Synopsis: A drama set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island.Not really a horror movie as it seemed to be advertised but a smart, stylized psychological thriller that I thought was pretty well done. There's a twist, but it all fits together quite nicely and isn't a reach really. Leo DiCaprio is fantastic I think and the supporting cast does a solid job as well.
Honestly though, it's got quite a few cliches as psychological thrillers go really, but the tone and direction is so nice a lot of them felt fresh. Wait, is a fresh cliche possible? Well, I say it is I guess.
The story is complicated and a bit distrurbing a lot of times, but it stays creepy and engrossing enough that I wasn't staring at my watch even though it could probably have been trimmed back a bit. The real horror comes in the form of how your past and guilt can haunt you and even overtake you, and this takes time to develop. It's not like a slasher film where it doesn't take a lot of backstory or thought to know you need to fear and run from the guy with a knife. This is a sharp movie in another sense.
Overall, I don't think it's right at the top of Scorsese's films, but it's up in the top half as it's definitely memorable, haunting and a hypnotic movie.
8/10
