Chakushin ari (2003)

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Yasushi Akimoto (novel)
Minako Daira (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 January 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

Death cannot be put on hold...

Plot:

People mysteriously start receiving voicemail messages from their future selves, in the form of the sound of them reacting to their own violent deaths.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Message | Hospital | Asthma | Friend

Cast

Kou Shibasaki	...	Yumi Nakamura
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi	...	Hiroshi Yamashita
Kazue Fukiishi	...	Natsumi Konishi
Anna Nagata	...	Yoko Okazaki
Atsushi Ida	...	Kenji Kawai
Mariko Tsutsui	...	Marie Mizunuma
Kumiko Imai
Keiko Tomita
Kayoko Fujii
Yoshiko Noda
Azusa	...	Ritsuko Yamashita
Tetsushi Tanaka
Mitsuhiro Sato
Kaoru Hanaki
Hassei Takano

Also Known As:

One Missed Call (Philippines: English title) (USA)
You've Got a Call (Japan: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, disturbing images and brief nudity.

Runtime:

Japan:112 min | USA:111 min | Argentina:112 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Italy:T | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut version) | South Korea:15 | Peru:14 | UK:15 | New Zealand:R16 | France:-12 | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Spain:18

Company:

Kadokawa-Daiei Eiga K.K.

Trivia:

During the opening credit sequence, one of the cell phone ring-tones is the theme song from an earlier 'Takashi Miike (I)' film, Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu (2003).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the hand is reaching for Yumi in the hospital, the finger twists backwards, however, you can see someone’s hand holding up the arm when the arm and finger start to contort backwards.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Chakushin ari" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Ikutsuka no Sora

A well made horror, courtesy of Miike Takashi.

Most Japanese movies are considered as low-budget compared to their Hollywood counterparts. This is because their production costs are so high. However this factor does not deter Japanese creative production teams to come up with movie gems, in different genres.

In the realm of Japanese horrors for example, a studio working with a limited budget has to resort to Jaws-style direction, in which you hardly see or visualise the ghosts/monsters.

And it is through the movie's simplicity, or by not showing/explaining too much, that J-horrors have turned up the notch on the haunting and horror levels through movies such as Ring and Dark Water. Of course there are the still plenty of gorefest movies such as Suicide Circles and Ichi the Killer, the latter being a courtesy of that notorious but prolific J-director, Takashi Miike.

So it is remarkable and truly rewarding to see how Miike toned down his tastes for the twisted and perverted in One Missed Call. Furthermore he implemented his flair of storytelling through symbolisms and graphic metaphors quite nicely. Any shock/gore elements were used in such a way that they serve the movie, instead of downgrading it to a cheesy flick.

In conclusion, One Missed Call satisfies on many levels, providing you keep an open mind and just enjoy the ride. Another plus of the movie is the appearances of several gorgeous J-idols, such as Kazue Fukishii and Kou Shibasaki. Nifty!