begins his glamorous assignment. Having worked in Japan before and fluent in the language, Ben is comfortable there, and he eagerly reunites with old friends and colleagues. Jane, a newcomer to the city, feels very much like a stranger in a strange land as she makes tentative, unsettling forays through the city. Ben, meanwhile, has discovered mysterious white blurs--eerily evocative of a human form--that have materialized on an entire day’s work from the expensive photo shoot. Jane’s concerns escalate as she believes the blurs in Ben’s photos are the dead girl from the road, who is now seeking vengeance for them leaving her to die. - skip ad - Genres: Suspense/Horror, Thriller and Remake Running Time: 1 hr. 25 min. Release Date: March 21st, 2008 (wide) MPAA Rating: PG-13 for terror, disturbing images, sexual content and language. Distributor: 20th Century Fox Cast And Credits Starring: Rachael Taylor, Joshua Jackson, David Denman, James Kyson Lee, Maya Hazen Directed by: Masayuki Ochiai Produced by: Sonny Mallhi, Gloria Fan, Arnon Milchan

The latest redo of an Asian horror film -- in this case, Thai -- to prove disappointing in its Hollywood-made incarnation, "Shutter" demonstrates that the subject of spirit photography, which has been a point of speculation for more than a century, might have passed its peak. After all, once we've seen ghosts emerge via videotapes, cell phones, computers and nearly every other technological device known to man, seeing them appear through Polaroids feels a bit retro.

In an homage to its Asian roots, the film is set largely in Tokyo, where star photographer Ben (Joshua Jackson) and his new wife, Jane (Rachel Taylor), have arrived for his latest high-profile shoot. Unfortunately, they've barely gotten there before they have a serious car crash, caused by a mysterious woman on a dark, snowy roadway who promptly disappears.

Pretty soon the same apparition -- apparently seeking revenge -- shows up repeatedly in Ben's photographs, wreaking no small havoc with his career. Things get even more serious when Bruno (David Denman), Ben's boss, and Adam (John Hensley), a sleazy models' agent, fall victim to mysterious attacks. The increasingly agitated Jane attempts to discover the identity of the malevolent ghost, but she doesn't like what she ultimately finds.

Strictly perfunctory in its concept and execution, "Shutter" presents the usual series of spooky images of a deadpan female ghost showing up at odd times and moving in the slow, jerky movements that are de rigueur for the genre.

Genuine scares are few and far between, and the climactic explanation for the ghost's appearances comes as something less than a revelation. It must be said, however, that the final screen image, taking place in a mental institution, is subtly unsettling.

Jackson displays his usual likable screen presence, and Taylor manages to look absolutely gorgeous even while terrified. But despite their respectable efforts, "Shutter," like the similar remakes that have preceded it, demonstrates that Hollywood might have gone to the Asian horror well a little too often.