Stars: Azura Skye, Shannyn Sossamon, Edward Burns, Ana Claudia Talancon, Ray Wise

Director: Eric Valette

Summary: First, it was the television in the essential J-horror film RINGU and its American remake THE RING. Then Takashi Miike's ONE MISSED CALL (aka CHAKUSHIN ARI) scared people away from another ubiquitous technology: the mobile phone. This creepy remake sees Shannyn Sossamon (A KNIGHT'S TALE) plays a woman whose friends die after they get phone messages that are the sounds of their own deaths.

In the tradition of THE RING, THE GRUDGE, DARK WATER, and PULSE, ONE MISSED CALL is yet another moody Japanese ghost story to be adapted for Western screens. Originally made by cult director Takashi Miike in 2003 from Yasushi Akimoto's novel CHAKUSHIN ARI, this American version retains the elements that are sure to please J-Horror fans--jerky apparitions, ghostly children, desperate messages from beyond the grave, possessed electronic devices, and strong female characters. While this remake, which is the debut English-language film from French director Eric Valette, dispenses with some of the freakiness of Miike's version, the creepiness remains. Shannon Sossamon is Beth, a developmental psychology student who has plenty of cause for concern after her friend Leann (Azura Skye) receives a panicked mobile phone message from herself days in the future. After Leann falls in front of a train at the same date and time on the message, Beth suspects that she may be next. Beth's fear seems even more justified after her friend Taylor (Ana Claudia Talancon) befalls a similar fate as her phone message is being investigated by a reality TV host (Ray Wise) who specialises in unexplained phenomena. With the help of police chief Jack Andrews (Ed Byrnes), Beth discovers a link between the calls and a deceased mother and daughter.
A slow burning ghost tale, ONE MISSED CALL establishes a mood of creepiness before the opening credits and sustains it right through to the conclusion. Instead of major shocks or gore, we're given subtle glimpses of ghostly figures or slightly distorted faces that are effective in creating unease. Sossamon makes a pleasing heroine, and the always excellent Wise makes the most of his small role. Almost old-fashioned in its restraint, the film is spooky enough to give all but the most jaded horror fan goose bumps.

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Yet more modern technology falls prey to the influence of eeeeevil spirits in One Missed Call, a horror flick following firmly in the footsteps of The Ring, Pulse, and other remakes of Japanese creepfests. Good-looking young people are receiving voice-mails that prefigure their gruesome deaths; Beth (Shannyn Sossamon, 40 Days and 40 Nights) and Jack (Ed Burns) race against time to find the source of this cell-phone curse, leading them to a dark and treacherous burnt-out hospital. Little is fresh here--One Missed Call apes every other Japanese horror remake, using corpse makeup, blurry images at the corner of the screen or just out of sight, lots of ambient rattles and gasps, spooky-looking children, and the slow, trembling turn towards a ringing phone... which stopped being scary about four or five movies ago. But for fans of this particular subgenre, One Missed Call may evoke the warm, enjoyable familiarity that devotees of 1970s horror f! eel towards the repetitive output of Hammer Films. Ray Wise (Reaper, Twin Peaks) has a bit of fun as a cynical TV producer; comedian Margaret Cho has such a brief, throwaway part as a skeptical cop that one wonders if the rest of her role is on the cutting room floor; and Meagan Good (Brick, Stomp the Yard) gets prominent billing but is hardly in the movie at all. --Bret Fetzer

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	2008
Release Date:	September 29, 2008
Runtime:	83 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D Y 13912 N
Keywords:	One, English, General, Call, Horror, Occult, Missed
Genre:	Horror/Occult