PLOT OUTLINE: A group of friends are shocked when they start receiving voicemail messages on their cell phones from themselves 72 hours in the future. As the time that each message arrives, the recipient is killed by a malevolent entity seeking retribution for their death.
One Missed Call is one of a spate of Japanese horror films (commonly known as J-Horror) that came out in the late 1990s / early 2000s. The genre was kicked off by Hideo Nakata's ridiculously successful RING, which set up the clichés that all the other films, including this one, follow almost to the letter.
As far as horror films go, this particular one is nothing special. In some respects, it is a bit of a disappointment, mainly due to the fact that its director, Takeshi Miike, is capable of making some really individualistic films that can be fairly compared to the works of Shinya Tsukamoto. One Missed Call follows the Ring formula almost to the letter – there is a technologically-minded curse (in this case cell phones) where the owner of the device is given a warning & a deadline before they are killed. To be fair, Ring was not that good a film, but it did have an atmosphere that was creepy & unearthly. This film doesn't even have that, not to mention the fact that, at nearly two hours long, it overstays its welcome. There is the occasional moment which suggests a work of promise – one of the victims meets her fate in a television studio – but for all intensive purposes, One Missed Call is dead on arrival.
The execs at Hollywood conducted a remake some years later, which was actually quite better than this original.
One Missed Call is one of a spate of Japanese horror films (commonly known as J-Horror) that came out in the late 1990s / early 2000s. The genre was kicked off by Hideo Nakata's ridiculously successful RING, which set up the clichés that all the other films, including this one, follow almost to the letter.
As far as horror films go, this particular one is nothing special. In some respects, it is a bit of a disappointment, mainly due to the fact that its director, Takeshi Miike, is capable of making some really individualistic films that can be fairly compared to the works of Shinya Tsukamoto. One Missed Call follows the Ring formula almost to the letter – there is a technologically-minded curse (in this case cell phones) where the owner of the device is given a warning & a deadline before they are killed. To be fair, Ring was not that good a film, but it did have an atmosphere that was creepy & unearthly. This film doesn't even have that, not to mention the fact that, at nearly two hours long, it overstays its welcome. There is the occasional moment which suggests a work of promise – one of the victims meets her fate in a television studio – but for all intensive purposes, One Missed Call is dead on arrival.
The execs at Hollywood conducted a remake some years later, which was actually quite better than this original.