Shutter and Casandra's dream

Another misguided attempt to re-make an Asian horror film, Shutter centres on newly-weds Ben (Joshua Jackson) and Jane (Rachel Taylor) who move to Tokyo for Ben's job as a photographer.

On the day of their arrival they knock down a young woman, who begins haunting their photographs and gets up to the usual spooky, horror movie hi-jinks of appearing in mirrors behind people and crawling around on the floor. The performances are medicore, the script is weak and the directing is worse. Shutter, unfortunately, is one of the worst horror films of recent years and offers up less scares than a look at your latest credit card bill.

Cassandra's Dream

Woody Allen's latest film Cassandra's Dream should have been named recurring dream, because we really have seen it all before. Allen hasn't changed his tune in 25 years, exploring the same issues and moral quagmires over and over. Set in London, like his immensely watchable Matchpoint, Dream follows two Cockney brothers, Terry and Ian. The economically challenged siblings are in need of some serious cash, so they hit up their rich Uncle Howard as usual, but the cash comes with a condition – their uncle needs them to “get rid of” a colleague who is planning to testify against him. This is where the moral dilemma kicks in: can the brothers kill a man for something as sordid yet essential as to them as cash? Films probably should be judged on their own merit, but it's hard not to compare, when you know what genius Allen is capable of. That said Cassandra's Dream is a suitably diverting watch.