One Missed Call

One Missed Call (North America)
Release date
United States: January 4, 2008
Germany: March 20, 2008
Japan:  July 19, 2008
Also shown in United Kingdom

Directed by Eric Valette

Production Company
Alcon Entertainment
Kadokawa Pictures
Equity Pictures
Intermedia Films

Ratings
IMDb:  4/10
Metacritic:  24%
Rotten Tomatoes:  2.7/5

 

One Missed Call (Japan)
Release date
Japan:  January 17, 2004
TI Film Festival:  November 3, 2003

Directed by Takashi Miike

Production Company
Kadokawa-Daiei Eiga

Ratings
IMDb:  6.2/10
Metacritic:  54%
Rotten Tomatoes:  3.5/10

 

 

 

These are the cover posters of One Missed Call of the North American version and the original Japanese version, respectively.  The North American cover is very simplistic and allows its viewers to imagine and wonder the storyline of the movie since it does not have much imagery.  The only significant visual impact is the pale distorted face with a cell phone against it, with a creepy smile.  Its eyes have also been replaced by mirrored mouths that seem to be screaming, while the face is shadowed and shown to fade into an all black background.  The Japanese cover, on the other hand, holds more visual weight, displaying color and more representation on what the movie could be about.  The audience is first drawn to the scared facial expression of the woman, who is holding a cell phone in her hand.  Somewhat blended with the black and green background, a hand can be seen resting on the girl’s shoulder, implying that something unfortunate may happen, which could also be the reason why she looks scared.  In the background, in the same black and green color scheme, is a girl floating upside down with an unsettling facial expression.  This image appears to be a vision, possibly implying that the movie has something to do with seeing in the future or seeing something from the past.

After looking at these two covers and comparing their contents, I would have suspected the North American version to be about a killer who may be stalking a woman and taunting her with phone calls.  The Japanese cover leaves me to assume that the movie may involve supernatural beings and some sort of psychological or psychic components.

Lets Meet the Directors

Takashi Miike is a director known for directing bizarre, peculiar, and, sometimes even extreme film projects, however, it is not limited to only those characteristics.  His films range from action packed samurais, historic Japanese settings, subtle dramas, psychotic character roles, and of course, horror films.  As adult and mature as these genres and descriptions sound, Takashi has also spear headed some children’s movies, that attempt to “counterbalance” the “sick and twisted” films he is more known for (Taste of Cinema).  According to Emilio Santoni, who wrote a page on Takashi and his more noteworthy films on the website, Taste of Cinema, he is a product of the nineties V-cinema class, which characterizes Takashi as a director who produces “direct to video productions”.  This, in the film industry, means that the projects he works on usually have a small budget, with less restrictions, which, is the foundation for Takashi’s directing style.  He is able to go beyond what is normally accepted for viewers and flirts with the lines of what is visually appealing and acceptable, to testing and, even pushing, the imagery and context of his projects.  Though he is more known for the intriguing and unusual extreme of the film spectrum, he has also dabbled in a more plain and mute part of the industry.  It is for these reasons that Takashi is not a man of one genre, he is able to mold himself to whatever production he is to take part in and produce artistry that speaks who he is as a director. 

In One Missed Call, it is evident that there are traces of extreme scenes that would have normally been edited out, or at least, partially hidden with some sort of effects.  The film did not hesitate to show mangled bodies, or bloody limbs dismembered.  The film showed contrast of light and dark, creating a stronger buildup of suspense and anticipation.  Takashi did not leave much to the imagination for viewers, as he explicitly illustrated the unusual deaths of his characters, fulfilling the gore and shock of what a horror film should entail.  Despite Takashi’s ability to deliver the scare factor of One Missed Call, the ‘limited budget’ aspect of the film showed through as props, such as the body parts in jars in one of the last scenes, seemed extremely lacking.  There were not that many computer effects that are typical of modern twenty-first century films, however, even without the modern technology, the film was still produced well and definitely delivered some scream worthy and gasping scenes. 

Eric Valette is a French director and screenwriter who, compared to Takashi, has not directed many movies, in fact, he has directed a total of ten films.  He is, however involved in few television shows and has created some artistic short films.  On the website, Allocine, it has summarized Valette’s preferred genres: topping with thriller, then policeman, fantasy, and action.  Valette is not a well known director, seeing as he has only been a part of small time projects, and only very few notable film pieces.  It comes to no surprise that the western remake of Takashi’s One Missed Call was not a great success within the film industry, as well as the public.  In fact, it is safe to say that Valette’s remake was a very toned down and censored version of the original, leaving no artistic signature or significance.  The plot of the movie did not stray too far from the original, however, visually, it seemed to just not deliver enough of everything.  Even though thriller is his preferred genre, it is difficult to place his rendition of One Missed Call under that category.  It is very clear that his One Missed Call is an unsuccessful  attempt to take on an experienced director’s film, and the differences in each film was very evident.  Valette opted out of showing dead bodies, except for one, and did not have the playing of shadowing and darkness of Takashi’s film.  The only real horrific aspect of the film was a short scene of a decayed body crawling in a vent.  Overall, identifying the original from the remake, and a seasoned director was clearly obvious. 

Any differences?

The story line of the remake parallels that of the Japanese original.  The differences lie within the artistry, and more significantly, the characters.  When watching the films, the characters and their relationships do not seem to be something worth noting, however, when comparing the characters and their unfortunate endings, there is something that is particular about the remake that is not shown in the original.

Take a look at the Characters

Victim #1 in the Japanese original is not one of the protagonist’s group of friends, and is instead, a friend of one of her friends.  She was reported to have died while scuba diving.  In the western remake, victim #1 is a member of the protagonist’s circle of friends, and right after she finishes a call from someone unknown, she drowns in the pond in her backyard by an arm that grabs her by the neck.   In the Japanese original, the mystery starts off distant from the protagonist, an event that is unrelated to her, and in no particular way, affects her.  The remake targets a close friend of the protagonist and has her, and the rest of her friends, on edge because of the sudden and surprising death.  Because of the close connection, it sets a tone for the audience that things are quickly getting mysterious.

A few minutes before victim #2 in the remake is about to die, she calls the protagonist to express the uneasy and terrifying feeling she has been experiencing, and the protagonist rushes to meet her friend wherever she is.  However, the moment she gets there, she witnesses the seemingly suicidal freak accident of her friend jumping in the midst of a running train.  In the original, the victim also calls the protagonist to express similar feelings on her way home, and then the same ‘accident’ happens.  The protagonist, on the other hand, just sits in her home terrified at what she just heard, realizing just moments before the death that the time depicted on the missed call was approaching.  Again, it is seen that even though the protagonist in the original expresses concern for her friend, she keeps to herself only providing emotional support through the phone, whereas in the other film, a deep friendship can be assumed from the protagonist’s urgent action to meet her friend.

Victim #3 in both films are males who try to be skeptical and indifferent of the recent events, yet, when it is revealed that they too received the missed call, try to leave the scene in fear.  However, without getting too far, they meet their fates, but in different ways.  In the Japanese version, the victim is dragged down an empty elevator shaft to fall to his death, whereas the remake kills off the character from a construction accident where a piece of metal pierces his chest.  The original took the supernatural approach and made it known to the audience that some unknown horrific figure is dragging him, although, the figure itself is not shown, nor does the protagonist speak of what she saw.  Up to this point, the deaths seem to be accidental or from suicide, as police says, even though the audience knows better, however, after his death, the film begins to show more of the typical horror tones of the Japanese films (shadows, long black hair, etc.)  The remake keeps a consistent pace of unusual freak accidents, even though the audience too, has been given sufficient evidence that they are not accidents.

Victim #4 dies on a set of a reality psychic show for both films, and these victims’ death are the most graphic of them all.  In the original, a black shadow hovers in the corner of a set and a blurred pale face of a girl can be seen peeking out perfectly horizontal with her black long hair fading within the shadows.  The victim sees her, and her arm and fingers begin to contort and the lights flicker, and then her body is suddenly dismembered.  The remake is not as intense visually, but a shape of a hand can be seen to choke her neck underneath her skin, killing her instantly.

In the original, the bodies of victims 2-4 were shown, mangled, dismembered, and bloody, in an attempt to tease the audience with a little bit gruesome imagery and chills.  The body of #2 in the remake was already covered and in the midst of a crime scene, and #3 and 4 were very mild and not nearly as impressionable.

And then the ringtone..

Both ringtones are equally eerie in their own way.  The Japanese version sounds like it is a tune from an older era, like a prelude death tune, whereas the ringtone from the remake sounds like it is a wind up toy’s song (as in the movie).  The latter sounds more like a ringtone and is fitting for its purpose in the movie.  The Japanese ringtone, like all the artistic aspects of the movie, serve to depict death, or a sort of haunting.  In this perspective, the ringtone fulfills its role to indirectly introduce an unfortunate event.