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One Missed Call (2008 film)
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Wikipedia article
'One Missed Call' is a 2008 supernatural horror film directed by Eric Valette and written by Andrew Klavan. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany, it is a remake of the 2003 Japanese film of the same name directed by Takashi Miike, which itself was based on the Yasushi Akimoto novel 'Chakushin Ari'. The film stars Shannyn Sossamon, Edward Burns, Ana Claudia Talancn, Ray Wise and Azura Skye.
The film was released in North America on January 4, 2008. Despite being a moderate box office success, the film was panned by film critics, with many regarding it as the worst J-horror remake to be released. It became the worst-reviewed film of 2008, receiving a 0% rating approval on Rotten Tomatoes, and winning a Mouldy Tomato Award.
Plot
A young girl gets rescued from the blazing Saint Luke's hospital, and a paramedic inquires where her mother is, to which she remains speechless. A scene transition occurs, and undergraduate Shelley Baum, while sitting outside, hears her cat meowing over the koi pond followed by a splash. As she bends toward the pond to investigate, a hand grabs her and pulls her under the water. A red candy then appears on the pond's surface. Days later, college students Beth Raymond and Leann Cole discuss Shelley's funeral. Leann's cellphone rings in a lullaby-Esque ringtone, with a call from Shelley. She unfolds it and hears an eerie voicemail of herself, dated June 12, 10:17 PM; three days in the future. In the ensuing days, she undergoes disturbing hallucinations and calls Beth for solace while heading home after a study session. Beth rushes to her location but arrives just as Leann falls off an overpass and gets hit by a train. A red candy pops out of her mouth, and her severed hand dials a number on the phone it's holding. At Leann's funeral, her ex-boyfriend Brian Sousa departs after experiencing hallucinations. Beth encounters him outside a coffee shop. He shows her the voicemail received post-mortem from Leann's phone, dated minutes away. An acetylene tank explosion from the adjacent construction site launches debris into the air, and rebar impales Brian's torso. A red candy is ejected from his mouth, and he collapses.
The next day Beth seeks aid at a police department and is introduced to detective Jack Andrews. He mentions that his sister Jean interned with Shelley Baum at Saint Luke's hospital and died two days prior. They discern an indeterminate interrelation between the events, and Andrews provides his contact card. Beth arrives home and finds her friend Taylor Anthony distraught by a premonitory feeling of being the next victim. As a consolation, Beth removes the batteries from their cellphones to render them unreachable. That night, Taylor's cellphone rings. She raises it and views a video of her apparent demise. The following morning Andrews and Beth set off to research geriatric nurse Marie Layton, originator of the calls. Via the morgue's database, they find Ellie Layton's autopsy report, her eldest daughter. The registered mortality cause is an acute asthmatic episode, mentioning "no bruising but evidence of past scars" with an attached CPS file for further consultation. The file indicates that Mrs. Layton got questioned by psychiatric nurse Jean Andrews at Saint Luke's infirmary. Moreover, Jean notes nine admissions between AprilMay for Marie's children (Ellie and Laurel) concerning several causes, leading Beth to assume that the mother is affected by FDIA.
Meanwhile, a TV producer that approached Taylor a day prior prepares to record her exorcism. The exorcist explains that spiritual energy operates in the same electromagnetic spectrum as light/microwaves. Hence it is transmissible via cellular phones from which manifests as hallucinations. Beth views the show's advertisement on TV and races to the site. She arrives in time to witness an unseen force choking Taylor to death. Beth's phone sounds with a voicemail dated for tomorrow. Assuming that finding Marie will settle the matter, she resolves to venture to Saint Luke's. At the desolate infirmary, she attempts to escape due to startling visions but runs into Andrews, and they decide to progress. They enter an operating room, and Marie's spirit propels Jack outside, knocking him unconscious. Beth remains locked inside, and a phone begins to chime, displaying her diminishing time. She launches it fiercely across the room, where it impacts the air duct's grill cover making it fall, allowing access to a crawlspace. Beth bends and crawls forward toward a potential exit. After a while, she turns to her left and notices Marie's charred corpse clutching a cellphone. Marie's corpse rises and proceeds to pursue her. When she intercepts her, she weeps and murmurs, "Forgive me." Subsequently, she reunites with Andrews and states that Marie might have brought her there to protect her.
Andrews heads to Laurel's foster home to declare her mother's death. There he finds a compact disc from the nanny cam embedded in the eye of Laurel's teddy bear. The footage reveals Ellie incising Laurel with a knife in their bedroom. Marie enters shortly thereafter and realizes that Ellie was the abuser all along. She rushes with Laurel to the hospital, locking Ellie within. Ellie began pressing wheezingly on the inhaler but was overtaken and fell on the floor facing the future curse's constituents: millipedes, an uncanny doll of a mother with baby in a perambulator (hallucinations theme), and the lullaby-Esque music emanating from the teddy, audible during every victim's call. She died from asphyxia while dialling her mother's phone number. The video concludes, followed by a thunder crash. The door creaks behind Andrews, and Laurel imparts that though Ellie injured her, she always provided candies. He apprehends that Ellie is the causal agent, and while driving homeward to apprise Beth, gets informed by a colleague of a new voicemail. Succeeding his ingress into Beth's house, somebody knocks on the door. As Andrews peers through the peephole, a knife stabs through it, killing him. Ellie appears and reaches out to murder Beth, but Marie's spirit intervenes and bounds Ellie in Andrews's phone. After banishing Ellie, she gazes briefly at Beth before evanescing. Jack's mouth spills a red candy and his cellphone auto-dials.
Cast
Production
'One Missed Call' was announced in 2005, before being officially greenlit by Warner Bros. in early 2006, with Eric Valette signing as the film's director. The film began production in June 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia with Edward Burns, Margaret Cho, and Shannyn Sossamon signing on. On August 3, 2006, Ed Harris and Gabriel Byrne both signed on to appear in the film; however, both withdrew due to unknown circumstances.
Sound designers used the voice of Skid Row front man Sebastian Bach in the hospital basement scene. The exact clip comes from Bach's scream at the beginning of "Midnight Tornado", a song from the band's 1989 debut album, 'Skid Row'.
Release
Marketing
In December 2007, the official website was launched as well as numerous websites running competitions to promote the film with the first prize being an Apple iPhone.Theatrical
The film was intended for release on August 24, 2007, but was delayed until January 4, 2008. On August 30, 2007, the film's trailer premiered on Yahoo! Movies and late September/October 2007 the film's poster was released along with other numerous promotional images. The song "Life is Beautiful" by Sixx:A.M. was used in television advertisements for the film.Home media
The DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray were released on April 22, 2008 none of which contain any special features. The film was also released on iTunes and on the Xbox Live Marketplace.Reception
Critical reception
The film was not screened for critics. , the film holds a 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 81 reviews with an average rating of 2.60/10, also earning the site's Mouldy Tomato Award for the worst-reviewed film of 2008. The site's consensus states "One of the weakest entries in the J-horror remake sweepstakes, 'One Missed Call' is undone by bland performances and shopworn shocks." It is rated the second worst film of the 2000s decade behind 'Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever'. Metacritic reported that the film had an aggregate score of 24 out of 100, based on 14 reviews. Retrieved October 30, 2012Despite being a remake of 'Chakushin ari', the film was strongly criticized for borrowing plot elements from and being similar to 'Scream' (1996), 'Final Destination' (2000), 'The Ring' (2002), 'The Grudge' (2004), 'Dark Water' (2005), and 'Pulse' (2006).
Relationship with 'One Missed Call' (2003)
'One Missed Call' includes most of the scenes and characters that were in the original 2003 film. These include the exorcism scene, where one of the characters is killed while filming the show 'American Miracles'. The characters of Beth, Leann, Taylor, Jack, Brian, and Shelley are respectively based on the original characters Yumi, Yoko, Natsumi, Yamashita, Kenji, and Rina. Another reference is contained within the theatrical trailer; while Leann is walking down the street, a piece of the original ringtone from 'One Missed Call' (2003) plays in the background until she falls from the overpass.
References
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