One Missed Call (2008) by Eric Valette

Director: Eric Valette

Year: 2008

Country: USA/Japan/Germany/United Kingdom

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Ghosts

Plot:

Following her friends' strange accidents, a woman comes to believe their claims of ghostly visions from the dead calling them on their phones, which soon begins targeting her, and she joins up with a sympathetic detective to investigate the cause of the attacks and put a stop to it.

Review:

This here turned out to be one of the more impressive and enjoyable remakes in the style. Among the great qualities here is the rather eerie and generally freaky atmosphere associated with the film, as this one really plays off some really great, suspenseful ideas. By utilizing the concept of the ghostly curse being passed on through the phones being called setting up some wonderful scenes here, from the thrilling scene on the bridge over the train tracks as the ghostly spirits move around her in great shock scenes, a fine sequence where the opening shot if a hand reaching out of a fish-pond to attack a victim and the rather fun highlight of the encounter at the movie studio where it appears during a hokey televised exorcism attempt that turns into an actual attack with the fog-enshrouded studio and mangled, distorted faces on the statues before the ghost appears in chilling fashion which becomes the best part of the whole film.

As well, once the film moves into the investigation of the calls and begins tracing the origins back to the hospital incident that provides the source of his rampage this one gets quite a lot of fun here where that gathering and investigating becomes quite fun as the move that comes out about the incident the better the mystery works where it really sells a rather creepy setup that's perfectly in tune with a ghost rampage. In addition to the great detective work, all alongside the specter of the timeline of her death approaching for even more suspenseful matters, there's the great confrontation in the creepy, chilling abandoned hospital that looks incredibly dark and perfectly suited for a ghostly hideout as the fire-scared hallways certainly gives the crumbling location and dark shadows a great sense of foreboding atmosphere that comes off even better with all the ghosts hanging around before the tormenting action in the hallways leading to the confrontation in the corridors off the side of the room, where a chilling resolution in the air-ducts that settles the film's mystery angle in a pretty chilling manner.

All told, these are what make the film quite enjoyable, though it does have a few minor, rather incidental flaws present. The biggest problem here is the tacked on finale, which is lame on all accounts not just for the utterly dreadful CGI used trying to make such a weak-looking being as intimidating which is a big part of this but also how it continues on when it's wholly unnecessary since the plot was already resolved, making this feel tacked on for no reason. Along with the rather tame rating, which holds back the kills and gore, it's what really holds this one back.

Overview: ****.5/5

An unnecessarily maligned, highly enjoyable film, this one has let its reputation hold it back more than anything, with quite a lot to like about it when looked at objectively. Give it a chance if you're a fan of this particular style, are curious about it, or aren't bothered by the issues here, while most others out there might want to heed caution.