One Missed Call by Takashi Miike - Essay Example

One Missed Call Order no. 324241 October ‘09 One Missed Call One Missed Call directed by Takashi Miike belongs to the new genre of Japanese films known as “J-Horror”. It follows the pattern of many films that belong to this genre where an apparently innocent piece of technology turns out to be an evil force. In One Missed Call, the frightful object is the cell phone. It is just not one cell phone, but a whole system of wireless communication itself which causes shock and terror in the victims.

It is similar to Hideo Nakatas Ringu, where the evil force is in the form of a videotape. One Missed Call is the story of a college student Yumi Nakamura whose friend Yoko receives a phone call with a ring tone she has never heard before. The message is dated three days in the future with her own voice saying "Its started raining." This is followed by a spine-chilling scream and after some days the events heard in the message actually happen and Yoko dies a gruesome death. Several other victims receive similar messages on their cell phones dated a day or two in the future and die violent deaths.

The story is about Yumi tracking down the source of these calls with the help of a man whose sister was the first victim to die. Their pursuit leads them to a girl who has died of asthma and her abusive mother. In One Missed Call one finds all the clichés of J-Horror films such as shock, horror and torture, but the director here uses them effectively and scares the audience with some imaginative twists. The scenes may be familiar with fingers coming out of cupboards, crawling shadows, girls with bulging eyes trembling in corners and scary sound effects.

However all this put together effectively create a creepy atmosphere. Scenes such as a resurrect corpse chasing Ko Shiasaki in the abandoned hospital manage to shock the audience. The victims are tortured by the horror of the messages that they receive on their cell phones. The killings shown are gruesome and graphic in detail. Takashi Miike excels in scaring the audience. The best sequence of the movie is the reality television show where a terrified girl who has received the fatal message is forced by some TV producers to broadcast live to the world her death.

This creates a sense of horror in the audience more horrible than the evil happenings. The scene also has a panel of experts debating the topic with an exorcist attempting to save the girl. Miike here mixes horror with some satire. He demonstrates how television shows exploit a potential tragedy all in the name of ratings. This scene is a comment on the ruthlessness exhibited by mass media. One drawback of the film is that the ending is confusing. One is confused trying to figure out the relationship between the dead girl, her mother and the teenage sister.

It is not clear why the corpse of the mother is there in the abandoned hospital and whether it is the mother or daughter who is responsible for the evil happenings. Also the question arises as to how all this is connected to the heroine’s past. The most confusing part of the story is the twist in the end when the girl from the asylum appears in the apartment of the heroine. The heroine also appears with a knife creating confusion in the minds of audience as to whether the heroine is in fact the abused teenager and the girl a ghost.

According to Steve Biodrowski (2007), “the attempt to link the heroine (who was abused as a child) thematically with the ghost is only partially successful. Film ends on an ambiguous note, with evil apparently alive and well, but the imagery (a friendly smile, a bright blue sky) suggesting a happy – if temporary – truce. “ In conclusion it can be said that One Missed Call is an extraordinary horror film. There is not much of emotional intensity but there is a good dose of shock and horror and is unlike most Asian horror movies that are slow paced.

References 1. Biodrowski Steve (2007), One Missed Call – Film & DVD Review, http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2007/11/19/one-missed-call/