One Missed Call (2003)

Undescribable Perfection

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

I've nothing positive to say about this crud: it fails in ALL areas. I gather the producers could not afford any lights, as most scenes are in almost total darkness. Ridiculous, pathetic. Not worth a moment of your time. I found no suspense, no real fear, nothing clever, nothing new or exciting ~~ just a lousy 4th-rate attempt to ape a western movie, with disastrous results. The rating in excess of 6 which this flick currently enjoys on IMDb must be due to reviews by cast & crew members and by persons who are entranced by ANY eastern movie however atrocious....................... AVOID !

I went into One Missed Call expecting that it was going to be another terrible chapter in Japanese copycat horror films. My hopes were raised when I saw Takashi Miike in the opening credits (longtime fan, didn't know this was one of his).Midway through the movie, my expectations were rising. It was actually good! There was a deep central theme, the story was carried out well, the pacing was good, the characters were accessible and believable, and it was damn scary. For a campy horror flick about cell phones, there was a lot of refinement.The reason I didn't rate it higher was that it had some obvious flaws. For one, it was longer than it needed to be. A campy horror flick is, after all, a campy horror flick, and doesn't really need to be two hours long. Also, the ending threw me for a bit of a loop, but I won't spoil it.Watch it for yourself, preferably in high-def and with the lights out. Seriously scary.

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.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Chakushin Ari is set in Japan where teenager Yumi Nakamura (Kou Shibasaki) attends University, while eating out her friend Yoko Okazaki (Anna Nagata) receives a call on her mobile. Yoko missed the call but a voice message was left, the strange message is dated the 18th April which is two days away & came from her own mobile number. Then two days later on the 18th Yoko dies in a mysterious accident, after that her friend Kenji Kawai (Atsushi Ida) receives a similar call & he too dies in mysterious circumstances shortly after. The rumour going around the University is that an evil ghost is killing people & using the contact list in their mobile phones to select another victim. Then Yumi's best friend Natsumi Yamashita (Shin'ichi Tsutsumi) receives a call, determined not to let her friend die or even become the next victim Yumi sets out to find the truth behind the killings & stop it...More commonly known under the title One Missed Call to English speaking audiences this Japanese production was directed by Takashi Miike & for me is another rubbishy Asian ghost story, to be brutally honest it's a straight rip-off of Ringu (1998) only difference being instead of a mysterious video tape Chakushin Ari revolves around mobile phones. I suppose it had to happen, since mobile phones have become such an integral part of modern culture it was inevitable someone was going to make a horror film based around them & you know even evil killer ghost's have to keep up with the times & use mobile phones. The basic concept to me seems laughable as Chakushin Ari tries to make something as common & everyday as a mobile phone call scary & for me it fails totally. I'm sorry but seeing a mobile phone rings just isn't scary or a concept that sends shivers down my spine, that's basically what it boils down to & a big reason why I found Chakushin Ari so dull, lifeless & such a chore to sit through. The script by Minako Daira was based on a novel by Yasushi Akimoto & is throughly slow going, I found the whole story revolving around some sort of ghost who was wronged in someway when they were alive & wanting some sort of revenge old hat & the Japanese have flogged the idea to death & usually with considerably more success than Chakushin Ari. Then there's the ending, it's absolutely terrible & doesn't really make any sort of sense although maybe it's lost in the English translation. The ending is a complete mess that seems to have time travel, possession, ghost's & no sort of closure. The one thing I did learn from this film though is if a rotten zombie is walking towards you with the intent to kill you then hug it & say nice things to it, it'll work a treat.Director Miike is usually known for his more outrageous & gory films but here with Chakushin Ari he really tones it down, there's certainly no blood or gore or violence expect for a severed arm. To be honest there's nothing here we haven't seen loads of times before, there's the obligatory female ghost who walks funny & makes strange noises that every Japanese supernatural horror film must include. Been there, done it & brought the T-shirt. Things pick up a bit towards the end with a haunted hospital but it's never really revealed why the hospital is haunted or how a woman's dead body got there or how it's mobile phone battery hasn't run out in six months. Like most of these Japanese ghost films Chakushin Ari is filmed in muted colours & in a very simple sort of way, it just looks bland & forgettable although maybe that was the intention.Technically the film is alright, there's nothing here that's going to amaze anyone but it's reasonably well made for what it is. I must admit I really don't like subtitled films, I just find them a chore to watch & very distracting. The acting seems alright but since we never know what anyone is saying it's difficult to judge.Chakushin Ari is a tedious film that I really didn't enjoy at all, I found it a throughly boring mess with a less than inspiring central premise that were mostly rehashes of other similar films. The film proved popular enough to spawn two sequels Chakushin Ari 2 (2005), Chakushin Ari Final (2006) as well as a Japanese TV series & a Hollywood remake.