Review of One Missed Call (2003) by Tibor B — 24 Jun 2008

Utterly predictable Japanese horror which rehashes elements from all the films which caught the attention of the west from 'Ringu' onwards (abused children, absent parents, ghostly interaction with technology, death).

Boring teens get a phone call and voicemail from their future-selves just before the moment of their mysterious death a few days later. Takashi Miike has produced some of the most distinctive extreme Asian films, such as Audition, Ichii the Killer, Gozu, Dead or Alive etc but he's clearly on autopilot here as not an ounce of tension is generated from the slight, laughable plot, and only a ghostly confrontation finale really succeeds in creepiness, by which time you've lost all interest anyway.

Ironicaly I found myself distractedly texting and playing with my phone after about half an hour, must be some subliminal phone company ads in there somewhere. Or just a boring movie...