Shutter Island is a dark, magnificent journey of dread.
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Shutter Island proves if there’s anything that compliments acclaimed Writer Dennis Lehane’s talent (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone) it’s the genius direction of Martin Scorsese and his powerhouse cast and crew. Masterfully shot in film noir style with a brooding 1940’s Val Lewton flavor, Shutter Island grips us at every turn on this dark, magnificent journey of dread.
Horror Queen Says: Bloody Thumbs Up!
Written by BHM Editor Horror Queen
February 19, 2010
Watch the Shutter Island Horror Movie Trailer
Additional Reviews:
Reader-submitted (Beanfigger)
Release: February 19, 2010
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Written by: Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay) and Dennis Lehane (novel)
Starring:
Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels
Mark Ruffalo as Chuck Aule
Ben Kingsley as Dr. Cawley
Max von Sydow as Dr. Naehring
Michelle Williams as Dolores
Shutter Island opens with two US Marshals (Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo) traveling in 1954 by boat to Ashecliffe, a former Civil War fortress turned prison hospital on Shutter Island, where they’ve been summoned to investigate the disappearance of an inmate who once murdered her own three children. As the two men approach this purgatory for the criminally insane, Scorsese with the help of Music Supervisor Robbie Robertson, immediately sets the tone with urgent, menacing instrumentals that convey an overall feeling of doom.
The trip to Ashecliffe seems a bit off from the beginning. First, why would US Marshals be called in when Ashecliffe is on a tiny remote island far off the coast of Massachusetts layered with poison ivy and surrounded by below-freezing waters? Plus the missing girl, Rachel, apparently had no shoes on when she magically escaped from a locked room with thick concrete walls. And lastly, the staff at Ashecliffe is reluctant to give out any information whatsoever with regard to their patient. Hence we begin to smell a rat.
Oh and the island is infested with rats.
Much like Teddy (DiCaprio) himself, we can’t help but be
drawn into this web of mystery, knowing there is much more to the men’s
journey than meets the eye. One of Scorsese’s many talents is that of
inflicting his main characters with a flaw, and Teddy is no exception.
Actually he has several - plagued by flashbacks of his dead wife
Dolores (Michelle Williams) who was killed in a house fire, and of a
Nazi death camp liberation he was a part of during World War II (no
shortage of back-story in this film). Not only do the flashbacks follow
Teddy to the island, they seem to get worse, as Dolores pleads with him
in his dreams to leave the island. Nazi torture methods have an eerie
resemblance to patient ‘treatment’ at Ashecliffe, and the famed
Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow) has a suspicious German accent. All this,
and the predominance of schizophrenia and high use of psychotropic
drugs at the prison hospital, and we begin to wonder if insanity is
perhaps catching…
Aside from the riveting performances of Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Kingsley, who plays the hospital’s cagey Dr. Cawley, that of Ted Levine as the Warden is also worth mentioning, as his monologue praising God for ‘loving violence’ sends chills up your spine. Many characters in this film have multiple, deceptive layers and they are played out with precision.
With a growing sense of hopelessness, Teddy remains intent not only on finding Rachel but on uncovering the dark secrets that inhabit Shutter Island. The film unravels at unhurried pace for all of its 138 minutes, but continues to grip until the final payoff and shocking truth is realized.
Is the ending really a payoff? Let’s just say if you’ve read the book or are otherwise aware of the ending, it will take something away from Shutter Island, but not enough for you to miss what is sure to be a Scorsese classic.
Horror Queen Says: Bloody Thumbs Up!
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