One Missed Call (2008) User Reviews (209)

One Positive Review (ok, middle of the road)

[plumberguy66 · 5/10 · 28 April 2008]

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.

Bad Remake

[alexnader78 · 3/10 · 9 January 2008]

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)

I don't care what they all say, it's got a creepy vibe to it.

[hitchcockthelegend · 5/10 · 3 October 2008]

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

Oh God, the horror...

[addledsam · 2/10 · 4 January 2008]

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.

I can't believe I thought this wouldn't suck

[Ken123456789 · 2/10 · 4 January 2008]

***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

Terrible!

[bunnysareevil · 2/10 · 4 January 2008]

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.

Great Comedy

[residentofarea51 · 1/10 · 9 April 2008]

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!

I'm dying for a good horror movie!

[jaddison383 · 1/10 · 6 January 2008]

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

Not deserving of such a low rating - Worth a watch!

[demon-monkey · 7/10 · 5 August 2008]

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. O.k granted it isn't the best movie of all time but far from the worst if you watch it as I did with an open mind and give it a chance under it's own merits. 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

One missed call, one stupid movie

[keiichi73 · 1/10 · 4 January 2008]

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.

I Liked It......

[MagJ100 · 9/10 · 30 May 2022]

I love this movie because it's a mind**** - sometimes I like the B-horror movies and this one I wouldn't really call a B more like an A-. It's fun with a couple friends and some munchies. I think Candyman is a much worse film.

So, you are telling me not to receive my voice mails!! Still liked it though.

[GirishGowda · 6/10 · 20 May 2010]

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

'One Missed Call' missed the mark

[texrangers31 · 2/10 · 5 January 2008]

I am a fan or horror movies. I get scared by almost anything, and I will admit that once I read the plot summary for 'One Missed Call' I was intrigued. My friend and I both thought it had potential. Than I saw the trailer, and was almost as disappointed as I was I saw 'The Land Before Time 16'. I went to see this movie expecting it to be comically ridiculous, and I wasn't disappointed. If you want a good laugh, go see it. If you are frightened by a missed call on your cell phone than you may want to sleep with the lights on, otherwise you should be fine. The worst part about this movie is that it isn't quite corny enough to be considered entertaining. It simply leaves you constantly turning to the person next to you to say "What was that?" because of how childish the plot becomes.

Has Its Moments, But Overall A Very Poor Horror Remake.

[drownsoda90 · 3/10 · 4 January 2008]

"One Missed Call" follows a college coed named Beth (Shannyn Sossamon), whose friend, Leann (Azura Skye) dies in a freak accident after receiving a strange phone message that seems to be a recording of her death that followed two days after it was received. Not only that, but another one of Leann's friends, Shelley (Meagan Good) had a similar incident before her bizarre death. When Beth meets detective Andrews (Edward Burns), who believes there is truth to the strange events, the two team up to try and discover the source of the murderous chain of phone messages. And when Beth receives one herself, it becomes a race against time before she meets her predetermined fate as well.

To get things clear in the beginning, I have not seen the original Japanese version of this film, so I cannot make a comparison between the two. However, I can say that this remake was quite a mess of a movie, regardless of whether or not the original was a good film. For one, the writing is pretty lousy. The story begins kind of all over the place before focusing on one central character, and that initial opening scare scene was flat-out ridiculous. There are dozens of plot holes scattered throughout the film, and many things that simply do not add up. It's pretty clichéd as well, relying on a never ending slew of "jump" scares to get a reaction from the audience - problem is, most of them are so much expected that few are even minorly effective. There is little to no suspense as well, and I felt this could have been a fairly suspenseful movie.

The second area where the script fails is in the characters. We get their names, but that's about all. They have no depth, little personality, and are really overall bland, even the protagonists that we are supposed to be caring about. The acting was average, but I have a feeling the reason some of the performances lack is because the script was poorly written to begin with, and the performers had little to go on. Shannyn Sossamon leads the cast and does decent with what she has, as does Edward Burns, but neither are anything remarkable. The rest of the more minor characters are even more bland, and have even less to go on. Azura Skye is notable in her performance as Sossamon's friend, but she suffers from a poorly-written character as well. I also had a bit of a problem with the chemistry between the characters/the actors, because sometimes things just did not feel 'right'.

There is some good to be found in this movie though, however little it may be. While some may bash it for it's PG-13 rating, I don't have a problem with that, because it's not a movie that needs to be gory to begin with. I also thought that the general premise was interesting, even though it is a remake. It's a neat idea, but the execution of it was horrible. I will give it the benefit of the doubt though when it comes to some of the visuals and images - there are a few creepy visuals in this movie, and the 'villians', for lack of a better term, were pretty spooky, as was the sinister "warning" ringtone. I thought the hospital sequence towards the end was fairly creepy - that is until we are shown a grinning monster-infant playing with a cell phone in a crib, which was not only ridiculous, but was supposed to be taken seriously. That bit ruined the good that I saw in that scene to say the least, even during that semi-scary attack by a reanimated corpse. The ending was a letdown as well, and I was really disappointed.

Overall, "One Missed Call" is one of the worst horror films I've seen at the theater in awhile. The script is messy, the characters are bland, the scares are ineffective, there is little to no suspense - and the entire film felt like it was carelessly thrown together. It's a shame too, because the premise is interesting and this could have been a decent movie, but the filmmakers' execution of it was poor. Besides a few creepy visuals, I can't recommend much here. You'll probably want to skip this one, or wait till it comes to video. 3/10.

Remake with unsettling images, horror, tension and eerie murders

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 6 July 2009]

The film starts with the strange death of Shelley(Meagan Good) after a phone call. Her friend named Cole(Azura Skye) receives a missed call with a horrible shout which sounds like her voice. Posteriorly she's attacked by a supernatural entity . Beth(Shannyn Sossamon) encounters Cole's sweetheart, Brian(Johnny Lewis) who also receives a weird call. A strange calls are causing a criminal rampage among young people. Beth befriends Det. Jack(Edward Burns) when is investigating the death her roommate(Ana Claudia Talancon), he tells her that his sister was also murdered by a call. Meanwhile a magician named Purvis (Jason Beghe)is practicing magic shows to discover the rare events , being shot by a filmmaker(Ray Wise). Beth and Jack investigate the deeds which lead to Marie Layton(Rhoda Giffiths) who allegedly abused her children.

This spooky picture contains terror,shocks, suspense, grisly killings and numerous creepy scenes. The film packs terrifying and hair-raising frames and a little bit of blood and gore. Dark and shaded cinematography by Glen McPerson(Rambo, 16 blocks). The movie is regularly directed by Eric Valette(Malefique)though displays a sinister and mysterious atmosphere. While the look is suitable eerie and frightening, the argument spreads to the breaking point and the ending turns out to be a little frustrating.

This is an inferior version of the classic Japanese based on novel by Akimoto and filmed in 1993 by cult director Takashi Miike. And is followed by ¨One missed call 2(2005)¨by Tsukamoto and ¨One missed call final(2006)¨ by Manabu Abou and TV series(2005).

The Bottom Has Been Scraped

[DirectedByBrian · 2/10 · 11 January 2008]

Like many lousy horror films, the premise to "One Missed Call" isn't half bad, though perhaps a bit recycled. In this one, Leann Cole (Azura Skye) receives a strange voice-mail message: Her own voice, panicked, terrified, and screaming. Two days later, she dies in a freak accident, uttering the same words and screams that she heard on her cell phone.

One by one, the members of Leann's circle of friends receive phone messages of themselves moments before death – only to end up dying exactly as indicated. Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon) witnesses all this but can't explain it. And when her own phone rings, Beth hears her coming demise and has barely a day to discover who is placing the calls and why.

Whether you liked "The Ring" or not, there was a certain novelty to it at the time. Then came "The Grudge", "Dark Water", "The Skeleton Key", and a dozen others. With "One Missed Call", Hollywood isn't just scraping the bottom of the barrel, they're turning the barrel over and seeing if any residue is clinging to the underside.

Andrew Klavan wrote the screenplay, based on a Japanese novel and script. I can't speak for the quality of his source material, but Klavan does nothing to elevate the story to any level of class. If you thought the original Halloween was ridiculous for having Jamie Lee Curtis run upstairs(!) and hide in a closet(!) to escape her supernatural stalker, then Beth's foray into a hospital's air ducts will have you groaning in sheer disdain.

The acting is decidedly poor. But it's not the kind of lousy acting that speaks ill of the performers. Instead, it feels like director Eric Valette actually requested the delivery we see on-screen. It may have something to do with the fact that Valette is a native Frenchman, that his last film job was six years before, and that "One Missed Call" is his American debut. He's reaching across cultural and linguistic borders for the first time, and it shows.

But there's a bigger problem running through the entire film.

Every film creates its own universe. Some are worlds just like ours, some are complete fantasies. But all of them must create rules of operation, including how the spiritual elements function. Even if the audience isn't aware of the rules, the writer and director must have them in mind.

"One Missed Call" creates rules, and then inexplicably ignores them at random. For example, as the victims each get closer to death, they begin seeing strange apparitions. These apparitions are the same every time, and are actually clues to what is going on. But when one character dies in a Catholic church, in addition to the apparitions she also sees the icons of Mary and the Apostles begin distorting into gruesome figures. It may be a cool visual effect, but it breaks the rules and has nothing to do with anything before or after.

That same death illustrates another violation. All the previous deaths have been made to look like freak accidents, but the girl in the church is visibly strangled by a ghostly figure.

I would suggest the rule-breaking is because the director cared more about cool shots, cheap scares, and phony tension. Our evil spirit moves quickly behind frightened characters, heard only because the sound crew puts in an overused "whhht!" to get us to jump. But the spirit proves that it does not need to materialize at all in order to stalk and kill, so why bother whhht-ing around the place? And if time and space are no obstacle, why travel through the cell phone at all? Why bother warning people they are about to die? And why do all of Beth's friends get two days' warning when Beth only gets one? Why drag the apparitions into it? Why list one of the stars as Ed Burns in the opening credits, and Edward Burns in the end credits? – If they can't even get the credits congruent; what hope do we have of anything in between being any good? Instead of playing out the basic premise with care and consistency, Valette and Klavan mash various creepy ideas into the story until what's left horrifies us only because of its sheer stupidity.

Not AS BAD as i expected, but still....

[bjones7-2 · 4/10 · 7 January 2008]

okay, this movie was honestly not AS awful as i had heard and expected. I've seen worse attempts at horror with "The Grudge", or "The Ring 2", "Pulse", "When a Stranger Calls" or the hilarious "The Wicker Man", but it is still embarrassing at how lame Hollywood "horror" movies have become. 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 scares are so obvious and pathetically done that the audience usually ends up laughing. The acting was pretty horrendous, but hey, its a horror movie. The pacing was one of the better parts of the film as the kills are spaced enough to keep just a little bit of interest, as does the so-called plot. The ending is what truly ruins the movie though, as it's just a typical PG-13 horror film ending, so it was virtually expected. Overall---4/10

I wish this could have been, "One Missed Movie"

[MadWatch · 3/10 · 5 January 2008]

This review may contain spoilers.

This movie follows the 'standard' template of a lot of horror movies that have come out in the last few years: Main characters friends are dying/getting-killed by something creepy and supernatural. Main character teams up with another person that is also somehow involved in the events. They follow clues to the 'source' of the problem. The 'source' of the supernatural problem is related to some tragic event, usually tied to a young female character.

If you have seen movies like; Fear Dot Com, The Ring, Dark Water, Phone, Pulse, The Eye, The Grudge then you have seen the formula that One Missed Call is based on.

I also rated the movie low due to the following: 1) The plot is rather simple, but the movie is dragged out by long "5 minutes walking through a desolated building with nothing happening" scenes. 2) At least half of the 'scary moments' are traditional "fake scares", like when the scary music builds up and.... A CAT JUMPS OUT!! 3) Once you find out the "reason" behind all of the strange happenings it just opens up a crap load of new questions: If *that* is the answer, then why did *this* happen? How could *that* have happened? Why would this or that happen? The "answer" makes no sense overall and does not explain why the events you saw over the course of the movie happened.

As for point #3, this seems to be a trend these days: movies that involve the "spirit" of a dead person that is wreaking havoc after-death. Why is the spook able to cause all this mayhem? Control technological devices? Appear anywhere in the world? Make living people hallucinate? Why is a corpse able to just animate itself? Is it just taken for granted these days, that "spirits" have all these wacky, superhero powers just because they are "spirits"?

I rated the movie 3 out of 10. It was far from great, but definitely not entirely bad either.

If only It had been one of the first.

[Sam_Movie_Buff · 6/10 · 7 February 2008]

One Missed Call does not deserve a 2.8 rating, - it just doesn't. I think most people had an opinion of this movie before they even seen it. Most likely because it was simply "another Japanese remake", but that's unfair. If One Missed Call had been released before, lets say "The Ring" - the movie would have had a higher rating - and better reviews. But because we have had "The Ring", "The Ring 2 ", "The Grudge", "The Grudge 2", "Pulse", etc.. (to name a few) people think they know what the're already gonna get from the film. I mean, I'm not gonna lie and say One Missed Call is really a lot different from those movies - cause it's not. But that doesn't mean to say it's not good or entertaining. I think If you get passed the whole Japanese thing - you will enjoy the movie for sure.

The thing I like about these certain movies is, there is a lot of great suspense. There's no heads, legs, arms flying everywhere - it's better than that. These so called Hollywood "creators" now think a horror film can only be a horror if there is blood & guts splattered everywhere. That's not true. A great horror has great suspense, and One Missed Call delivers just that.

Hilarious movie...

[bestrob263 · 1/10 · 5 January 2008]

This was without doubt the worst and most disappointing movie I have ever seen in the cinema. 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. This movie deserves to be on the top of the WORST MOVIES list and can easily be one of the worst movies of 2008. I'm not going to get deep into the storyline, but let's just say it was a funny movie. If you're looking for a comedy see this, because this was the most pathetic piece of trash. This is not in the least scary and the storyline was beyond awful. They get a call hearing their death. They wander randomly around the street seeing weird faces. They die. Repeat. The ending will make you laugh the hardest. I think I lauged harder in this movie than in Superbad. Biggest waste of 10 bucks ever. Stay home and watch SAW.

Be careful when recieving messages

[Gigantoscula · 8/10 · 12 October 2020]

Great movie, love the premise. The acting is sub-par but the plot makes up for it. If you like movies with unique plots this is a gem. 8/10

Why Does this Have Such a Low Score?

[adamcarlton · 7/10 · 10 April 2008]

I went to see this with the missus tonight, even after i saw the 2.6/10 on here i thought id give the film a shot, and I'm glad i did.

2.6 for this film is really harsh. Granted it does have a few moments with poorly acted dialogue and its very predictable. But the atmosphere in my opinion is very good, even when you know something is coming with the music build up, it still made me jump a few times and there's some pretty creepy stuff happening throughout. It's similar to the jumps and scares in the Grudge and other Japanese horrors.

In the end it is a typical jump scare movies with a different approach. It is predictable, it has poor moments, the haunted phone thing really isn't as bad as it seems and the ringtone is awesome.

Overall 7/10 "Good". Worth the watch

Crap

[Ivarq · 1/10 · 7 February 2008]

So I took my time to watch this movie in theater, after seeing the original movie which for me was a nice experience. Asian horror movies have this certain element inside that is really creepy. I was off course expecting something different than Asian one but maybe with some new aspects. And after all I was expecting some good entertainment and excitement. But what an horse***t movie was this. Another Hollywood remake for your average American with popcorn and coke. Very good the lousy director wannabe didn't watch the original, he would've been killed himself of being so pathetic. But I guess it is something for a Texas country boy brain. Easy, soapy and unoriginal crap. Total s''t.

Redefine's "Horror" Movie

[swinktorxer · 1/10 · 19 January 2008]

Wow this movie really put horror in perspective for me. I was horrified through the whole thing. I was horrified at the cheesy acting, the weak story line, the undeveloped characters, and most of all, the special effects. I was terrified I was going to die of boredom. It never ended! It introduced characters at the last twenty minutes of the movie and then wrapped it all up...and then of course they started the horror all over again! The story didn't even make since! I knew when I saw the commercials that it was going to be terrible. Another thing that turned me off about the movie is that all of the American remakes of the Japanese horror films suck! The Japanese versions aren't that bad, but the American versions are awful! Take The Grudge and The Ring for example. That should put it out in fine print for you. Just don't see this movie. It's not worth it.

I rather stick to Takashi Miike version than this.....

[Dream_seeker · 4/10 · 12 January 2008]

I had the chance by shear luck to see both movies the American version in the theaters recently and the early Japanese version as soon as i got home (and would you believe the Japanese version started just as soon as i entered the door which was awesome in my favor). "One missed call" is another attempt at hacking a pretty decent and pretty damn nerve jolted J-horror movie and make it into another americanized, "one tree hill-ish" horror movie where the black chick dies within the first 5 minutes and the pretty white kids are left to figure out who is trying playing this dangerous game in telling the teens the date, time, and how they are going to die via voice mail...you can pretty much think of this version as, "Final destination 4: ONE MISSED CALL" which makes this movie an A-typical remake that doesn't really live up to Takashi Miike's version that was years before.

The acting in this movie is pretty much what you would expect in any typical horror that is on American shores....bland, expecting, and somewhat off in most cases. Now don't get me wrong....some movies that were Japanese based that comes here most are pretty good...but then you have some like this...and it makes you wonder. I'm a big fan of Takashi Miike's works right down to Koroshiya 1 (aka. Ichi the killer) and Audition (another one of my favorites)He makes the viewers guess what's coming after them instead of using CGI to over blow the spectacle of the climax; there are some cases where as one critic on here says, "Not knowing is a lot better than already knowing" which is true sometimes its good to not know who your enemy is in certain movies therefore it gives off the element of surprise right till the climax which in the Japanese version that did it perfectly....this version....not so much.

In the end, I had to give this movie a 4, nice attempt but when you have a director who has never seen the Japanese version and advised the actors to not see it to for research then you have all the makings of a nearly semi-bad movie and a semi-bad remake; my advice watch the Japanese version instead you might find that its version is slightly better and if you prefer the American version then to each it own...but it was just done poorly. sorry.