One Missed Call

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Rating 2

Directed by Eric Valette

Written by Andrew Klaven, from the screenplay by Miwako Daira, based on the novel by Yasushi Akimoto

Starring Shannyn Sossamon (Beth Raymond), Edward Burns (Jack Andrews), Ana Claudia Talancón (Taylor Antony), Azura Skye (Leann Cole), Johnny Lewis (Brian Sousa), Meagan Good (Shelley Baum), Margaret Cho (Mickey Lee), Rhoda Griffis (Marie Layton), Ariel Winter (Ellie Layton), Regan Lamb (Laurel Layton) and Ray Wise (Ted Summers)


Various people receive a message on their cell phones saying they have one missed call. When playing back the message, each time it is from a few days in the future and they hear their own voices in the moments immediately before death. After each death, a small red candy ball is found in the mouth of the victim. Beth Raymond reports these strange events to the police, who do not believe her, except for Detective Jack Andrews, whose own sister died in similar circumstances.

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‘One Missed Call’ was first released in January 2008 and is based on a 2004 Japanese horror film called ‘Chakushin Ari’, directed by Takashi Miike, the celebrated director of the controversial and ultra-violent ‘Ichi the Killer’. I have not as yet seen the original.

The film has little to recommend it, but it passes the time painlessly enough. It didn’t particularly engage me in any way, but at the same time I didn’t actively dislike it. This is a tired formula now, coming on the back of ‘The Ring’, ‘The Grudge’, ‘Pulse’, etc. It has also been mentioned, quite correctly, that it borrows elements from the ‘Final Destination’ films.

‘One Missed Call’ has a 0% rating at Rotten Tomatoes from 71 reviews and they named it the worst film of 2008. It had a production budget of $20 million and grossed $45.8 million at the box office.

Review posted 13 May 2009

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