Review of One Missed Call (2003) by Julia G — 07 Jan 2008

I had been seeing posters and previews advertising the remake for the film of the same name and in honour of the film's release last weekend I decided to satisfy my curiosity and watch the original. It turned out to be a smart move on my part, it was extremely fascinating and the film seemed to say alot about the fears of cell phones. Also since there is a heavy reliance on cell phones, this made the film even more effective. The basic premise of the film is that one by one a group of friends start recieving messages (voice, text and video) letting them know that in just three days from recieving these messages, they will die. To clarify, these are not like the foreboding messages in "Ringu" but instead the date is given either in a text or on the date of the message. How it works is that: 1.) A person will get a call on their cell phone from a ring tune that is not their's nor one that they recognize. 2.) When the words one missed call pop up-the number would be from their cell phone and the date would be when they will die. 3.) The message will usually consist of the last word or sentence they will say before they die and then followed by a scream or silence. Again, unlike "Ringu" there is no way to prevent their deaths from happening.

The calls are being orchestrated by a "Grudge Ghost" (which is a person who died or was killed in a violent manner and they are forced to walk the earth, never resting and causing pain, suffering and even killing other people). This ghost is of a ten year old girl and like the other grudge ghost's personified on film, she has the signature long black hair that covers her face and almost seems to have a life of its own and she is clothed in white. The scariest thing about this ghost is that when she was alive she suffered from Munchausen syndrome which means that she continually felt the need to inflict pain on others (in particular her little sister) and then reward them by giving them red candy to suck on with promises that she will look after them and make them better.

Not only does the film draw from a fear of cell phones but also on dying from asmatic attacks. It is revealed that the ghost died from an astma attack because she wasn't given her medicine and so before a person is about to be killed, the sound of the medication in the puffer can be heard. Also, the movie pokes fun at talk show/reality television when one of the girls who has been recieving the spooky video messages agrees out of desperation to appear on live tv close to her time of death and be excorsised. What starts off as humor of the absuridty of the idea and how people might actually buy into this phenomena....when the scene takes a drastic turn for the worst and the end result is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie.

Another scene that is worth mentioning is when the protagonist of the film decides to visit an abandonded hospital and she is thrown into a whirwind of a horrid psychological frenzy orchestrated by the ghost. One particular image in this sequence is when ghostly hands start pushing forward fetal corpses in jars towards the Girl (protagonist) and one is left to wonder what kind of horror might have been inflicted on them in turn.

Overall, this is a movie that I recomend highly and it will not leave you feeling disapointed. Also do not let the acusations that this film is only a copy cat of such films as "Ringu" or "Ju-on" since it does stand on its own, even though it does borrow certain themes and ideas.