One Missed Call is a 2008 American supernatural horror film and remake of the Japanese film of the same name. The film was directed by Eric Valette and stars Shannyn Sossamon, Ana Claudia Talancón, Edward Burns, and Ray Wise.
The film revolves around a curse that claims the lives of people who receive a missed call from a dead person’s cell phone. The film was released on January 4, 2008 and was a box office bomb, grossing only $17 million against its $20 million budget.
Meh, I hate fucking cellphones. There’s nothing more irritating than a bloody cellphone, seems ya can’t go anywhere in the world now without hearing them ringing or some wretched swine shouting the most boring trivia from their life into one for all to hear. So, a film which centers around people getting calls on their mobile phones and then dying has got a major hurdle to climb from the start.
Add to the annoying mobile phones the fact that it’s a remake – *spit* – of a Japanese original (Chakushin Ari), and that Western remakes are almost invariably turds, and this was pretty well screwed from the start with me.
Well, the good things first. It’s certainly stylish and looks the part. And, I really like Shannyn Sossamon who plays Beth, I think she’s got great talent and really deserves a chance to shine in a solid horror. Unfortunately, this isn’t a solid horror, and the good has been just about covered in this paragraph.
As for what remains. I guess that it could have been a whole lot worse, and there are some entertaining moments here and there. Stylistically it is pretty fun, but it is entirely a triumph of style over substance, the movie is an ultimately vacuous and disappointing experience. Superficial is the word that springs to mind.
The storyline, when it isn’t feeling muddled, pointless, and predictable, fails to engage. The ending is a total let down. Shannyn does her best with the material to hand, and is the most likeable thing about the film, but she can’t rescue it from being a non starter.
As an epitaph to summarize, I guess we have to fall back on the good old standby of “still, it could have been a whole lot worse”. Review over, got to go, the bloody phone is ringing.
The film was panned by critics, who criticized its lack of scares, poor acting, and unoriginality. However, some praised the film’s atmosphere and visual style.
If you’re a fan of J-horror remakes, then you might want to give One Missed Call a chance. However, if you’re looking for a truly scary and original film, then you’re better off looking elsewhere.
Synopsis
One Missed Call is a 2008 American supernatural horror film directed by Eric Valette and starring Shannyn Sossamon, Edward Burns, and Ray Wise. The film is a remake of the 2003 Japanese film of the same name. It was released in the United States on January 4, 2008.
Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon) is a college student who is haunted by a series of eerie voicemails from her future self, each one describing the circumstances of her own brutal murder. As the calls become more frequent and more specific, Beth realizes that she has only a limited time to prevent her own murder. With the help of her friends, she sets out to uncover the identity of the person who is sending her the deadly messages.
As Beth gets closer to the truth, she discovers that the murders depicted in the voicemails are all connected to a mysterious website called “The Dirge”, which is dedicated to the memory of a young woman who was brutally murdered. Beth soon realizes that she is the next victim on the list.
With time running out, Beth frantically searches for a way to prevent her own murder. But as she gets closer to the killer’s identity, she also realizes that she may be too late to save herself.
Movie Details
Director: Eric Valette
Writers: Andrew Klavan, Yasushi Akimoto, Miwako Daiwa
Actors: Shannyn Sossamon, Edward Burns, Ana Claudia Talancón, Ray Wise
Release Year: 2008