Media

Home Theater Movie Renter's Guide - July, 2010

"Shutter Island" (Blu-ray) - Reviewed by John Johnson

Synopsis

In the early 1950's, US Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio), along with his partner Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) are sent to Shutter Island, which is an asylum for the criminally insane in New York.

Apparently, one of the inmates, named Rachel, has escaped.

Dr. Cawley (Kingsley) and Dr. Naehring (von Sydow), who run the facility, say they have no idea where she is, so Teddy and Chuck begin by interrogating the other inmates.

Soon, they disover that something very disturbing is occurring on the island, in particular, at the lighthouse. They are suspicious that the inmates are being used as guinea pigs in drug experiments.

Slowly they uncover the horror, and they are afraid they will not be allowed to leave the island alive.

 

 

Commentary

Movies about insane criminals are common, but often, perhaps usually, they are B-movies. This one is first class, due to the artful direction of Martin Scorsese, and a long list of great actors. The story comes from the true fact that humans were given psychotropic drugs in the 1950's without their permission, including LSD. The military wanted to know if they could develop drugs for mind control. It is a dark corner of US history.

Technical

Picture quality is good, when you can see much of anything, as an insane asylum is not the most well lit kind of place you can find, especially with the terrible storms and much of the story taking place at night. The sound is suitably spooky, but the actions of the inmates will drown your awareness of the audio. It's terrifying.

Extras

These include Behind the Shutters and Into the Lighthouse.