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179 out of 245 people found the following review useful: Oh God, the horror..., 4 January 2008 Author: addledsam from United States
Awful, absolutely awful. Had free tickets, but still, I knew better. Of course, all the clichés you'd expect, dumb young adults, scares that come from someone jumping into the screen and sound effects that go "boom" simultaneously, and the build up to when suddenly the main character is the one in eminent danger. Quick cuts of "scary" images. Did I mention the "creepy" music that lets you know when the mood should be tense? Now, add to that a premise that goes beyond the bad premises of other movies in the genre. Possessed cell phones? Or is it possessed ghosts that have to travel through cell lines? Oh man. The crowd I saw it with erupted with laughter numerous times at crucial plot points. Download that game "snake" for your cellphone, it's a lot scarier.
154 out of 229 people found the following review useful: I can't believe I thought this wouldn't suck, 4 January 2008 Author: Ken123456789 from United States
***Please, if you have not seen this movie don't vote no on it just because its a bad review.This movie was so bad. It makes OK movies like The Grudge look like masterpieces. First, the one and only good thing about this movie was it built decent suspense in some parts. That being said, the pay off was horrible. We would always get some bad CGI, a copy off of something that was in another movie(1408 is a clue), or an average death that is filmed horribly just so that the movie won't be R. The character development is THE WORST I have seen in any movie, and thats including all the very low budget horror movies. The detective doesn't have a personality, he's just kind of a machine that spits out dialog. The main character is so stupid, its unbelievable. There have been unintentionally stupid characters throughout time, but none have been so stupid that I had to shake my head at them. The side characters are worse. You just remember them as hot Latin chick, guy friend, and the other friend. Of course, that means you don't care for their deaths. The plot was pretty stupid, they just shove some random crap in their so they could have an ending. When the film ends, it made me mad because they took too long to show credits, so you think something else will happen, but then the credits just roll. And if the screenwriter had a brain, he would know that cell phones aren't scary, its the idea of hearing your own death. But of course, we just have to have a cell phone in every scene, and this ruins what could be some good scares. On one last note, there was a really embarrassing scene that we're supposed to take serious, but you just laugh your head off at the stupidity. Overall, a 3/10
116 out of 178 people found the following review useful: Terrible!, 4 January 2008 Author: bunnysareevil from United States
When I first saw the trailer for this film I thought "Oh great, another 'When a stranger calls' movie". I had nothing to do so I saw it with some friends. After I watched it I probably had the biggest headache in my entire life. The dialog was hilariously awful, The characters are very unlikable, the "Jump" moments didn't even phase me. And I hated how they tried so hard to make the whole feel of the film creepy and scary(Hence the 'Scary music').It takes brains to make a good horror movie, and this one has no brains at all. It looks like were not going to be able to fight off any stupid remakes or boring horror movies anytime soon... If your looking for a good laugh or a bad headache, this film might be the one for you.2/10 stars.
84 out of 116 people found the following review useful: Bad Remake, 9 January 2008 Author: alexnader78 from France
This is just one of those films based on a good film (the original is wicked), that Hollywood sees as an opportunity to remake and make a load of money off. Please do not help accomplish this ! The Japanese version was based on "what you can't see is scarier than what you can see !", and played out as a highly decent scary movie. But then came along the Americans (no offense, i'm one) which bases a movie nowadays on "how much money can we inject into explosions, shattered glass,blowing up cars,... that we won't have to pay to get decent actors ?". And voilà you get this turd of a remake. Get the Japanese version and stick to it, in it the actors at least look like teenagers, in the American version they all look over thirty. I mean come on, how dumb are we ? (or how many years in a row have they flunked class)
66 out of 105 people found the following review useful: I'm dying for a good horror movie!, 6 January 2008 Author: Jay Addison from United States
Of all the atrocities I've seen on the big screen, this flick just might be the worst. Combining poor story-telling, bad characters, and laughable special effects, One Missed Call is pure crap. As much as I hate to slam something with the lovely Shannyn Sossamon in it, I can't stop myself with this. Poor choice, Ms. Sossamon.The only thing the film does decently is building up suspense, and there are some intense moments. But then the pay-off is so cheesy I found myself laughing. And the story doesn't even make sense, especially with an ending that kills any possibility of reality.Horror has really seen a downfall in recent years, but this film is the worst. It seems that intelligent thrillers/horror films have completely left the market. With torture porn films like the Saw franchise taking over the marketplace, wonderful movies like 2006's The Descent are rare triumphs. I want more of those. 2/10 stars.Jay Addison
80 out of 137 people found the following review useful: Why was this TRASH MADE??!?!, 6 January 2008 Author: Big_T1307 from Canada
When I went into the theater to see this movie, I had some doubts, like The Grudge and The Ring were pretty bad and has there ever been a really good Japanese horror remake in America? Now answer these questions to yourself, 1. Do you like watching movies with no plot at all? 2. Do you enjoy movies where you have no idea at all of what's going on? 3. Do you like movies with 0% character development? 4. Do you enjoy watching a bunch of teens 'try' to act and not succeed? 5. Do you think a baby with a cellphone is extremely scary? 6. Do you like sleeping in theaters?If you answered yes to any of these questions, go right ahead and waste some hard earned cash on this really super awesome amazing incredible movie, if you answered no to all of these questions, go rent or buy Superbad, trust me, you will have way more fun, and if you want a good horror movie, go rent or buy The Exorcist because One Missed Call is an embarrassment to the horror genre. The only fun I had at this movie was listening to other people yell out funny things like "What the f*ck?!"I give this movie a quarter of a star out of 10
36 out of 54 people found the following review useful: One missed call, one stupid movie, 4 January 2008 Author: keiichi73 from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Some tips on how to write a horror movie...All you need is a young hero or heroine who discovers some kind of cursed device is killing off all of their friends. The device may be anything, just as long as it's something we use everyday like a computer or something. After a group of the hero's faceless and underdeveloped friends die (The depiction of said deaths will depend on whether or not your film is PG-13 or R.), the hero must then team up with a second hero, and try to discover what's going on. After going through old files and visiting creepy old buildings that hold secrets of the past, the lead characters must discover that the cursed object is tied into some tragic past event, usually revolving around a spooky little girl. As the clock ticks down to the hero's own death, they must race to right the wrongs of the past. After the past has seemingly been corrected, the characters breathe a sigh of relief, only to discover that they were wrong, and that someone or something else is responsible for the evil.It is a formula that has been employed by numerous films, many originating in Japan or some other Asian country. One Missed Call follows this formula to the letter, right down to the originating in Japan part. The only problem is that it seems to know we've seen it all before. The actors sleepwalk through their dialogue, and many times the hero of the story - a college student named Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon), forgets to even react to the deaths of her friends. You see, all of Beth's friends are being killed off by a cursed cell phone voice mail message. It appears on your phone, and when you play it back, you hear the exact moment of your death. The friends are haunted by spooky visions of ghouls and decaying people walking around in broad daylight, until the character suddenly meets an untimely end in some sort of "accident" that makes me think the evil ghost in this movie took lessons from the ghastly spirit in the Final Destination films, as its method of killing people is somewhat similar. The Final Destination villain is much more flashier and complex in its killings, but you have to remember, the ghost in this movie is working under a much more restricted PG-13 rating, so you can't really blame it if its kills are not as bloody or grand.Now, let me ask you something here. If you knew that people were dying because of a mysterious voice message that appears on your cell phone, wouldn't you just try not listening to the voice message in the first place? This never dawns on Beth or her friends. They try smashing their cell phones to pieces, but this doesn't seem to halt the killer spirit's advances. I don't know if not listening to the message would save your life or not, but I figure if all of my friends were being killed after listening to it, I'd be willing to give it a shot. The movie continues down the expected path, and introduces our second hero, a police detective named Jack Andrews (Edward Burns). He's the only person who believes Beth's story about the cursed voice mail message, because his sister was a victim of it, too. They join forces to discover the truth behind the curse, and the clues fall right into place, leading them to a hospital that burned down a while ago. Everything that we saw happen in films like The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water, and the like happens, and not even the characters don't seem to be all that surprised. They go through the expected motions, and so does the movie itself.When I say One Missed Call follows a rigid path, I am dead serious. There's not one single moment we haven't seen in similar-themed movies. I have not seen the Japanese movie that inspired this remake, so I don't know if the original was as uninspired as this. I will give the original the benefit of the doubt that it had a lot more life and energy than this. The characters all seem to be walking a pre-determined path, and what's worse, they seem to know it. There's nothing worse than when the characters seem to be smarter than the movie they're in, but they're forced to act like idiots, because it's expected of them to do so. The movie doesn't even do a good job of explaining itself from time to time. I'm trying hard not to go into spoilers here, but should you see this movie (not that I'm recommending you do), ask yourself why the corpse they discover in the tunnels underneath the burnt hospital was there in the first place? Also ask yourself how many reality TV shows are filmed live? And wouldn't having someone die on your show live on national television kind of cause more attention than it seems to in this movie? My personal favorite moment of the movie actually comes early on, when the film's first victim meets an untimely end. The ghost then decides to not only kill her, but comes back for the victim's pet cat moments later. Did the cat get an eerie voice mail too? One Missed Call is the very definition of an early January release, a time of the year when the studios usually unload their stinkers that they don't know what to do with. The fact that it's the only new movie opening this weekend in wide release means that it will most likely find an audience with kids and teens looking for a cheap thrill. If you're bored this weekend, and actually consider this movie, please don't. This movie does not alleviate boredom, it only causes it.
27 out of 39 people found the following review useful: Great Comedy, 9 April 2008 Author: David Young from United Kingdom
Yes I know it's supposed to be a horror but it isn't. There are some parts that had me rolling around on the floor. Seriously, there are so many clichés and parts that make absolutely no sense. There's also parts where you think "why are they doing that?" or "why don't they just do this?" Then there's the ending which seems to think that it makes the rest of the film make perfect sense when it's just stupid. Nothing in the film adds up at all and it's just generally very inconsistent. I haven't seen the Japanese version but I heard that it's a lot better if you actually want a horror film. Otherwise, be on the look out for a guy with an umbrella at the end - priceless!
49 out of 91 people found the following review useful: 'One Missed Call' missed the mark, 5 January 2008 Author: texrangers31 from United States
I am a fan or horror movies. I get scared by almost anything, and I will admit that once I read the plot summary for 'One Missed Call' I was intrigued. My friend and I both thought it had potential. Than I saw the trailer, and was almost as disappointed as I was I saw 'The Land Before Time 16'. I went to see this movie expecting it to be comically ridiculous, and I wasn't disappointed. If you want a good laugh, go see it. If you are frightened by a missed call on your cell phone than you may want to sleep with the lights on, otherwise you should be fine. The worst part about this movie is that it isn't quite corny enough to be considered entertaining. It simply leaves you constantly turning to the person next to you to say "What was that?" because of how childish the plot becomes.
5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: One missed opportunity, one missed mark and one you should miss yourself, 26 May 2009 Author: simon-prometheus from Canada
We all know what is scary. It's an instinct, secured within our psyche, as much a part of being human as conversing with your peers or having the ability to walk erect. Fear is not something you can easily turn off, and not something you can control. So it is beyond me how so many horror movies are not scary. It is simply a matter of showing us what we fear on screen. The Blair Witch Project showed us nothing and it was terrifying. The occasional misfire is expected in cinema, and it is to be forgiven. But no other genre has so many dead ends as does that of horror. And the only thing worse than an un-scary horror film is a remake that results in one.There is not much more pedestrian than a remake and today they are too many to count. I'm sure it's possible but such drudgeries are not worthy of my time. Even more disturbing is the endless stream of Asian horror remakes starting, to my recollection at least, with The Ring, which is a moody and effective film and not since then has its success been matched. It seems Asian horror cinema has a thing for terror spawning from technology. I suppose that this movement as a whole could be an allusion to the hatred and destruction spawned by modern machinery and how, one day mankind will fall victim to their own creations. Unfortunately for the viewer, One Missed Call offers us nothing nearly as deep and subversive as that, it instead descends into pure camp; and not the good kind.The premise is simple enough; you receive a voicemail message that turns out to be that of your own death and then within a few days you die; the curse then spreads to the next unsuspecting technological patron. We join a group of twenty-something's living their life, going to school and work, totally unsuspecting of the cell phone signal from hell that is about to befall them!!! It all begins when one of the young women drowns and people naturally suspect suicide as prior to her accident she was becoming increasingly psychotic. After her death, the phenomenon begins to spread throughout the group, until Beth played by the beautiful Shannon Sossamon, who unfortunately takes this role nowhere, decides to investigate before she becomes next. She teams up with a detective (Edward Burns) whose sister is a victim of the same sinister event and together the two try to track down the truth.The movie up to this point is adequate, and director Eric Valette gives us some frightening images to ponder as the plot grows thicker. In fact, thicker is a huge understatement. Towards the end of the film, there are so many confusing elements and unnecessary and lame twists it simply collapses on itself. The climax is so unbelievable dumb and devoid of tension, you can't help but laugh. (Especially at the sight of a ghostly baby holding a cell phone) There is absolutely no continuity to the spirits power and absolutely no insight into why or how it is doing what it is doing. A simple explanation, instead of the packed in subplots and "big-reveals" would have made this movie much more tolerable.Another glaring folly this movie heaps onto the already large stack, is the fact that after about the third death in the group, you would think somebody other then Beth and Det. Andrews would be proactive. Instead they cry and whimper and wait around to die, making sure they say the exact same things they heard themselves say in the voicemail as they perish. I hate to keep saying, "oh and another thing" but this is the type of movie where it is warranted; thusly another thing is that at some point, it would be intelligent to assume someone might suggest tossing away their phones and taking a vacation in a cabin or the like, instead of just hoping it would not ring. The cops are as smart as a bag of wet doorknobs and take no interest of the sharp spike in grisly teenage deaths amounting throughout the week. You half except J.W. Pepper from Live and Let Die to waltz in, throw down his spittoon and start cracking wise.One has to wonder, honestly, if this fad of remakes and sequels will ever stop. If at one point they will all just sit down and ask themselves, what are they are doing to cinema? All I really have left to say about this movie is that although I have already had to bath in its disastrous glow, it was one missed opportunity, one missed mark and one you should miss yourself.Read all my reviews at: http://www.simonsaysmovies.blogspot.com
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