Saturday, April 28, 2007

Japan Movie Review: One Missed Call (Chakushin Ari)

Kou Shibasaki plays Yumi Nakamura
Shinichi Tsutsumi plays Yamashita Hiroshi

I surprisingly LOVED this movie. I am usually disenchanted by Asian horror movies. They tend to be a bit hokey and a little predictable. But I thought this one was well directed (Takashi Miike!) and the characters were pretty believable and easy to relate to. It was funny to me that my favorite bit was the part where Yamashita Hiroshi (Played by Shinichi Tsutsumi) broke Yumi's phone in half. I've been temped on numerous occasions to snap my own clam-shell in half. The story line is that a young girl who died is haunting people through their keitai (cell phones.) Your cell phone rings in a particular ring tone (the "Death" tone) and you get a "one missed call" message that, upon checking comes from your own number. Then, when you listen to it, it's your own death that you hear on the other end of the line. So, the time and date of the call are actually your time of death. Creepy. Surprisingly I was following along almost at the edge of my seat. The second part of the series was just as good and appropriately named One Missed Call 2. I have yet to see Chakushin Ari Final - but I hope it's just as good.

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