| Chakushin Ari,
or One Missed Call (as the US DVD
release and remake are called), is a bit of
a surprise. It comes from Takashi Miike, a
man usually known for off-the-wall films that
don't seem to fit into one genre. At first
glance, however, Chakushin Ari seems
to be a rather generic Ring
(1998) rip off. The story seems like nothing
new, and the theme of technological horror
has been done numerous times. Miike brings
something special to his film, though; and
through a mix of satire, intelligent twists,
great style, and some truly unforgettable
moments, he creates a film that can stand
quite well on its own.
As the movie begins, a group
of friends exchanges cell phone numbers over
dinner at a restaurant. When one of the group,
Yoko, shows up late after coming from a friend's
funeral, she tells Yumi Nakamura that there
was something strange about the way her friend
died. Meanwhile, Yoko's phone rings with an
eerie ring tone she is sure is not her own.
After checking the message, she discovers
it was sent from 2 nights into the future,
and from her own cell phone number. The recording
seems to be that of her final words and a
death scream in her voice. Two nights later,
Yoko dies brutally, at exactly the time the
call was sent from, after saying the exact
words from the call. It is discovered that
the curse that killed Yoko spreads through
the stored numbers on the phone, and it takes
only a matter of days for the curse to spread
through the group of friends and target Natsumi
Konishi, Yumi's best friend. Natsumi is given
the chance to take part in a live, televised
exorcism and accepts. But as the cameras roll,
the exorcism fails miserably, and the curse
is passed to Yumi...
The characters in One Missed
Call are actually one of its biggest assets.
Natsumi is a likable girl and you believe
her relationship with Yumi. Yumi herself is
a bit shy, with mental and physical scars
stemming from her childhood that she is forced
to painfully revisit. Kenji, another one of
Yumi's friends, is a bit annoying, but still
believable as the everyday college kid caught
up in bad circumstances. During the second
half of the film, Yumi meets Yamashita, a
mortician whose sister was one of the curse's
early victims. Like Yumi, he has things in
his past he wishes he could forget, but his
sister's death has him dedicated to unraveling
the curse, and saving Yumi's life. As for
the ghost girl, which is obligatory in this
kind of movie, she's actually got a good bit
of background and depth, and comes across
as evil and sympathetic at the same time,
while also never failing to be exceedingly
creepy.
The acting, while not phenomenal,
is respectable here, especially from lead
actress Kou Shibasaki. Kou is able to show
a nice range of emotions, and even the screaming,
so often fake and exaggerated in these types
of movies, is surprisingly believable. Of
course, Yumi has a lot more to do than scream,
but Kou also shows skill in expressing sadness,
isolation, and, as the character develops,
determination. Shinichi Tsutsumi as Yamashita
also does a reasonable job here, although
he isn't quite as believable as Kou, especially
during scenes where he needs to be frightened.
Most of the other roles are also serviceable,
but forgettable as far as talent and emotion
go. Kazue Fukiishi as Natsumi does have a
nice moment before her death, however, where
she demonstrates that she can show paralyzing
fear and sadness incredibly well, perhaps
better than any of the other cast members.
As for being scary, One Missed
Call definitely delivers. During the first
half of the movie, Miike plays it as more
of a satire than a straight horror film, although
he never approaches the level of self-parody
displayed in films such as Scream (1996).
There are some inventive death scenes towards
the beginning, mixed with just the right amount
of black humor. A great example of this is
Natsumi's death scene, which is both horrifying
and somehow comedic, superbly balanced. In
the second half, however, the film goes straight
into pure horror territory. There is the necessary
investigation segment, but it is kept tense
and interesting by several well placed creep-outs
and “jump” moments, as well as
the disturbing, and startlingly realistic,
subject matter they are investigating. And
when Yumi walks into an old abandoned hospital
to confront her fate, you just know that you're
in for a fright fest. The scares in the hospital
sequence are numerous, fast-paced and almost
entirely effective. They range from gross-outs
to jump scenes to visuals that are just plain
creepy, accompanied by a tense score and the
ever present ring tone of doom, which is enough
to scare viewers on its own. There are two
particularly harrowing segments that take
place in the hospital, and while I was watching
I could feel my heart beating in my chest
and hear my breathing speed up. At the end
there are numerous plot twists and a vague
open ending as expected, but they are handled
very well, pulling what seemed like small
plot points from the rest of the movie and
turning them into a climactic revelation that
is, quite frankly, one of the most outright
disturbing horror movie twists I've ever seen.
One Missed Call is an incredibly
effective film, able to seem fresh and provide
massive entertainment despite of its obvious
influences. When the film tries to be scary,
it's absolutely harrowing, and when it's not,
it can be funny or even genuinely dramatic.
There is a good human background to the ghostly
terror, and that helps keep the movie interesting
during the buildup. And the payoff –
well, my racing heart speaks for itself.
|
(4/5)
