Phone

Most of what can be said about this movie has been said by other commenters, but I still would like to put my views forward.

The is a horror movie, in the wake of The Ring (Ringu). The main character is a journalist (as in Ringu) who has written a series of articles about sex offenders which has brought down on her some dangerous people who have been exposed in the scandal.

When she changes her cellphone number to escape her tormentors she ends up with a number with special significance - 6644. From this point on she ends up getting very weird phone calls and after each one, she experiences increasingly violent visions.

The movie is very derivative, this is true. But which horror movie isn't? Dismissing a horror-flick and saying "This movie from 1954 has the same thing" is stupid. You can always find some older work which is similar or even the same. It's no mean feat. What's important in a horror movie is one thing: is it scary? My answer is: it is.

I was very skeptical at first and found the opening scene to be almost dull. But the enterprise takes off, most of all with the incredible performance of the little girl who can turn from sweet little angel to devlish banshee on a dime. If for no other reason, go see it and you'll have to agree that she is completely believable as possessed.

I also believe that the story is richer if less original than the Ring. It is also a very well made without much special effects or gore. It relies heavily on acting and suspense and does this well.

More story than the Ring, less originality. About as suspenseful. I think that if I'd seen the Phone before the Ring I would've liked it more.

That's my two cents worth. :) Go see it if you like horror. Don't see it if you're just going to go look for similarities with older movies.

PHONE is an outstanding example of a "haunted technology" movie. In the same way that Japan's Ringu made video tapes an instrument of evil, and Pulse turned the internet into a terrifying abyss, PHONE utilizes our cell phone addiction to great effect. In all of these films, supernatural forces are at work using our own gadgets against us! How can we escape these spooks if we install their conduits in our homes, and even carry them around with us? This movie also features one of the best portrayals of child possession since The Exorcist! Filled with betrayal, jealousy, bitterness, and murder, PHONE is another dark gem from South Korea...

Ji-Won is a young and ambitious reporter, whose recent articles about underage sex rings have made her more than a few enemies. When she begins receiving threatening calls on her mobile phone, she changes the number and moves into the house that her sister and brother-in-law are currently not using. On an excursion with her sister and young niece one day, Ji- Won's phone begins to ring. When her niece Young-Ju answers it, she begins screaming and crying hysterically. At first, Ji-Won thinks perhaps one of her stalkers got her new number, but when she answers the phone herself the next time, she hears the enraged voice of a teenage girl, screaming incoherently. Ji-Won begins suffering from horrific and realistic nightmares, in which a young girl with a ghost white face and very long hair plays Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" ceaselessly on the piano. Worse, Ji-Won's young niece Young-Ju has begun acting very oddly since answering her phone. The girl (who looks to be about 5) becomes fixated on her father and resentful of her mother. The normally angelic child is having violent outbursts of rage, cussing and injuring herself. Ji-Won soon becomes convinced that a ghost is to blame. When she traces her new mobile number back to the two previous owners, she discovers that they both died under strange circumstances. As Ji-Won digs deeper into the past, she slowly unravels the story of a disturbed schoolgirl named Jin-Hee and her obsessive love for a mystery man..a man who was given the now infamous mobile number by Jin-Hee herself.

This Korean ghost story bears similarities to its popular Japanese predecessor "Ringu" but also to other such films as "Memento Mori" "Dark Water" "What Lies Beneath" and "The Exorcist." It is a strong, well-cast film with some amazing performances, particularly by the little girl who plays Young-Ju. It is amazing to see this girl, who couldn't have been more than five or six when she did this film, play her role of possessed victim so well, her facial expressions shifting rapidly with every violent mood swing. The story can be dizzily confusing at times, shifting back and forth from past to present with no warning, but always infused with a strong sense of dread and a few humorous moments to ease the tension. It also has a nice twist ending that I truly hadn't seen coming. This is probably one of the better films that followed in the wake of Ringu's success. Ringu is still my own personal favorite, but Phone is strong enough to stand on its own. Fans of Asian horror will not want to miss this one.

Man, this film gave me the chills! Quite a few scenes might not make sense until the ending explains why and how it all fits together. One doesn't really understand the young girl's obsession towards her father at first, but it all makes sense with the big reveal. I did feel some details were mentioned over and over for the sake of the story, and did not make believable everyday conversation. The film also jumps backwards and forward in time and one has to understand this storytelling method to fully understand the story. The twist ending was unexpected and a great turn of events.

There is nothing subtle about ghost in the movie Phone. No slow build up of atmosphere or gradually letting its presence be known. This ghost is direct, purposeful and terrifying.

The first 40 minutes or so of this movie kept me at the edge of my seat and I was more frightened by this movie than I have been in a long time. Unfortunately, once we learn the identity of the ghost and we think we have discerned its motives, it takes some of the impact away. The movie cannot maintain the tension it set up at the beginning of the film and the ending seemed somehow tame compared to the scares of the first half..not to say that it isn't scary..just less so than what came before.

I don't want to give away too much before it has been seen by a wider audience, but if you enjoyed Ring or Gawi, you will like this movie as well. A special Kudos should be given to Seo-woo Eun, the little girl who plays Young-ju. While she is possessed by the ghost, this little girl will terrify you with the looks of pure hatred and the aura of menace she generates. She manages to be more frightening without an ounce of make-up than any CGI ghost or squib-soaked demon I have ever seen on screen. Linda Blair, eat your heart out.