Here they explore the horror/thriller genre with gravitas, with no small part played by Laeta Kalogridis in supplying the screenplay. As with Scorsese and DiCaprio's previous collaborations, this is a movie that must be seen. The utter desperation to escape from a persistent and confined nightmare is something Teddy (Dicaprio) is receiving in high doses, and so does the audience. An confined island is a terrific horror location and it comes with its own type of fear. Neil Marshall's The Descent was one such picture, and this is another. I often experience claustrophobia myself and there are certain films that really capitalize on that personal fear and make it more relevant and eerie to me. The lighthouse, the caves, the civil war fort housing 'the most dangerous patients,' and the island itself-every locale seems large yet claustrophobic and isolated at the same time. Every location is foreboding and drenched with hints of unseen danger in dark corners. Scorsese perfectly recreates the menacing atmosphere of the island on film. Even if you've read the novel multiple times, you'll feel like you're reading the book for the first time again while watching. While it certainly does the source material justice, it also adds small changes that make for a distinctive experience. Shutter Island represents exactly what one should hope for when seeing a novel being interpreted to film.

The rest of the film, however, is very faithful to Dennis Lehane's already great story. For those of you, like me, who read and enjoyed the novel before seeing the film and felt that the trailers and advertisements for this film were leading you to believe there wouldn't be any narrative surprises in store, think again! Scorsese's film features that one brief piece of dialogue at the films conclusion that results in an entirely different perception of the final act. There is one line of dialogue, right at the end of Shutter Island before the credits roll, that elevates the emotion of the film and makes it much more powerful.

Silent Treatment by Jackie Williams