#172 -- One Missed Call (2008)

Director: Eric Valette
Rating: 3 / 5

It all started with a girl named Shelley. She was obviously freaked out about something, though it wasn't clear what at first. Then she and her cat were drowned in the pond in her backyard. After that, her friends started dying one by one. Next was Leann, who received a call from Shelley's phone (after Shelley had already died). The voice mail she got was of her own voice screaming, and it was dated a few days in the future. When that day came, Leann fell in front of a moving train and was killed. Then Brian received a call from Leann's phone, predicting his death, which came shortly afterwards. After Brian was Taylor, who died similarly. And finally, Beth, our main character. Beth teamed up with a detective, whose sister died right before Shelley. They were both convinced that all these deaths were linked somehow, and that whatever was happening wasn't normal. These weren't your average every day murders. There was something more, something sinister and supernatural, going on here. So they did a little digging. They found out that the first phone call came from a woman named Marie. They tracked her down, only to discover that she was already dead. They tracked down Marie's daughter Laurel, who had become mute since the fire that killed her mother. After a little more digging, they found a hidden camera that revealed Laurel's family's past, and discovered the truth of the killer phone calls. The truth was kind of sad, and a little creepy at the same time. It turned out that Marie's other daughter, Ellie, had more to do with the murders than they had previously thought. But with the help of the detective, and maybe one friendly ghost, was Beth able to avert her death?

I think it's safe to say that most remakes of Asian horror movies are good, because they were based on such wonderful films. They've got that creepiness that we love from Asian horror, even if it doesn't live up to the original. When viewed as a movie on its own, One Missed Call really is pretty good. But when you compare it to the original, which is natural with remakes, it simply isn't as good. The original of this movie is one of my favorites of all time, because it freaked me the hell out the first time I watched it. Hearing that ringtone still kind of freaks me out a little bit. This one didn't have that effect on me, however. It didn't have all the creepiness of the original, though it did have a little bit. The one scene in the original that creeped me out the most was omitted here, which was disappointing. So, yes, it was a bit disappointing, but I expected as much. One thing I can say this one had that the original definitely did not was Margaret Cho. Ms. Cho is one of my favorite women ever, and I've always had a little bit of a crush on her. I love that woman, and I was really excited to see her here, even though her part was way too small. Anyways, if you've never seen the original, chances are you'll enjoy this quite a bit. If you have, like me, you might be disappointed. Just a little, though, because it really isn't all that bad.