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Directed by: Takashi Miike Starring: Kou Shibasaki, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi It's common sense that if you have a pest problem, you call an exterminator. Got a rat problem? You call a rat catcher. Wasps built a nest in your loft? You give your local pest controller a ring. So why is it that no-one in Japan has called in the Ghosbusters? Because if The Ring, The Grudge and the many similar Japanese horror films are anything to go by, there's at least six different long-haired female ghosts doing the rounds, each bring death to anyone who comes into contact with them or their victims. And just what happens if somone ends up becoming the subject of not just one but two murderous curses. If, for example, someone was babysitting at the house from The Grudge, having watched the video from The Ring exactly a week earlier? Would they flip a coin or play Twister to determine who got the privilege of scaring you to death? Or would you perhaps hear a noise upstairs and investigate, only to find some sort of supernatural cat-fight going on? Unfortunately, none of these questions are addressed in 'One Missed Call', a film which features yet another one of the aforementioned long-haired ghost-girls. Instead the movie centers around a small group of college students who find themselves falling victim to a 'Ring' style curse which is transmitted via their mobile phones. But whereas the curse in 'The Ring' required the victims to actually watch a video in order to become marked for death, One Missed Call's curse is far more aggressive. The group's introduction to the curse occurs when one of the students receives a voice mail - from herself. A voice mail in which is interrupted by her own dying screams, and which is dated three days into the future. Unsurprisingly, the friends don't take it seriously at first, but when she dies, apparently by committing suicide, a similar voice mail is received by another member of the group. Gradually, the curse works its way round the group, following the names in the address book of each phone, the death toll rising as the students try to find a way to break the curse. One Missed Call isn't the most original film of recent years, it has to be said. It contains both elements of The Ring and Final Destination, although it does manage to avoid the kind of smug self-awareness that started with 'Scream' and that seems to pervade many teen horror films. Itt does feature a rather interesting moment where one the cursed characters goes on television where a Derek Acorah style medium attempts to remove the curse from her, live on air - needless to say the events of that evening are far scarier than anything Living TV has to offer. And that, in fact, is where One Missed Call succeeds - because it's one of the scariest films I've seen to date. Right from the moment the first voice message comes through up until the rather unsettling ending, the film will have you on the edge of your seat. Not because it's packed with cheap scare moments, it isn't, but because everything about the movie - the sense of impending doom, the things that appear out of the corner of the main characters vision - makes you feel uneasy the whole way through. It might also have something to do with the fact with the film is directed by Takashi Miike, who is famous for producing shocking films, who presumably wasn't going to be involved with an under-par film. But whatever the reason, One Missed Call is a movie that, while not being particularly original, is nevertheless a very scary film indeed, and if you're a horror fan, then you really couldn't ask for anything more. RATING: 4.5 PROS: It's scary as hell, and has plenty of twists and turns. CONS: The whole 'curse' thing has been done before by The Ring and other movies. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0366292/ Darth Ronson fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Dec 26, 2006 |
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Dec 25, 2006 21:55
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 09:36 |
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After reading the OP's review, I had to watch this. This film is definitely in the same genre as other famous japanese horror flicks such as The Ring and The Grudge and contains some elements from the Final Destination series, in which the premise is almost essentially the same. This movie, however, demonstrates the premise of "the curse" in a unique (but not exactly incredible) fashion using cell phones, which is described quite nicely by the OP. Looking past the unoriginal aspects of the film, I would have say that although it is scary, it's not THAT scary. The good thing about this film is that it definitely doesn't contain much of the cheap scare tactics that many recent horror films have been flooded with. Also, the majority of the cast is filled with cute, cute, cute people. Seriously, throughout most of the film, I found myself thinking about how cute the actors and actresses were. I also enjoyed the nice twists during and near the end of the movie, although I found the essential part of the resolution silly, quite silly. All in all, it is a refreshing movie in such a specific genre (if that's even possible), see it if you are in the mood for such a thing, but you definitely don't have to go out of your way to see it(it might prove to be disappointing). I'm giving this movie 3.5/5.
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Jan 2, 2007 02:24
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