PHONE, a South Korean horror flick about a family haunted by a long-haired female spirit, isn't quite sure what it wants to be. The title and opening scenes make it look like nothing more than a mobile phone version of RING, although Takashi Miike's ONE MISSED CALL did the same thing (and much better) a year later. Then there's some real nonsense about a serial killer who makes threatening phone calls a la SCREAM, and it's all very much par for the course.
Around half an hour in, the writer/director gets bored with this stuff and shifts the focus to some weird goings-on at a school, which is where the film becomes a variant on the whole WHISPERING CORRIDORS series. This material is equally uninteresting, but a little while later PHONE finally hits its stride when it becomes a small-scale, family-focused horror film about adultery, murder and vengeance. It's just unfortunate that it takes half the running time to figure out just what kind of movie it wants to be.
The cast are adequate rather than engaging, although the movie features an excellent turn from the child actress who acts way beyond her years. Production values are fairly good, and the direction is solid, which is why it's a shame that the material is so uninspired for the most part. The second half gets a lot better, dealing out one scare scene after another, and even some badly-placed flashbacks don't spoil the fun. Things culminate in a predictable but effective ghostly climax that ties things up in a way that's both satisfying and neat.
Around half an hour in, the writer/director gets bored with this stuff and shifts the focus to some weird goings-on at a school, which is where the film becomes a variant on the whole WHISPERING CORRIDORS series. This material is equally uninteresting, but a little while later PHONE finally hits its stride when it becomes a small-scale, family-focused horror film about adultery, murder and vengeance. It's just unfortunate that it takes half the running time to figure out just what kind of movie it wants to be.
The cast are adequate rather than engaging, although the movie features an excellent turn from the child actress who acts way beyond her years. Production values are fairly good, and the direction is solid, which is why it's a shame that the material is so uninspired for the most part. The second half gets a lot better, dealing out one scare scene after another, and even some badly-placed flashbacks don't spoil the fun. Things culminate in a predictable but effective ghostly climax that ties things up in a way that's both satisfying and neat.