One Missed Call

A high school student named Yumi Kamura finds with a group friends in a coffee bar,while her pal Yoko receives a cellular call with a rare tone which she had heard before.Into screen phone appears one missed call.The message is sent for her cellular and contains a horrible shout that sounds like her voice.Besides the call is from three days after.A time later young people receive the call are dead for terrible killing.A strange curse causes a criminal rampage among various adolescents.

The picture gets suspense,horror,shocks,grisly terror and several eerie scenes.The film displays hair-rising and horrifying images with a bit of blood and graphical gore.Mysterious and sinister atmosphere is well made by the photographer Yamamamoto. Takashi Mike(Ichi the killer) direction sometimes is actually creepy and frightening like proves the first entry ¨Dead or alive¨with the execution starring by a mobster and much more in ¨The audition¨.This horror film is inspired by ¨The ring¨with certain remembrance more even storyline coincidences.Like that and in fact happen in the most part of recently Japan horror cinema deals about an urban legend.It's the initial argument for introducing the terror in the ordinary life by means a phone.While the look is suitable spooky and eerie the plot spread to the breaking point and the final resolution results to be a little confused.The flick will like to Japan modern terror cinema enthusiastic.

First, I strongly disagree with some other posters at the board who weren't bothered by Chakushin ari facing a Hollywood remake. Why can't Hollywood keep their dirty fingers away when they fail in their own miserable creativity. Anyhow...

I've just started to dig deeper into the works of Takashi Miike and I have no problems admitting that his movies are awesome. Chakushin ari is another ghost tale but it gets a bit special when Miike-san is in charge of things. What you get in Chakushin ari is, besides the beautiful surroundings and awesome camera work, tension, thrills and a plot which does quite good for being in this genre. It has its moments of originality and compared to the works of Hideo Nakata, I'd say Miike here accomplish a heavier load of tension throughout the whole movie, while Nakata's movies have tension coming in waves, sort of.

I have really nothing to whine about here or rant at. The actors are doing a good job and the piece kept me interested throughout the entire playtime. Thumbs up.

A good Japanese-surprise.

Was looking for something different to watch in Americanized Netherlands, and found this movie. If you have never seen any of the recent Japanese fear movies, then this one is a good compilation of the others (Ring, Dark Water, Kairo...) : strange camera angles, blurry pictures, good sound effects and music and a nice-and-somewhat logical script. I was worried about the Miike's touch, but in fact it was a surprising plus for this kind of movie, where ghosts and gore combine well. Takashi shows he knows a lot about filming methods, and also gives us an overview of the Japanese craziness about mobile phones : I can assure you that you will never look again the same way at your phone after seeing such a movie.

For the ones who have seen other Japanese horror movies, I would advise it as well, as you enjoy seeing again the same old tricks in a different context...and it works again !

So if you have the chance to have this one in a nearby theater...just try it !!

After "Audition" and "Ichi The Killer", I had great expectations for this movie. What it delivers is essentially the "greatest hits" of Asian horror. There's more than a passing resemblance to "The Ring", with bits of "Ju-On" and other films thrown in for good measure.

The film revolves around mobile 'phones. A girl has a message left on her mobile 'phone answering service - only it's been left by herself and in the future! To make matters worse, it ends with a blood curdling scream! Well, it soon turns out that the message is the girl's final words on this mortal coil.

The girl is not alone. It's only a matter of time before the body count starts rising and a race against time begins to solve the mystery of the bizarre calls.

Despite being more than a shade Ringu-clone-esquire, I heartily enjoyed this film. It has some great set-pieces (including a memorable death), some spooky moments, a few "jump" sequences, etc. What the film didn't deliver, though, was any real fear. It was a case of "seen it all before" (a criticism that some levelled at "Ju-On").

The plot unravels in a logical manner and there's a decent pay off. It may not be a future classic, but this is a very well made example of Asian horror cinema.

My rating: 8 out of 10 for a stylish addition to Miike's portfolio

Most Japanese movies are considered as low-budget compared to their Hollywood counterparts. This is because their production costs are so high. However this factor does not deter Japanese creative production teams to come up with movie gems, in different genres.

In the realm of Japanese horrors for example, a studio working with a limited budget has to resort to Jaws-style direction, in which you hardly see or visualise the ghosts/monsters.

And it is through the movie's simplicity, or by not showing/explaining too much, that J-horrors have turned up the notch on the haunting and horror levels through movies such as Ring and Dark Water. Of course there are the still plenty of gorefest movies such as Suicide Circles and Ichi the Killer, the latter being a courtesy of that notorious but prolific J-director, Takashi Miike.

So it is remarkable and truly rewarding to see how Miike toned down his tastes for the twisted and perverted in One Missed Call. Furthermore he implemented his flair of storytelling through symbolisms and graphic metaphors quite nicely. Any shock/gore elements were used in such a way that they serve the movie, instead of downgrading it to a cheesy flick.

In conclusion, One Missed Call satisfies on many levels, providing you keep an open mind and just enjoy the ride. Another plus of the movie is the appearances of several gorgeous J-idols, such as Kazue Fukishii and Kou Shibasaki. Nifty!