Review of One Missed Call (2008) by Bryan H — 30 Mar 2009

Another entry in the "Let's Create An Asian-Style Horror Film" sweepstakes, where tension is created by the solitude and modernity of the urban setting, and a ghost with real some hidden motivation kills city-dwellers through some technological innovation (here, it is cell phones).

"One Missed Call," while technically well-made, could just as easily be called "The Eye," or "Pulse," or "Shutter," or "Dark Water," or "The Ring." It follows the same "What does this ghost want?" mystery formula so well that there are moments in the film where I honestly thought that the filmmakers made a conscious choice to breeze through potentially important scenes (i.e. there is a scene when the detective introduces himself to the protagonist, and instead of explaining why he is introducing himself, just sort of sighs, shrugs, and moves on to the next important detail up for discussion) because they knew that we'd seen it all before anyway, and we knew where the movie was going.

When the filmmakers even tire of the tedious steps that they must retread in telling the same recycled stories, maybe it's time to move on to a new formula? "One Missed Call" is sleek, well-shot, and at times, creepy, but it felt as if--for a solid hour and a half--I was watching every actor jump a shark.