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179 reviews in total

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201 out of 278 people found the following review useful:
Oh God, the horror..., 4 January 2008

Author: addledsam from United States

Awful, absolutely awful. Had free tickets, but still, I knew better. Of course, all the clichés you'd expect, dumb young adults, scares that come from someone jumping into the screen and sound effects that go "boom" simultaneously, and the build up to when suddenly the main character is the one in eminent danger. Quick cuts of "scary" images. Did I mention the "creepy" music that lets you know when the mood should be tense? Now, add to that a premise that goes beyond the bad premises of other movies in the genre. Possessed cell phones? Or is it possessed ghosts that have to travel through cell lines? Oh man. The crowd I saw it with erupted with laughter numerous times at crucial plot points.

Download that game "snake" for your cellphone, it's a lot scarier.

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172 out of 266 people found the following review useful:
I can't believe I thought this wouldn't suck, 4 January 2008

Author: Ken123456789 from United States

***Please, if you have not seen this movie don't vote no on it just because its a bad review.

This movie was so bad. It makes OK movies like The Grudge look like masterpieces. First, the one and only good thing about this movie was it built decent suspense in some parts. That being said, the pay off was horrible. We would always get some bad CGI, a copy off of something that was in another movie(1408 is a clue), or an average death that is filmed horribly just so that the movie won't be R. The character development is THE WORST I have seen in any movie, and thats including all the very low budget horror movies. The detective doesn't have a personality, he's just kind of a machine that spits out dialog. The main character is so stupid, its unbelievable. There have been unintentionally stupid characters throughout time, but none have been so stupid that I had to shake my head at them. The side characters are worse. You just remember them as hot Latin chick, guy friend, and the other friend. Of course, that means you don't care for their deaths. The plot was pretty stupid, they just shove some random crap in their so they could have an ending. When the film ends, it made me mad because they took too long to show credits, so you think something else will happen, but then the credits just roll. And if the screenwriter had a brain, he would know that cell phones aren't scary, its the idea of hearing your own death. But of course, we just have to have a cell phone in every scene, and this ruins what could be some good scares. On one last note, there was a really embarrassing scene that we're supposed to take serious, but you just laugh your head off at the stupidity. Overall, a 3/10

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97 out of 139 people found the following review useful:
Bad Remake, 9 January 2008

Author: alexnader78 from France

This is just one of those films based on a good film (the original is wicked), that Hollywood sees as an opportunity to remake and make a load of money off. Please do not help accomplish this ! The Japanese version was based on "what you can't see is scarier than what you can see !", and played out as a highly decent scary movie. But then came along the Americans (no offense, i'm one) which bases a movie nowadays on "how much money can we inject into explosions, shattered glass,blowing up cars,... that we won't have to pay to get decent actors ?". And voilà you get this turd of a remake. Get the Japanese version and stick to it, in it the actors at least look like teenagers, in the American version they all look over thirty. I mean come on, how dumb are we ? (or how many years in a row have they flunked class)

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127 out of 200 people found the following review useful:
Terrible!, 4 January 2008

Author: bunnysareevil from United States

When I first saw the trailer for this film I thought "Oh great, another 'When a stranger calls' movie". I had nothing to do so I saw it with some friends. After I watched it I probably had the biggest headache in my entire life. The dialog was hilariously awful, The characters are very unlikable, the "Jump" moments didn't even phase me. 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... If your looking for a good laugh or a bad headache, this film might be the one for you.

2/10 stars.

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74 out of 122 people found the following review useful:
I'm dying for a good horror movie!, 6 January 2008

Author: Jay Addison from United States

Of all the atrocities I've seen on the big screen, this flick just might be the worst. Combining poor story-telling, bad characters, and laughable special effects, One Missed Call is pure crap. As much as I hate to slam something with the lovely Shannyn Sossamon in it, I can't stop myself with this. Poor choice, Ms. Sossamon.

The only thing the film does decently is building up suspense, and there are some intense moments. But then the pay-off is so cheesy I found myself laughing. 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. It seems that intelligent thrillers/horror films have completely left the market. With torture porn films like the Saw franchise taking over the marketplace, wonderful movies like 2006's The Descent are rare triumphs. I want more of those. 2/10 stars.

Jay Addison

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47 out of 73 people found the following review useful:
One missed call, one stupid movie, 4 January 2008

Author: keiichi73 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Some tips on how to write a horror movie...

All you need is a young hero or heroine who discovers some kind of cursed device is killing off all of their friends. The device may be anything, just as long as it's something we use everyday like a computer or something. After a group of the hero's faceless and underdeveloped friends die (The depiction of said deaths will depend on whether or not your film is PG-13 or R.), the hero must then team up with a second hero, and try to discover what's going on. After going through old files and visiting creepy old buildings that hold secrets of the past, the lead characters must discover that the cursed object is tied into some tragic past event, usually revolving around a spooky little girl. As the clock ticks down to the hero's own death, they must race to right the wrongs of the past. After the past has seemingly been corrected, the characters breathe a sigh of relief, only to discover that they were wrong, and that someone or something else is responsible for the evil.

It is a formula that has been employed by numerous films, many originating in Japan or some other Asian country. One Missed Call follows this formula to the letter, right down to the originating in Japan part. The only problem is that it seems to know we've seen it all before. The actors sleepwalk through their dialogue, and many times the hero of the story - a college student named Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon), forgets to even react to the deaths of her friends. You see, all of Beth's friends are being killed off by a cursed cell phone voice mail message. It appears on your phone, and when you play it back, you hear the exact moment of your death. The friends are haunted by spooky visions of ghouls and decaying people walking around in broad daylight, until the character suddenly meets an untimely end in some sort of "accident" that makes me think the evil ghost in this movie took lessons from the ghastly spirit in the Final Destination films, as its method of killing people is somewhat similar. The Final Destination villain is much more flashier and complex in its killings, but you have to remember, the ghost in this movie is working under a much more restricted PG-13 rating, so you can't really blame it if its kills are not as bloody or grand.

Now, let me ask you something here. If you knew that people were dying because of a mysterious voice message that appears on your cell phone, wouldn't you just try not listening to the voice message in the first place? This never dawns on Beth or her friends. They try smashing their cell phones to pieces, but this doesn't seem to halt the killer spirit's advances. I don't know if not listening to the message would save your life or not, but I figure if all of my friends were being killed after listening to it, I'd be willing to give it a shot. The movie continues down the expected path, and introduces our second hero, a police detective named Jack Andrews (Edward Burns). He's the only person who believes Beth's story about the cursed voice mail message, because his sister was a victim of it, too. They join forces to discover the truth behind the curse, and the clues fall right into place, leading them to a hospital that burned down a while ago. Everything that we saw happen in films like The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water, and the like happens, and not even the characters don't seem to be all that surprised. They go through the expected motions, and so does the movie itself.

When I say One Missed Call follows a rigid path, I am dead serious. There's not one single moment we haven't seen in similar-themed movies. I have not seen the Japanese movie that inspired this remake, so I don't know if the original was as uninspired as this. I will give the original the benefit of the doubt that it had a lot more life and energy than this. The characters all seem to be walking a pre-determined path, and what's worse, they seem to know it. There's nothing worse than when the characters seem to be smarter than the movie they're in, but they're forced to act like idiots, because it's expected of them to do so. The movie doesn't even do a good job of explaining itself from time to time. I'm trying hard not to go into spoilers here, but should you see this movie (not that I'm recommending you do), ask yourself why the corpse they discover in the tunnels underneath the burnt hospital was there in the first place? Also ask yourself how many reality TV shows are filmed live? And wouldn't having someone die on your show live on national television kind of cause more attention than it seems to in this movie? My personal favorite moment of the movie actually comes early on, when the film's first victim meets an untimely end. The ghost then decides to not only kill her, but comes back for the victim's pet cat moments later. Did the cat get an eerie voice mail too? One Missed Call is the very definition of an early January release, a time of the year when the studios usually unload their stinkers that they don't know what to do with. The fact that it's the only new movie opening this weekend in wide release means that it will most likely find an audience with kids and teens looking for a cheap thrill. If you're bored this weekend, and actually consider this movie, please don't. This movie does not alleviate boredom, it only causes it.

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31 out of 45 people found the following review useful:
One Positive Review (ok, middle of the road), 28 April 2008

Author: plumberguy66 from United States

Facts: As of 4.27.08 the rating for this movie is 2.9

Nearly EVERY review is negative. The accusations leveled over and over are: worst movie ever, terrible, trash, stupid and the like.

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. While perusing the selections I saw IT – not the Stephen King movie but the most vilified movie in recent memory: One Missed Call, staring at me from the shelf. I almost felt it call to me and for a fraction of a second my hand, with a mind of its own, started to reach out for it. Needless to say, I retrieved my composure and hurried away. Having read the reviews on IMDb, and so KNOWING it was something to avoid at all costs, I felt shameful and dirty at having let my guard down as I did.

As I walked a little further down the aisle I spotted another movie: Reservation Road. Thank goodness! Redemption!, I thought as I picked up a copy; feeling once again like sensible individual. As I headed for the front counter, reading the back of the box, it said Reservation Road was something to the effect of being a deep, emotional story. Not exactly the mindless fare for a rainy Sunday! So, completely loosing my mind and throwing caution to the wind, I snuck back and returned the copy of Reservation Road. Then, making certain no one else was around, grabbed a copy One Missed Call. I quickly tucked THE movie under my arm so that no passers-by could read the title and know the poor decision I had just made.

As I made my way to the counter, I made sure no line of happy movie renters were there so as to avoid their judging eyes. Safely at the counter, to throw-off some of my guilt, I made a joke with the clerk about how I was going to regret my selection but am a die-hard horror fan and therefore excused. He looked completely unaffected. I hurriedly paid and headed out the door with my guilty secret.

Once home, I popped the disc in, settled onto my couch and readied myself for disappointment. Funny thing though: About half way through the feature I started thinking about how similar this movie was to another movie I had seen - The Ring.

The Ring, when it hit the theaters and ultimately DVD, got huge, rave reviews. Strangely though, once I, personally, saw The Ring - and after all the hype - was ultimately disappointed. The Ring wasn't a bad movie, in my opinion, but it also was not deserving of all the accolades either – again, in my opinion.

So, here I am watching One Missed Call, comparing it to The Ring and now thinking the end has got to be the reason everyone is calling this a stinker. Well, I got to the end and was sitting there with furrowed brow thinking: What did I miss? Where is the movie that everyone hates so much? I don't feel ripped-off or violated. I don't even feel as if I was condescended to. What happened?

I suspect this was a case of jumping on the proverbial bandwagon. I thought we had are OWN opinions and shared them, here on IMDb, honestly. I have a very hard time believing that the same demographic gave The Ring 7.3, AVP: Requiem 5.1 (which SUUUUCKED) and One Missed Call 2.9. There is a serious disturbance in the force here. I used to trust the opinions and ratings on here. Ultimately this single incident has shaken my confidence in IMDb and the people casting their votes (much like the general elections of 2000 & 2004).

I hope one day I will once again be able to enter IMDb with the belief that I will be able to take away from it the knowledge needed to make a sensible movie renting choice. Until then, I will have to stumble through the video store alone, unarmed and destined to fall into the crags of bad movie selections.

A sad story indeed.

I fear I will run out of room soon so, I'll end here.

Cheers! Thanks for reading.

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35 out of 57 people found the following review useful:
Great Comedy, 9 April 2008

Author: David Young from United Kingdom

Yes I know it's supposed to be a horror but it isn't. There are some parts that had me rolling around on the floor. Seriously, there are so many clichés and parts that make absolutely no sense. There's also parts where you think "why are they doing that?" or "why don't they just do this?" Then there's the ending which seems to think that it makes the rest of the film make perfect sense when it's just stupid. Nothing in the film adds up at all and it's just generally very inconsistent. I haven't seen the Japanese version but I heard that it's a lot better if you actually want a horror film. Otherwise, be on the look out for a guy with an umbrella at the end - priceless!

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26 out of 40 people found the following review useful:
I don't care what they all say, it's got a creepy vibe to it., 3 October 2008

Author: JohnRouseMerriottChard from United Kingdom

It's not very good, but it isn't nearly as bad as some reviewers here are making out. Personally i found it far more entertaining than drek like Stay Alive and Cry-Wolf, whilst tagging it the worst film of the year when the likes of Untraceable are on the market, beggars belief. Remaking Japanese horror is getting stale, if it was ever really fresh that is, so with that in mind i feel the hatred and backlash for this latest American remake has a touch of "stop remaking already". 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. You will find that Final Destination and The Ring will come springing to mind as you watch this one unfold, so no great prizes for originality for sure. The acting of course is sub-standard, even Ray Wise seems to be the bread part of a camp and ham sandwich, the directing is sloppy and the ending frustrates as much as it intrigues, but the picture is creepy, and for that alone it's far more entertaining than the ream of gorno slashers that dumb the screens every other week. 5/10

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14 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
So, you are telling me not to receive my voice mails!! Still liked it though., 20 May 2010

Author: Girish Winchester

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I am a huge horror genre fan and this was coming on TV the other day and I thought it wouldn't hurt to give this a try, not knowing it had a rating of 3.5 here on IMDb. After watching it, I felt it was an OK movie and the plot was very interesting. This is a remake of a Japanese film. I think it would have been even more wonderful to see it in the original version. Also, seeing this film in a crowd makes it into a comedy. So, watch it alone in the dark and get creeped out.

The story begins by the accidental burning up of a hospital and a little girl, along with her teddy bear, is staring forlornly towards the raging inferno. She has been rescued by the firefighters, but she doesn't say a word to them. Many people are dead due to that fire and the girl's sister is also a victim. After that, a girl drowns in her own backyard pool along with her cat. But the thing is, she didn't commit suicide as everybody thinks. Something dragged her into the water and killed her. Her cellphone starts acting weirdly then. Then the director introduces us to the main character in the film, Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon) and her friend Leann Cole (Azura Skye) who gets a weird phone call in her own future voice and the date of the call is also in the future. In that she finds out the exact time of her death and a free treat to her own freaked out voice during the death. She thinks nothing of it until she sees ghosts, ghouls, weird insects on other people and reapers all around her. Beth starts to believe in this weird 'miss call - death time' theory after she watches Leann die in front of her and phone is dialling another number in Leann's contacts after Leann is dead. She notifies the authorities about this enigma, but they dismiss her theory. Detective Jack Andrews (Edward Burns) is in homicide and his sister had also died under strange circumstances (see the drowning girl). They team up together after similarly ominous deaths happen to Beth's friends. They find a common factor among the dead and it was that they all were in the phone contacts of each other and they all had an orange candy in their mouth after their deaths. Somehow, all this is connected to the mother of the girl who was saved from the burning hospital. Can Beth save herself from the 'phone curse'?

I am frankly quite shocked at this rating. Sure the film isn't great, but it isn't trash as many of you are making it out to be. Other than the fact that most of the actors who played college kids in the movie looked way older, I actually enjoyed this. And also the ending kind of bummed me out. You will see what I mean after you watch the movie. The background score was overbearing sometimes and it was like, 'here comes a scary moment, jump out of your seats!' The reason for the hauntings of the phone is quite scary actually. This film reminded me a lot of Final Destination movies, without all the cool deaths and much more fleshed out story. The acting for the most part is OK, not too great nor dumb. They could have just thrown out the mobile or not picked up the call when it rang. But, that wouldn't have made it a movie, would it? So, don't hate it for that and don't watch this with a gang of friends and you will probably enjoy this.

6/10

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