Chakushin ari (One Missed Call) Review

Director Takashi Miike has been a mainstay in Japanese horror for a while now, and amidst his more interesting films is one based on a novel called Chakushin Ari (or One Missed Call).  The film was an unassuming success, using an original premise that hadn't been rehashed 500 times before as some other horror ideas have been done.  Chakushin Ari is about people who start mysteriously receiving calls from themselves, decline to answer, and end up with messages that contain all-too-familiar voices.  Somehow they are calling themselves from the future, and the messages leave subtle clues of what could be happening in 2 days time.

The trick to the story, is that these phone calls are actually warnings their future selves are trying to give them about inevitable events soon to come, and without a rationale for what is occurring, those people who get the calls now have an expiration date.  The ultimate question becomes whether the main characters can figure out what is going on, and if there is something that can be done to avoid what surely will spell death for many of the people in the film.  It turns into one of those horror movies where you never know what is going to happen next, and you cannot take your eyes off of the screen for fear you are going to miss the next spooky event.  The use of darkness as well as flashes of color really highlight the undertones to the story, and the brilliant direction keeps the audience munching popcorn while fearing for the people on screen.

Now this is Japanese Horror, so it doesn't have the filler of what its American counterpart would surely be, and it doesn't pull punches on its presentation.  What it is left with is a succinct presentation that does its best to provide scares in unique, stylish, and creative ways that the audience might never see coming.  The execution of the story is exemplified by some of the uses of shadows, but further carried by a story that you must pay attention to if you want to figure out the ending.  I really enjoyed this film, and think that if you are a fan of horror or interesting Japanese Cinema, that this is one that is well worth watching.  It's not your cookie-cutter horror film, so expect something a little different, but also something that is well choreographed and extremely stylish in production.