One Missed Call

i read a lot of bad reviews about this fantastic movie, so i watched it without even expecting something good.Of course i was positively surprised,the actors are very good : very few American actress knows how to express pure terror on they're faces as well as a Japanese actress.Miike success in creating an intense and creepy mood that follows you all the way till the end credits.

o.k. so the story is not very original,if you have seen Ju-on, Ringu or Dark water there is nothing new here. it's another Japanese movie with a "grudge" (grudge: curse that happens when someone "most of the times a girl" dies in a tragic or horrible death,then the girl return from the dead to kill,usually grudges have long dark hair covering they're faces) but the ghost or grudge in "one missed call" is a lot more scary than Sadako in ringu or even the one in ju-on and there is a lot of murders going on from the beginning to the end. It's definitely not slow paced like dark water and a lot more entertaining.

But if your like me, when you watch a zombie movie you expect zombies,if you watch a killer movie you expect killings so if you watch a Japanese horror movie expect a grudge cause it's a part of the Japanese mythology so don't go crying out loud that this movie sucks because it's a pale imitation of ringu and ju-on, IT IS NOT!!!!

so, i give this movie 10/10 for three reason: 1: a lot of good scares 2: a very effective and disgusting grudge 3: entertaining from opening credits to the end

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

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 !!

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.

This movie has a more than interesting and good premise and it also has a real promising beginning but as the movie and its story start to progress more the movie actually gets worse and starts to drag and become overlong.

Japanese horror movies are well known and appreciated over the world now days, due to the global success of several genre pieces, with of course "Ringu" as the best example of this. And even though these movies are always well made and good looking ones, there are often more or less the same. Aside from its premises, they are often hardly original in their execution, with the exception of an occasional memorable and effective sequences. And yes, this movie is also pretty much more of the same. It's welcome for the fans of it but it's just offering too little originality, which makes this a movie you'll easily forget.

This is a pretty mainstream movie for normal Takashi Miike standards. Guess he needs to make these type of movies, every once in a while, before he can continue and finance his other movie projects, that are less mainstream and just plain odd and weird with their style and approach. But it are still the movies he is known for and also most appreciated more by people all over the world. I'm not a fan of just all of his movies but often his weirdness, extreme graphic violence and humorous approach of it all can still appeal to me and make his movies something unique and enjoyable for me. But this movie really doesn't has any of that. It's made in the same style as any other popular Japanese horror movie, which means that this movie will probably also disappoint most Takashi Miike lovers.

Thing with this movie is that it has an alright story and main premise in its beginning but the more it all progresses the harder it gets to understand and the less interest you'll keep in this movie. It's the reason why the movie feels like it's dragging at points and feels also certainly overlong. This is a movie that should at least had been 20 minutes shorter really.

This also certainly goes at the expense of the horror and mystery of the movie. Horror-wise this movie is certainly disappointing in what it is offering. Again, because it's being nothing too original but also because the movie it's story-telling doesn't really get you involved with things and therefore a lot of the mystery and tension dies off pretty quick already. It also doesn't help that the movie becomes more and more confusing toward its ending.

But overall, this movie still does a lot of things well. It's certainly not any worse than the average Japanese horror entry and despite all of its problems, I still consider this a watchable movie.

6/10

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