The general viewing public often agrees that if a horror movie does not scare them, then it is a bad movie. This nonsensical conclusion has led to the undeserved snubbing of such excellent films as "A Perfect Getaway" and "Drag Me To Hell," and most recently, Martin Scorcese's "Shutter Island."

"Shutter Island" is a brilliantly made movie. It's less a horror film than a thriller, in the same league of Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo," or "Strangers on a Train." While it's not actively terrifying, and it doesn't feature any mysterious ghosts or frightening monsters, it does contain a decent helping of surreal and unsettling dream sequences and hallucinations, each more drastic and unnerving than the last.

"Shutter Island" is about a U.S. Marshall, played by Leponardo DiCaprio, investigating the disappearance of an inmate at a high security mental facility for the violently insane.

This asylum is located on a foggy island that can only be accessed by ferry, and the movie opens with a scene of DiCaprio's character vomiting into a sink.

"Hold yourself together, Teddy," he tells himself, and the rest of the movie focuses on him trying to do just that.

DiCaprio is brilliant here as Teddy Daniels, U.S. Marshall and widower.He has ulterior motives to being on Shutter Island, though giving virtually any details away would be a capital offense.

This is the kind of movie that must be seen without any preconceptions, though knowledge of the plot certainly doesn't make it a worse movie.

The score is incredible, a thundering, industrial compliment to the grungy visual tone the movie maintains.

The sets are awash with grays and dark blues, creating a haunting and troubling atmosphere reminiscent of horror classics like "The Terminator."

Teddy's dream sequences and hallucinations have a much brighter and more colorful palette, giving them a surreal atmosphere that sharply contrasts the grit and grime of the island as it appears to him consciously.

His dreams have some of the most haunting imagery I've seen in a horror movie, foregoing the usual body horror in favor of injecting fear into the commonplace, similar to what was done in the 'Other house' in "Coraline."

The bizarre dialogue and imagery is far more striking than any amount of gore could have possibly been.

Jackie Earle Haley shows up briefly in one of the most memorable roles in the film, despite having among the fewest lines, and Ben Kingsley plays the vaguely menacing Dr. Cawley, one of the leading doctors on Shutter Island and an advocate of psychiatric help to the mentally insane over chemical treatments.

Kingsley is certainly menacing, even when you have no reason to fear him.

There is a plot twist, although it's almost impossible to guess without some kind of outside help.

It's the kind of twist that will be purposefully spoiled by impolite jerks for decades to come, in the same class as the twists of "Fight Club" or "The Usual Suspects."

It puts a cap on an overall incredible movie, and with an ending that will be discussed for years to come, I would say that Shutter Island is the best thriller in years, even if it's among the least frightening.

(Nick Shuler is a senior at Wando High School, and has written countless reviews for the school's newspaper, the Tribal Tribune, for which he is an editor.)