DevilMan
10-24-2004, 04:03 PM
http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/one%20miss%20call%20dvd%2001.jpg
I've read that many reviewers have called ONE MISSED CALL (aka CHAKUSHIN ARI alias YOU'VE GOT A CALL) one of TAKASHI MIIKE's most blatant commercial money making endeavors. And ya know, if that's true, I tend to agree with them. ONE MISSED CALL (for whatever reason it was made) is definitely a departure from his usual innovative off-the-wall movie fare. Although the screenplay was written by YASUSHI AKIMOTO and MINAKO DAIRA, the overall "feel" of the film is still created by MIIKE himself. And there are certainly "Takashims" in this film (my prefered term for his bizarre cinematic antics) but for the most part, the whole affair just seems to reek of being a brainchild of some cinema big shot who wanted to quickly cash in on the popularity of the current crop of Asian "Spooks & Spectres" flicks and needed a director with a "name" to draw in the crowds. And I admit, I fell right into that group of targeted viewers myself. I mean, c'mon, who wouldn't? You read that the now infamous Japanese master of provocative subject material, TAKASHI MIIKE is directing a RINGU-styled horror movie, you're instantly sold. Right? But wait, if that's not enough, let's add actress KOU SHIBASAKI (who played the sexy pyschotic goddess Mitsuko from BATTLE ROYALE) as the lead damsel in distress and you've positively got yourself one hell of a winner. Right? Yup, I thought so too. But the actual viewing of the film is a different thing altogether. Not bad mind you, just ordinary.
ONE MISSED CALL starts off as Yumi (KOU SHIBASAKI) meets with her friends at a restaurant. Her buddy Yoko (actress ANNA NAGATA, also from BATTLE ROYALE) tells her that their highschool friend has recently died via mysterious circumstances. Suddenly Yoko's cell phone rings. Yoko checks the call and discovers that it's actually her voice followed by a scream, hers too. The call is also strangely dated three days in the future. Playing it off as a prank, the two part ways for the evening and Yoko goes about her business. Of course, three days later at the exact same time as the odd call came through, Yoko falls prey to a speeding train (thrown or pushed by an invisible force). Yumi's shocked because at the point of Yoko's death, they were talking to each other on their cell phones. Yumi starts to suspect supernatural foul play because Yoko said the same words and screamed just as she had on the ominous cell phone message three days prior. Of course, more trouble starts to brew as one by one, Yumi's friends who all had the cell phone numbers listed on Yoko's directory begin to die off in untimely and questionable ways. One's burnt to death. One's knocked into an open elevator shaft. One has her head twisted off. Well, you can better bet that sooner or later all this murderous carnage must be stopped before it's too late because Yumi herself eventaully receives her one last call from the netherworld. And it all climaxes in a twist ending (with a zombie) that'll probably have you scratching your head, wondering what the hell is really happening.
So, as you can tell, ONE MISSED CALL is definitely RINGU, THE PHONE, JUON, and DARK WATER inspired. There's no doubt that there's an angry spirit running rampant who's thirsty for revenge while savagely wielding it's deadly supernatural powers against unsuspecting mortals. There's also a-plenty of patented trademark Asian spook sequences in the film too. A ghostly pale face which wasn't there before suddenly appears out of nowhere in a darkened doorway and springs towards the startled viewer. Long stringy black hair slides across the floor or up the wall as if alive hell bent to snare it's potential victim. An out of focus apparition reveals itself, slowly stepping closer and closer towards it's prey (and the POV camera) in a menacing way. All the typical spooky kinda stuff you've seen before and have come to expect from a film about such things as vengeance from the afterlife. Yet I also think that it's this same familiarity with the genre that's probably in ONE MISSED CALL's favor. Yes, you may have already seen something like this multiple times before but every new "Ghosts Run Amok" movie has something exciting to add to the whole category and this particular film has it's own share of great moments care of TAKASHI MIIKE. Final thought, simple, if you enjoy the Asian horror cinema then you'll like (not love) ONE MISSED CALL even though it's an overt retread of several similar films that have proceded it.
As for the DVD, I purchased the region 3 Hong Kong import by WIDESIGHT. I've never been a real big fan of this company's releases due to so-so picture quality and ONE MISSED CALL is no exception. It's presented in 1:85:1 anamorphic widescreen with a decent Japanese language DTS soundtrack. The English subtitles are surprisingly good and for the most part, they're grammatically correct. There's no special features available on this DVD, sadly not even a trailer. However, as I said, the overall picture is somewhat dark and a tad grainy. But considering that this is an affordable and, at the moment, the only English subtitled release, it's not a bad purchase.
Some pix to enjoy...
http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/OMC%20Pix%2001.jpg
http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/OMC%20Pix%2003.jpg
http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/OMC%20Pix%2002.jpg
-Steve
I've read that many reviewers have called ONE MISSED CALL (aka CHAKUSHIN ARI alias YOU'VE GOT A CALL) one of TAKASHI MIIKE's most blatant commercial money making endeavors. And ya know, if that's true, I tend to agree with them. ONE MISSED CALL (for whatever reason it was made) is definitely a departure from his usual innovative off-the-wall movie fare. Although the screenplay was written by YASUSHI AKIMOTO and MINAKO DAIRA, the overall "feel" of the film is still created by MIIKE himself. And there are certainly "Takashims" in this film (my prefered term for his bizarre cinematic antics) but for the most part, the whole affair just seems to reek of being a brainchild of some cinema big shot who wanted to quickly cash in on the popularity of the current crop of Asian "Spooks & Spectres" flicks and needed a director with a "name" to draw in the crowds. And I admit, I fell right into that group of targeted viewers myself. I mean, c'mon, who wouldn't? You read that the now infamous Japanese master of provocative subject material, TAKASHI MIIKE is directing a RINGU-styled horror movie, you're instantly sold. Right? But wait, if that's not enough, let's add actress KOU SHIBASAKI (who played the sexy pyschotic goddess Mitsuko from BATTLE ROYALE) as the lead damsel in distress and you've positively got yourself one hell of a winner. Right? Yup, I thought so too. But the actual viewing of the film is a different thing altogether. Not bad mind you, just ordinary.
ONE MISSED CALL starts off as Yumi (KOU SHIBASAKI) meets with her friends at a restaurant. Her buddy Yoko (actress ANNA NAGATA, also from BATTLE ROYALE) tells her that their highschool friend has recently died via mysterious circumstances. Suddenly Yoko's cell phone rings. Yoko checks the call and discovers that it's actually her voice followed by a scream, hers too. The call is also strangely dated three days in the future. Playing it off as a prank, the two part ways for the evening and Yoko goes about her business. Of course, three days later at the exact same time as the odd call came through, Yoko falls prey to a speeding train (thrown or pushed by an invisible force). Yumi's shocked because at the point of Yoko's death, they were talking to each other on their cell phones. Yumi starts to suspect supernatural foul play because Yoko said the same words and screamed just as she had on the ominous cell phone message three days prior. Of course, more trouble starts to brew as one by one, Yumi's friends who all had the cell phone numbers listed on Yoko's directory begin to die off in untimely and questionable ways. One's burnt to death. One's knocked into an open elevator shaft. One has her head twisted off. Well, you can better bet that sooner or later all this murderous carnage must be stopped before it's too late because Yumi herself eventaully receives her one last call from the netherworld. And it all climaxes in a twist ending (with a zombie) that'll probably have you scratching your head, wondering what the hell is really happening.
So, as you can tell, ONE MISSED CALL is definitely RINGU, THE PHONE, JUON, and DARK WATER inspired. There's no doubt that there's an angry spirit running rampant who's thirsty for revenge while savagely wielding it's deadly supernatural powers against unsuspecting mortals. There's also a-plenty of patented trademark Asian spook sequences in the film too. A ghostly pale face which wasn't there before suddenly appears out of nowhere in a darkened doorway and springs towards the startled viewer. Long stringy black hair slides across the floor or up the wall as if alive hell bent to snare it's potential victim. An out of focus apparition reveals itself, slowly stepping closer and closer towards it's prey (and the POV camera) in a menacing way. All the typical spooky kinda stuff you've seen before and have come to expect from a film about such things as vengeance from the afterlife. Yet I also think that it's this same familiarity with the genre that's probably in ONE MISSED CALL's favor. Yes, you may have already seen something like this multiple times before but every new "Ghosts Run Amok" movie has something exciting to add to the whole category and this particular film has it's own share of great moments care of TAKASHI MIIKE. Final thought, simple, if you enjoy the Asian horror cinema then you'll like (not love) ONE MISSED CALL even though it's an overt retread of several similar films that have proceded it.
As for the DVD, I purchased the region 3 Hong Kong import by WIDESIGHT. I've never been a real big fan of this company's releases due to so-so picture quality and ONE MISSED CALL is no exception. It's presented in 1:85:1 anamorphic widescreen with a decent Japanese language DTS soundtrack. The English subtitles are surprisingly good and for the most part, they're grammatically correct. There's no special features available on this DVD, sadly not even a trailer. However, as I said, the overall picture is somewhat dark and a tad grainy. But considering that this is an affordable and, at the moment, the only English subtitled release, it's not a bad purchase.
Some pix to enjoy...
http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/OMC%20Pix%2001.jpg
http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/OMC%20Pix%2003.jpg
http://cinemabizarre.blogspot.com/OMC%20Pix%2002.jpg
-Steve