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User Reviews for: One Missed Call

WebSorve
2/10  4 years ago
Just as I was about to watch "One Missed Call", the American remake of "Chakushin Ari", a Japanese horror movie that was directed by Takashi Miike and released back in 2003, I had a feeling that I had already done it once before during its original theatrical run. However, for some odd reason, I couldn't remember it. Well,... now I know why. It is utterly forgettable. Aside from the fact that it follows the same basic premise as the original movie, where people start receiving voicemail messages from their future selves with the exact date and time of their deaths, this movie simply ignores most of the elements that made the Japanese version so creepy and intriguing. But this didn't just end up being another pointless attempt by an American studio at remaking a Japanese horror movie. It actually killed the public interest in the genre and was also considered to be the worst movie of 2008, as well as one of the worst movies of the decade. Some of you are probably wondering what went wrong, so I'll be pointing out some of the reasons that led to this epic fail. Firstly, it was directed by Eric Valette, a French director with an unremarkable resume, who hadn't really done much outside of television prior to directing this movie and was also making his directorial debut in America. It appears that he had made the decision not to watch the original and asked his actors to the same. Frankly, I don't see the point in remaking a movie if you have no interest in watching the original or, at the very least, reading the novel from which it was adapted from, but that is just me. Anyway, rumour has it that, while on set, no one really saw eye-to-eye and that the writer, the director and the cast had very different ideas regarding what they thought the movie should be and that most were dissatisfied with the end result because of it. To give you a clear example of this, the screenplay that had been written by novelist Andrew Klavan was intended to be a horror-comedy, which kind of explains why the dialogue feels so clunky, but the movie itself ended up having a much more serious tone. Besides, you can't help but notice that this movie borrows a lot more from the far superior "Final Destination", a horror movie franchise that had begun in the year 2000 and had already spawned two successful sequels, than it does from the actual source material. And, even though it's half an hour shorter than the original, it's impressive how it still manages to be inexplicably plagued by filler scenes. But it wasn't all down to sloppy execution. The acting itself was just as bad and, regardless of how hard I tried, I was unable to find a saving grace from anyone at all. Not only that, but the special effects, which relied heavily on CGI, looked fake and detracted from the story. The studio executives are also to blame for this stinker, as they'd decided to make this horror movie PG-13 after they had already wrapped up principal photography, stripping away all creative control from the director. I could go on, but you probably get the point. In conclusion, it is my opinion that this was a boring, flat and lifeless horror movie that I don't plan on watching ever again... and neither should you.
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Andre Gonzales
/10  6 months ago
Good movie. I hear a lot of bad things about this movie, but I don't understand why. I thought it was a pretty good movie. Any one would be scared if this happened to them.
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Key-Si
/10  6 years ago
"One Missed Call" is a remake of the Japanese version from 2003, was directed by Eric Valette and stars Shannyn Sossamon in the leading role. The plot was as simple back then as it is here and now. People receive a call from their own future self to their own cell containing the last few seconds of their deaths.

The only problem with this remake is, that the film makers had no idea what they were doing and in my opinion the material of original director Takashi Miike was pretty much raped and left for dead. Not only that this remake doesn't have the creepy feeling of the original "Chakushin Ari", even the characters have been "white washed". We have seen this already with the US remake of "The Ring", with the differenece that in that remake a lot of respect was shown towards the original movie "Ringu". Not so in "One Missed Call". The significant ringtone was changed to a dull and relaxed one, taking completely away that sharp and chilling aura surrounding these calls. On top director Eric Valette completely missed the point of "One Missed Call" being a franchise such as the already mentioned "The Ring" and also "The Grudge". Of all these franchises solely "The Grudge" was able to stick to the basic idea behind the Asian vengeful spirit, probably because original director Takashi Shimizu also took on the US remake. Yes, there were mostly non Asian characters in it and that was fine for the spirits in form of Kayako and Toshio kept their Japanese origin, making the 3 US remakes still relatable to the origin "Yu-On" franchise. "The Ring" already failed to do so by replacing Sadako with Samara, but at least it was a really good movie with a great atmosphere.

"One Missed Call" was supposed to carry the tradition forth with Mimiko, but instead we got some random characters you don't even care about and the PG13 crime gives this remake its death blow. You loved the original especially for the extended bone breaking, limb twisting death scene in the film studio? Forget about that in this one. This here is made for children's eyes. Sure, the CGI ghost effects towards the end were somewhat charming, but it is just about as creepy as some effects presented in "The Pirates Of The Carribean" and such. The hugging scene of the mother with rotten flesh falling off her fouly body piece by piece? Not even included! The only correct similarity seems to be that in both films the little girl who later becomes the vengeful spirit died due to an Asthma attack ignored by the mother(s). But that's about it.

This remake is shot nicely and also the leading actors Shannyn Sossamon and Edward Burns tried their best to carry the film, but when the film itself already lacks any form of vision and respect for its origin, it just ends up as being a pointless, soulless cash grab product with a few nice visuals. If your kids are 13 you can show this atrocity to them, but please... as soon as they are old enough, do them a favour and show them the real thing. To all the fans of the original: stay away from this one. It will only anger you and leave a very bad taste in your mouth... Or is that due to the red candy? You have been warned!
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