MaximumMadness Look, let's just cut to the chase. Because there's no other way to really describe this film without comparing it to numerous others that came before.The story of "One Missed Call" is essentially just a cocktail comprised of two-parts "Ringu/Ring" to one-part "Ju-On: The Curse"... garnished with a dash of the visuals and tonality of the first couple "Tomie" flicks here and there for good measure. Oh, and a pinch of a handful of director Takashi Miike's previous films once or twice during particularly "gooey" scenes.Yes, yes, yes... I know it's based on a novel and that it's fair to say many Japanese horror films (Heck, I'd say Asian horror films in general) share a lot of common visuals, story structure and occasionally specific scenes. But at the same time, it's hard not to notice how much the movie does rely on borrowing materials we've generally seen done much better before, while just giving them a slight cosmetic face-lift.Stop me if you've heard this one: A small group of friends must fight for their lives after receiving phonecalls alerting them that they will die in just a few days. (...never heard that one before. Oh, wait...) Except instead of relying on a cursed video-tape, the dark forces at play in this film skip right to the nitty-gritty as the curse is just focused on the phone-call itself. You get the call, you die, someone else close to you gets the next call. And so, the search is on as young Yumi- who has lost several friends to the curse and appears to be its next victim- must team up with investigating detective Yamashita to solve the mystery of what's happening and how to stop it.I will make a minor apology for the use of sarcasm above, but I can't blame myself too much. It's just too hard to really talk about this film without addressing those obvious similarities that it has to other films. Really the only thing that sort-of sets this film apart from being just another generic horror-flick are some wonderfully subversive little scenes that pop up now and again and a few big stand-out scares thanks to the skill of director Miike. That and admittedly fun performances from our leads Kou Shibasaki and Shinichi Tsutsumi, who are both able to salvage some fine work despite a painfully derivative script and clichéd character development.One particularly remarkable scene relatively early in the film is what pulls it all together for me, and makes me able to forgive the film's faults and shortcomings. While I won't spoil the outcome, I will say it revolves around a character desperately trying to survive, even going so far as to appear on live-TV for an "exorcism" to save her from whatever dark force is at play. Not only does the scene contain some nice and very subtle bits of satire, but it's also just REALLY darned creepy and unsettling, building tension like a tightening wire until it all snaps and goes completely nuts. It's about a 10 minute sequence, but it packs more suspense, fear and even small chuckles than most films do in their entire runtime. It's frankly shocking just how amazingly effective this scene is compared to the relatively by-the-numbers rest of the proceedings. Another sequence set in a hospital later does come close with some truly twisted imagery and visual direction that just drips and oozes pure, dread-filled atmosphere... though it never quite matches the sheer power and ferocity of that earlier sequence. Still, it's another great sequence in its own right and should be mentioned as another of the film's stand-out moments.And honestly, it is scenes like those two that do make this a worthwhile sit... at least for hardcore horror fans or movie-buffs with a taste for Asian films. It's most definitely a case of "the parts being greater than the whole", but even still, the whole isn't too bad. It's just very routine. We've seen it all before. But that doesn't mean there's not still some fun to be had with it. It may not be one of Takashi Miike's best efforts. But it's one I think most people will get a kick (and a jump) out of.I give "One Missed Call" a slightly above average 6 out of 10. It's worth checking out at least once thanks to some great key scenes... just don't expect a particularly original story. And be prepared to roll your eyes once or twice.

Boba_Fett1138 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/

Leonard Smalls: The Lone Biker of the Apocalypse Not the first and certainly not the last in a long, long, (very long) line of Japanese horror 'creep' flicks, "One Missed Call" was not one I anticipated to be much really. The premise is awfully teenybopper: a strange voicemail message on your cell phone tells you when you will die. Somehow I felt like this must have been done before. But not like this guy did it...It takes a lot to creep my out and Takashi Miike managed to do it pretty well in the final twenty minutes of this movie. The setting becomes extremely scary and the jumpouts are not typical; they don't really build up, they just seem to come out of nowhere.My only complaint with this film is that it never really ties itself up into a neat little package in the end; it's a little convoluted as to why certain people are connected to the original death. Without giving anything up, I'll just say that I was a bit perplexed.I have to ask: who thinks it's a smart idea to keep remaking these awesome Asian horror flicks and dumbing them down with Americanized garbage? Are we really that lazy that we can't read subtitles? And if so, why not just watch the dubbed version? I just don't get it! "One Missed Call" is one that should not be missed by horror buffs. I liked it.8 out of 10, kids.

alma-42 A very visually-pleasing traditional J-Horror flick, with Miike's signature criticism of the state of family and domestic decaying, without delving deeper philosophically nor psychologically of course.What makes most of the Japanese horror film industry appealing is its capability of delivering suspense and actually building a compelling atmosphere while not relying much on seat-jumpers and Hollywood scares, as well as keeping up with non-linear time-line, fragmentation, and other experimental techniques. Such characteristic, sadly, have been gradually abandoned and tolerated with as the exposure on the US market grows.Acting was campy, which is a very strange yet amusing aspect in almost all of the Miike Corpus (except for Oudishon, perhaps, with its pleasing cast and the legendary Ishibashi Ryo.) What speaks in Miike's work is in fact Miike Takashi himself and his visionary talent. Such genius could be seen from the fanatic extravaganza media frenzy in Natsumi (Fukiishi Kazue)'s arc, notably the live exorcism scene.Rich cinematography and decent sounds. Clever deployment of the ring-tone device worked positively for progressing and building up without being overly redundant and jejune.