An iconic trilogy of J-horror films comes to Blu-ray for the first time! In the first installment in the trilogy, 2003’s One Missed Call, student Yoko (Anna Nagata, Battle Royale) receives a phone message from her future self, ending with her own death scream. Two days later, she dies in a horrific rail collision. Mimiko’s curse continues to wreak bloody havoc in two sequels – 2005’s “One Missed Call 2” and 2006’s “One Missed Call: Final.”
Back in the early 2000s, Japanese horror was all the rage. Hollywood spotted an easy cash grab and began churning out sub-par remakes of classics like “Ringu” and “Ju-On.” It feels like American producers copy and paste a story’s premise but miss any substance or meaningful themes. I remember reading years ago that a popular subject in Post-WWII Japan film and art was its conflicting relationship between Japanese traditions and the modern world. It’s an interesting premise that initially felt nuanced in “Ringu” and “Ju-On.”
“One Missed Call” is directed by Takashi Miike, one of the most interesting and prolific directors, I believe he’s directed about one hundred films, give or take. He’s certainly known for his ultra-violence and wild characters but just as he can be ostentatious, he’s also a master of subtle dread. Never falling into a particular box, he’s made all kinds of genre films, but my favorites are his takes on horror, samurai fables, and hard-boiled cop stories.
Opening with a voyeuristic shot of Tokyo, the camera pans up from a crowded street to a restaurant overlooking the bustling atmosphere. Yumi (Ko Shibasaki) is out to dinner with her friends and is fidgeting with a gas pilot to warm up their communal dinner. Miike immediately crafts tension with the pilot starter not working interwoven with a scary memory Yumi is to processing in the present-day. It’s a perfect use of a regular everyday item that can be a deadly combination. Yumi is teased for her fear of peepholes and another friend mentions “phobia comes from what we can’t forget.” I love this opening, the group proceeds to share local stories of ghosts, and it calls to mind medieval Italian literature where characters would be holed up avoiding the plague and regaling old stories.
Yoko (Anna Nagata) shows up late and Yumi introduces her to her fellow university students. After dinner the group exchanges phone numbers and whilst Yoko and Yumi are in the bathroom, Yumi’s mobile begins playing an eerie ringtone. The date is introduced as April 16th but the missed call and voicemail state a future date of April 18th. To make things even weirder, the voicemail is from Yoko saying, “Oh no, its raining” and then a horrible scream ends the message. They’re disturbed by this but ultimately convince themselves it’s just an elaborate prank. Hiroshi (Shin’ichi Tsutsumi) is a detective that believes Yumi, due to his own tragic experience with the mysterious curse. He lost his sister years ago and always believed it to be something superstitious. With magnificent tracking shots, Miike’s solid direction keeps things interesting even if the story goes on for way too long.
In “One Missed Call 2” Renpei Tsukamoto takes over directing duties, I looked up their resume and I didn’t see any titles I recognized. This time around the dial tone is still annoying and the effects aren’t any better. A Kindergarten teacher named Kyoko is joining her boyfriend for lunch at a Chinese restaurant where he works. While in the kitchen, the non-scary ringtone plays and the restaurant’s owner answers. The deadly phone call was meant for his daughter but, horror-film logic, the curse is redirected to him and he’s burned to death, ruining everyone’s lunch. Kyoko and a journalist team up to learn more about where the story left off with Yumi and if this deadly curse can ever be lifted. Uninspired and flat, this was my least favorite entry in the trilogy.
“One Missed Call: Final” cranks up the body count and thus is slightly less dull than its predecessor. This time around, High School is hell for Pam and her only friend, Asuka, who are bullied endlessly by fellow classmates. Pam attempts suicide by hanging herself but she’s resuscitated and placed in a medically-induced coma. Logged on her computer and pissed off, Asuka begins clicking on a class photo that turns each face from its human form to a ghostly cartoon. With the click of a mouse, somehow in that horror film logic, each student is cursed. The students are given a choice, they can keep the death message for themselves, OR they can avoid their death-sentence by forwarding the curse to more people. Even with the increased killings and the location changed to Busan, South Korea, it mostly feels like a retread.
I like the premise of receiving a message from your future self and the existential issues of inescapable fate. Yes, the early 2000s flip-phone is hardly a menacing object, yet there are themes that still resonate. The first film, in particular, dealt with isolation and suppressed trauma but they are mired by the special effects, the awful ringtone, and a story that went on for too long. The “One Missed Call” trilogy does not hold up and Hollywood just recently made ANOTHER “Grudge” remake. That being said, I wonder how long it will be until we get a “One Missed Facetime” or “One Missed Friend Request” in the next few years.
Now available on a 2-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray From Arrow Video
