One Missed Call

Warner Bros

R4 DVD

One Missed Call follows in the footsteps of the Japanese ghost tale The Ring and its myriad permutations and while having a similar story arc is still a successful film in its own right. This is a remake by Eric Valette of the Japanese film "Chakushin Ari" (2003) by Takashi Miike and considering Miike’s reputation, it is hard act to follow. But while the plot seems to be, at first, obvious there are some nice twists and turns, good set pieces and an excellent mood and these work to make it a truly chilling experience.

The film opens as Shelley is complaining to her friends of strange experiences, some time before she received a vaguely threatening phone call and since them has felt off balance. At the precise time indicated in the phones message, Shelley and her poor cat are dragged into their backyard pool drown. A small red lolly pops to the surface.

As calls are received by each victim one after another, it seems some sort of chain reaction is occurring. Each victim receives a strange call which indicates the time of their future demise and hints at its very nature. The call is received via a different ring tone and even arrives when the phones battery is removed. As the time approaches the victim begins to see bodies in various states of decay, symbols of putrefaction such as worms and slugs and great looking apparitions ! These ghosts and undead people look great and create a very dark ambient mood to the film. Each death is suitably gruesome and the shock effect of the various killings, ranging from drowning to death by train and a metal bar through the chest, give the film a nice “edge of your seat” feel.

This reoccurring motif of the strange ring tone and the red lolly add a nice texture to the film and give it a strangely chilling yet childlike feel, something which is significant later.

As the story continues, we even have a semi-amusing exorcist attempting to “purify” the phone in real time on a “Miracle” TV program but to no avail and victim three still dies. By this time we have both Beth and a local policeman hot on the trail of the source of this supernatural contagion.

There is also a sub plot about Beth’s abusive mother and her father’s suicide, shown in flashback, which adds an “emotional hook” to the story, it also helps set the stage for the exploration of the nature of the vengeful ghost as well as some misdirection.

There is a nice twist in the middle of the film, at first you consider this to be a fairly traditional ghost tale. When it is suggested that the source of the problem is a mother with “Munchausen syndrome by proxy” and that her body may be lying undiscovered in St.Lukes, a hospital which recently burnt down, you think that will be the end of the matter.

However, we come to understand that the mother was actually trying to protect her daughter (and the latest victim) and the true ghostly killer is her oldest daughter. We then learn that the daughter had been injuring her younger sister and died of an asthma attack alone in her room and that she is now a vengeful ghost, a traditional Japanese folk motif.

The scenes in the abandoned, burnt out hospital are superb and the mood created by Beth running through the building are highly charged and beautifully filmed, when the mother’s reanimated body lies over Beth trying to protect her is truly creepy and nicely builds up the tension of the film.

The climax of the film is powerful and the revelation of the ghost, which has been kept back until the end, certainly works.

One Missed Call maybe a little predictable, however, the unusual twists and turns in the plot, the texture and mood created especially in such “set pieces” as the burnt hospital and the great looking ghosts make this well worth watching.