One Missed Call: Would You Answer the Call?

Are you a fan of thriller movies?  You know, the ones that leave you on the edge of your seat.  If so, One Missed Call may just be the movie for you. 

This movie was released in January, 2008.  One Missed Call is a remake of the Japanese film, Chakushin Ari which came out in 2003. 

One Missed Call was directed by Eric Valette.  Eric Valette also directed a bunch of foreign films, such as Malèfique, which came out in 2002.  The screenplay portion was written by Andrew Klavan.  This playwrighter also wrote A Shock To The System, which came out in 1990.  One Missed Call is based on a novel written by Yasushi Akimoto.  Chakushin Ari 1 and 2 were novels that Yasushi wrote. 

The tagline of this movie is, “What will it sound like when you die?”  Sure that is an eerie tagline, but it makes for an interesting plot. 

Imagine getting a phone call from someone who has already died.  They leave a voicemail with the date and time of your pending death, and if you listen closely it is your voice calling.  Between the time of the call and the time of death, you see distorted images and faces, as well as things that are peculiar and unusual.  Those that die are left with a piece of hard candy, in the color red.  The story behind the hard candy comes later on in the storyline.

The movie starts off with the mysterious death of Shelley, played by Meagan Good.  Later on, at a party, Leann (Azura Skye) gets a call on her cell phone from Shelley’s number, and it dated ahead of time.  When Leann listens to the voicemail she hears herself screaming. 

Note: all phone calls leading to the deaths take place on the death holders cell phone. 

Before each of her friends died, Beth (Shannyn Sassamon) heard the noise of an inhaler.  The inhaler becomes apparent later on in the movie as well. 

After Leann, her ex boyfriend Brian (Johnny Lewis) gets the death call, followed by Taylor (Ana Claudia Talancòn).  Taylor is freaked out by the call and goes through an ‘exorcism’ that would be televised.  Needless to say, an exorcism could not save her. 

Then Beth herself gets the call, but by this time Detective Jack Andrews (Edward Burns) is there to help her.  They try to trace back to where the calls first started.  Jack’s sister also received the call.  In fact, she is the one that called Shelley in the beginning of the movie.  This news was able to help them to trace it back to the Layton family.  While the youngest Layton daughter was in the St. Lukes Hospital, it burnt down, and Beth was concerned that this was where it all started.  The mother had abusive issues, so the detective and Beth thought that she was the one the started the calls. 

Now the question is, was the mother the one that started it all?  To find out the answer, you will have to watch the movie for yourself.  The movie is well worth the watch.  It is one of those great thrillers, that will keep you guessing till the very end, and that is a rarity in movies these days.