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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

One Missed Call (Japanese original) Review


Check out my updated review! http://thevagrantrises.blogspot.com/2014/05/updated-review-4-one-missed-call.html

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: People are receiving phone calls from the future moment when they die and then spread the curse to another's number in their cellphone.

Review: "One Missed Call" is a fun take on the way urban legends have been circulating in modern Japan; from what I can tell, they have increased significantly since the horror movie boom began. It does draw a lot of parallels from a Korean horror movie called "Phone," but I can forgive such things since I feel this is the superior film. The usage of cellphones in modern horror has been a mixed bag, but much like any item being haunted, the presentation is key; the ringtone is especially haunting and memorable. I enjoyed the setups to a lot of the scares as they aren't things we see often or effectively enough like the scenes where a girl gets killed on live TV or the hospital sequence. As with many of my favorite horror movies, OMC was able to scare me or freak me out which is why I rate it so high. While it does its job of creating elaborate scares, it does start off slow and the ending is weak and confusing which does hurt the overall experience. However, this film does have an intense climax, and I am a fan of the subtle background scares strewn about. There is an acceptable remake out there, but it is vastly weaker than the original so check it out if you want for a comparison. The makeup effects are impressive, the story and mystery are intriguing, the acting is decent enough, and the scares are good, creative, and plentiful. There's a reason this film ranks amongst the greats of Asian horror and any fan should not miss out.

Notable Moment: When the corpse of the mom comes to life. It really catches you off guard as the makeup effects are done in such a way you can't tell if it's meant to be seen in the background or to see full use!

Final Rating: 7.5/10

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