One Missed Call

Plot synopsis:
The film begins with a fire at a hospital, with a young girl named Laurel being rescued. When asked where her mother is, Laurel just looks at the burning hospital. A few days later, a girl named Shelley (Meagan Good) is talking to her friend Leann (Azura Skye) on the phone, when she is scared by her pet cat. She looks over and it is gone. She walks over to the pond to see if it has fallen in, when it appears on the other side. She goes over to pet it, when a hand grabs her and pulls her into the pond, before pulling the cat in as well. After this, a hard candy floats to the top, and her phone begins to scroll through various numbers.After the credits roll, we are introduced to Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon), who is having a party with her friends Brian (Johnny Lewis), and Taylor (Ana Claudia Talancon). She goes to the door, and looks through the peephole, where she has a flashback to when she was a girl. She answers the door, and Leann is there.Beth and Leann go upstairs and Leann mentions that she was at Shelley's funeral, and that Shelley's parents were convinced she committed suicide. Beth tells Leann that Shelley went strange before she died. Suddenly, Leann's phone rings with an eerie ringtone. Leann tells Beth that it is not her ringtone, and delays in answering, because she sees it is from Shelley's phone, so the call goes to voicemail. She listens to it, and it horrified. Beth asks to listen to it, and it plays a recording of Leann talking about seeing things before screaming. Leann tells Beth that it is from 2 days in the future.Meanwhile, Detective Jack Andrews (Edward Burns) gets a call from the mortuary, asking them to come and identify a body. They tell him it has been in the water for a couple of days. He pulls the cover off and confirms it is his sister. He is left alone with the body, and finds that there is something in her mouth. He pulls it out and reveals it to be a hard candy.Fast forward two days, and Leann is at college with Beth. She hallucinates seeing a centipede crawling along Beth's arm, and sees strange faces. When the class finishes, Beth asks her if she wants to go somewhere, but Leann blows her off, telling her she needs to go to the library.Later, Leann leaves the library, and continues to hallucinate strange faces. She phones Beth and tells her that she is sorry for blowing her off, and that she keeps seeing the faces. She tells Beth that the call happens in a few minutes, and Beth arranges to meet her at a nearby footbridge. Leann then repeats the voicemail, just as the bridge gives way and she plummets in front of a train. Beth arrives just in time to see this, and hears a hissing sound. When she turns around, no one is there. She looks over, and a hard candy rolls out of Leann's mouth, with Leann's phone skipping through her phonebook.2 days later, Taylor is talking to her friend about Leann's and Shelley's deaths, and about how they got the phone calls. Brian arrives and shouts at them for talking about it, and hallucinates a centipede crawling up the wall. He goes to a cafe, where Beth approaches him, and he shows her his message, which was dated for a few minutes later. He gets up and walks away, narrowly avoiding being run over, and Beth calls out to him to get his phone. He repeats the voicemail, just as an explosion occurs, sending a pole straight through him. Beth again hears a hissing sound, and no one is there, just as a hard candy falls out of Brian's mouth.She goes to the police, but they do nothing to help her, until Jack hears her story and tells her that his sister died in the same way. He promises her that he will do some digging because he can trace the calls back. Beth goes home, and she and Taylor take the batteries from their phones. Later that night, Beth awakens after hearing the ringtone, and goes downstairs. Taylor asks her whose phone is ringing, and she picks it up to find out it is Taylor's, even though the battery is missing. Taylor answers and hears herself screaming, dated for 2 days afterwards. The next day, they smash Taylor's phone, but they are approached by a man called Ted Summers (Ray Wise) who wants to perform an exorcism on Taylor. He gives her a new phone, and she gets the call again.The next morning, Taylor leaves Beth a note telling her she has gone to her parents' house. Beth leaves them a message asking to speak to her. Jack arrives and tells Beth he has traced the call to a woman called Marie Layton. They arrive at her apartment and a neighbour tells them that she hasn't been seen for a week. They break in and find that there should be a nanny cam in the room, but it is missing. This leaves them determined to find Marie because they believe that she has been abusing her daughter, Laurel and is responsible for the murders. They later find out that her other daughter Ellie died of an asthma attack.Beth sees Taylor on Ted's TV programme, and they head to the studio in a church in order to find her. A priest begins to exorcise Taylor, and as Beth and Jack arrive, it all goes wrong. The lights go out, and Taylor begins to scream. When they come back on, she is dead, and a hard candy rolls out of her mouth. Beth then gets a call from Taylor of her own message, dated the next day.The next day, Jack arrives at her house, and she delays in answering the door, with another flashback. He asks her about some burns on her arms, and she tells him that she was abused by her mother, and her father committed suicide. He tells her they have managed to track Laurel down, and they go to see her. At her foster home, Laurel refuses to answer any questions, but instead lets her teddy play a noise, which is the same as the ringtone. Beth shouts at Laurel, and they are thrown out of the house.They split up to investigate further, and Beth sees a doctor that treated Laurel during the fire. He tells her that Marie never left the hospital. Beth goes to St. Luke's, where the fire took place, and breaks in, where she is attacked and dragged down a corridor, but is rescued by Jack. She tells him that she believes Marie is still in the hospital, and they decide to look for her. A force splits them up, and Beth crawls into an air vent, as Jack decides to break down the door.In the vent, she finds Marie's body, but it comes to life and crawls on top of her. She asks it why (echoing the message), just as Jack arrives to find her unharmed. Outside, Beth tells him that she believes Marie brought her there to keep her safe. Jack goes to tell Laurel her mother is dead, and finds the nanny cam hidden in the back of her bear.He watches it, and finds out that Ellie was abusing Laurel, not Marie, but Marie caught her, and she had an asthma attack, and called her mother, which started the curse. The hissing sound came from her inhaler, the people were her dolls, and the centipede was her pet. Jack asks Laurel if Ellie abused her, and she replies "But she always gave me candy after."He arrives back at Beth's house, and tells her about Ellie. Just then, there is a knock at the door. Beth tells Jack not to answer it, but he looks through the peephole and is stabbed in the eye. Ellie enters the house and attempts to attack Beth, but she is pulled into the phone by her mother's ghost. Beth stares in shock as Jack's phone begins to cycle through its contact list and the film ends.

Tags: stupid, murder, flashback

Review:
Here's my sad story about One Missed Call:It was a rainy Sunday afternoon (I live in Seattle) so I went to the local video store looking for a mindless movie to watch while laying about.
I know that many people have given this a low rating but I believe that is mostly because many people had preconceptions before watching the movie because of the original Japanese version/origin and the fact that it was a remake.
There were several parts in the movie where it does get you guessing and thinking that you know who is behind it but you may guess wrong - I know that I did, o.k it wasn't overly scary but a few moments where it does make you think now that would be freaky, you can see a few holes in the plot but then again you can with most movies.All in all worth a watch with an open mind if you don't really expect anything from it and give the movie a chance!My rating 7/10.
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...
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.
One Missed Call {Japanese original Chakushin Ari} is creepy enough, from little eerie dolls and grotesque figures to a seriously unnerving ring tone, it works as the most basic of chillers when watched alone in the dark.
I haven't seen the Japanese version but I heard that it's a lot better if you actually want a horror film.
If One Missed Call had been released before, lets say "The Ring" - the movie would have had a higher rating - and better reviews.
I'm not a big horror fan, but I figured I'd try this out since the previews made it actually look like a movie.
It was 10 times better than any of those movies like grudge or the ring.
This was a good remake and should be checked out if you like creepy edge of your seat horror movies.
To me, One Missed Call was far better than Pulse, I didn't like The Ring and The Grudge just got boring.The atmosphere of this movie was great, though the CGI and special effects of this film could use some touch up work.
Though with the lack of bloody or memorable deaths or really good dialogue in between them, there are incredible tension and suspense leading up to them that makes this film get the attention it deserves.So in the end, the movie was great and I got what I wanted and expected from it.
Luckily I used to work at a movie theater so I was able to see this for free and didn't waste ten bucks on it, I did however, waste two hours of my time I could have spent watching something good.
When other characters start investigating it, they find some kind of ghostly and other-worldly explanation.I thought the movie was fairly suspenseful and good considering the subject material and storyline/plot.
One Missed Call happens to be One Big Bore!I am beginning to affirm that horror remakes by Hollywood are a waste of time.
It's boring when it doesn't get done right, and comes off as lackadaisical.But what's truly scary, would be you downloading from somewhere, the ring tone that is featured in the movie, and into your friends mobile phone.
With a story...A contemporary movie, by the use of the cellphone : that change from movies where letters are written ;)I only regret the end, not enough explanation, but that make us think and every one may have his version ...Maybe your bad comments are because you saw the original version, the original is often better : it's like when it's book are on movies : So : If you haven't seen the original, this movie is good....
It did remind of a few movies that compare to it, such as The Ring and Fear Dot Com. The actors Shannyn Sossamon, Edward Burns, Ana Claudia Talancon and Meagan Good made this film worth watching, so definitely check it out!.
This is certainly up there with the best horror films around, Don't miss this what-ever you do.ONE MISSED CALL is going to make you throw away your mobile phone(seriously) grab a copy now and you will then know what i'm talking about.
If you like Japanese and other Asian horror movies, just skip the American remakes, and go back to the original.
'One Missed Call' is just another in a line of movies like 'Final Destination' or 'Jeepers Creepers 2' where the villain is an explicable, unstoppable monster who must be battled so they stop killing the pretty young people.As one final gripe about the movie, in the original, the twist is actually that.
(See my user profile for a supporting list.) Then again, if you choose to be an ignorant xenophobe and refuse to watch films with subtitles, how the hell are you ever going to know that movies like "REC" (2007), "Kontroll" (2003), "Diary" (2006), and "Noroi: The Curse" (2005) exist?
I fear when thinking that the future of planet Earth is in the hands of closed-minded people like yourselves.Ask yourself this: Why live by the motto "I read books, not movies" when it's so much more rewarding to live by the motto "I watch good movies, not bad ones"?.
The Japanese movie was excellent, when i heard there was a remake i knew it was either going to be absolutely awful, or pretty awesome, unfortunately it was terrible.
Every death scene cuts away instead of actually having to show any gore or any action at all, how it even got a pg-13 rating is beyond me, my 50 year old mother could definitely watch this movie without being scared.
i love horror films and i watched one missed call earlier and i found the other review completely wrong.this is one of the scariest horror films I've seen, even my dad was petrified.it was a good plot and acted well.a must see indeed.this film is the best remake of a classic Japanese horror that I've seen.the film was easy to follow and it unravelled as it went along.in the first 5 minuets you know its going to be good..
I don't know what the director of this remake was thinking but it is obvious that Eric Valette lacks the experience to deliver a decent horror movie.
Okay first off the story of the movie is good and before watching it I heard it was a remake of the film Japenese horror Chakushin ari.
But I couldn't be bothered to see a Japanese movie and sit through reading subtitles my mate got me tickets to watch this and the film was okay, not too bad, basically mediocre.
The only good ones are the independent films like "SAW" or the upcoming "Poughkeepsie Tapes", which by the way you know its sad when a trailer is actually scarier than the film you are presenting it before.So the movie actually begins pretty decent and just slowly declines from there.
The only time i was actually a bit creeped out was when i checked my phone and it said that i have One Missed Call(which later on i found out it was only my brother, no monsters with mouths instead of eyes.) The acting is awful, The plot is really bad and it does not make much sense.
There seems to be a trend of American remakes of recent Japanese flicks.like the grudge,the ring,etc;but this one is really creepy,i know most people disagree but compared to crap like prom night its a mini masterpiece,well sort of.this one features cell phones as instruments of evil,like the ring and its dreaded video tape.i cannot get the creepy ring tone out of my head.watch this with the lights out for its full effect.there's good actors on board for this outing.Shannyn Sossamon,Edward Burns(15 minutes)Meagan Good,and Ray Wise(twin peaks,televisions the reaper)maybe its just me but i found one missed call very entertaining.the beautiful and sexy Shannyn Sossamon is very good in this role.i admit i never saw the Japanese original version.
The idea is simple - you get a phone call with a ring tone more annoying than the stock one you hear in the theaters, it comes from the future and you hear yourself die.There seem to be two camps of reviewers - purists who can't stand any deviation from the originals, and those who have never seen the originals and are not used to the complexities that J-Horror usually throws in.Many of the reviews have commented about jump scenes, etc.
It features an almost generic new age horror Japanese remake plot, but so does a lot of other films (such as The Grudge, The ring and etc.), but delivers it nicely.
A solid cast, good directing and a nicely evolving plot leads to a pretty standard horror/suspense movie, but one that doesn't fall in comparison to its rivals.To conclude, if you like the horror genre, then you should see this movie if only to mark it as seen.
The movie is about you get a call and then you die, It has a very interesting plot and a really good story but the scares should have been taken care of.I missed the first five minutes so maybe the first scene could have been scary or made me jump.
Got to hand it to the writers, I don't think that's been done before.So by the end of the movie it's the main character that's the last one to die, and the only person that believes her is an investigator that is determined not to let the deaths continue, and the only way you'll find out what happens is by watching it ;) There isn't really much gore, in fact for some of the things that happen there's basically nothing.
Don't watch this expecting an amazing horror because it really isn't, the suspense isn't much good and the story line isn't great.
kinda reminds you of The Ring in a way,, i like the idea though of this movie,, heck i didn't even know that this was a Japanese remake, at first you think oh it could be a slasher flick,, but no this one goes in a ghostly direction,, then you think it's the mother doing all of the killing,, well i won't give away the ending,, but it's kinda a surprise.
this is better than some of the horror movies out there, but there are better ones than this,, i didn't find it too bad,, just a little weird i guess, you know ghosts that travel through you're cell phone,, a little hard to swallow if you ask me...
I really do not understand the harsh reviews toward this film, sure its a Japanese horror flick but what can you honestly hope to gain from watching this.
I like to watch movies with an open mind, I suggest some people should really give this film another look.
Soon, the corpses are piling up almost as fast as the discarded calling devices, while Beth (Shannyn Sossamon), one of the targeted victims, and Jack (Edward Burns), the homicide detective who takes on the case, race around madly trying to bring an end to the horror.This mediocre, assembly-line product comes equipped with the requisite number of nubile young victims, phony leads, false scares and hyperventilating special effects.
Look, by no means am I an expert of movies but I do see a lot of them and I love horror films.
Then SCREAM came out and made horror fun again.....Then movies started coming out like THE GRUDGE and THE RING....and they were crap.
They get some pretty people, one from each race, and of course make the girl the lead, write a quick lame story with no real ending or plot, write a horrible script and sometimes get a bunch of big bands together and make a soundtrack and here's the big one, they get the best song and make a trailer showing the best parts, best effects, and they give u a trailer that is nothing more than a music video and the trailer is so hyped that the movie looks great, everyone runs to the movie opening weekend, it kills in the box office and by the 3rd week they made their money back and they don't care anymore...its a brilliant way to make money.
In this remake of the Japanese horror film "Chakushin Ari" (2003), several people start receiving voice-mails from their future selves -- messages which include the date, time, and some of the details of their deaths.I saw the trailer for this movie, and I actually found it creepy.
The good things were in the trailer which gave me no surprises during the movie, with one exceptional twist.I usually like PG-13 J-horror remakes.
And while not the worst of them, it's not that good.Like most American horror movies, they seem to think making you jump in your seat is the same as scaring you.
Because it was near I had missed this very good and really scary horror movie, because of all the bad marks and reviews!
It isn't the best horror movie of all time, but is not that bad as other says.
But really, I think it was the best thing in the entire movie, besides, of course the appearance of both, Shannyn Sossamon, natural beauty (at least is what it seems)as we rarely see at the industry and Edward Burns, good actor that has something to add, the kind that doesn't care with nothing, never succumbs, go down; in the other hand, increases with the confidence.
to me,this movie is not great.the premise is of course,absurd,but i knew that going in,so that's not really the problem.the problem is,the movie itself doesn't generate much in the way of suspense or thrills.there's a subplot thrown in that doesn't really have a point.Shannon Sossamon is OK in her role,but not great.however,i didn't buy Ed Burns in his role as a cop,in the slightest.Margaret Cho has what amounts to a cameo as a cop.thankfully it was just a cameo,because i think she was miscast.i also thought the ending was a bit too anti climatic.actually the whole movie was anti climatic.if you just want to kill some time an a lazy afternoon,when you have nothing else to do,it's' alright.otherwise,though,it's nothing special.not terrible,but not really good either.for me,One Missed Call is a 4.5/10.
i wasn't very exited about going to see this at the cinema but when i got there and the film started i was glad i was therethis film is good and much better than people make it out to be the wacky death and loads of jump parts make this film a good horror movie not the best in the world but loads better than people saythe acting is good and the plot is a little bit weird but it is still interesting and definitely not boring and rubbish like people say it isdefinitely worth a watch and now you can by the DVD for a little bit more than a rental so i would definitely buy it so go and watch it.
If you have sleeping problem then watch this movie and you will fall to sleep.With Bad acting, No story and lame horror scenes they actually wanted to scare us.I spent my hard earned money on this and I want it back.Whom can I contact to get the refund?
I believe this would be a good movie if it were a parody of other bad horror flicks such as Stay Alive and Final Destination.
A lot of the reviews are from 2008 or so, which I guess are from people who were tired of films like "The Ring" and "The Grudge" churning out at the time.
However, the plot doesn't seem to make sense; it does, but it seems as though the film-makers don't really give a damn about creating any suspense at all, so they add scene after scene of pointlessness and boredom, with the scenes containing Edward Burns being especially insufferable and embarrassing to watch due to his limited acting ability, at least in this film.Now, the reason I thought this was not so bad is that I liked how all the seemingly random elements that have been spread out along the movie are each given meaning at the end, when we learn what's behind the deaths of these friends.
To conclude, watching this movie was a completely waste of time and money, if you wanna get scared with a good horror movie go and see the Japanese version of this movie..
As a fan of horror movies and I usually get scared from then and thats the whole point I was glad that my brother was renting it as I seen in the trailers it looked awesome but then when the netflix mail came and I saw it it just took me nowhere.The acting is just horrible from all the actors and the movie goes of course and doesn't follow a thing.If you want to see a bad movie and waste your money on buying it or even renting it please reconsider.I would admit that there was at least two parts in the movie that would make you jump up in the theater but if your viewing it from a 42' inch screen nothing scares you.As for the ghost not even worth the time to even mention or spoil.Thanks and have a good day!.
I did not think that this was a good remake of the Asian horror film.