Sunday, March 8, 2020

ONE MISSED CALL TRILOGY: J HORROR MEETS TECH



Horror films have appeared all around the world and been influenced by the cultures in which they were founded. European culture created things like lumbering monsters, vampires and werewolves, all roaming the countryside or inhabiting castles. American horror used these as a jumping off point but then brought along the world of the occult with Lovecraft and the urban side of things with Stephen King. And Japanese horror used folklore to create some of the most horrific ghost stories ever told.

Those tales of ghosts found their way into films early on in the 1960s with films like KWAIDAN and ONIBABA. But it wasn’t until the 1990s and into the 2000s that the genre suddenly shot up and was noticed worldwide, influencing films in other countries and finding a market for those foreign films with fans who loved what they had to offer. Series like RINGU and JU-ON were heralded as a new form of horror. This was followed later by the ONE MISSED CALL trilogy, now on blu-ray from Arrow Video.

Arrow is releasing all three films together just as they did the RINGU series and for fans you couldn’t ask for more. The trilogy opens with ONE MISSED CALL directed by the legendary Takashi Miike. It tells the story of a group of friends, one of which gets a call from herself two days in the future. Listening to her voice mail she hears her own voice, talking about something taking place and then screaming. Two days later at the time the call was sent, she dies, thrown onto a set of railway tracks and dismembered, her hand clutching her phone and seemingly dialing on her own. The calls being sent predict the deaths of their receivers and are forwarded to someone in their contacts. Members of the group of friends begin searching for the cause of the calls and trace it back to an abused child who left behind a curse before dying. Can the curse be ended?

The second film in the series, for me the most frightening, is ONE MISSED CALL 2. It picks up with ties to the first film, most notably the detective investigating the deaths from the initial film. Another group of friends begins receiving calls predicting their demise. This time around an investigative reporter is helping the group, drawn into the search with feelings of guilt involving her own past. The same ghosts from the first film is once more responsible and discovering who that is gives the film a twist as well as transporting the cause from Japan to Taiwan.

Lastly is ONE MISSED CALL: FINAL, which takes us to a whole new group of victims with zero ties to the original two films. Instead a group of teens on a school trip to South Korea are being killed one by one by the same mysterious phone calls offering the same time of death predictions. But these calls are coming from a classmate they tormented until she attempted suicide. Or is she the one responsible? Could the ghost of films one and two have something to do with this story as well?

When released the films were dogged by critics who felt they relied too heavily on the films of the past. The same pale blue long haired figure was used to portray the ghost and the fact it used a ghost to begin with made them rule these films out as little more than jumping on the bandwagon. But watching them now I found them as interesting as those previous films and no more copying them than say THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE copies THE UNINVITED or THE HAUNTING. All involve ghosts and hauntings but give their own take on things.

Each film has its own vibe and style and while many might view the Miike film as superior I found the second film much more effective. The scares were placed well and had more of a creep factor than the first film. There are moments that provide enough shudders and nightmare inducing moments that it stuck with me more than the other two.

Arrow Video has done yet another amazing job with this release. Would you expect anything less? The films look magnificent in 1080p hi definition. The picture quality is amazing. And the extras are lengthy and worth watching as much as the films themselves. They include a new audio commentary on the first film by Miike biographer Tom Mes, THE MAKING OF ONE MISSED CALL an archival documentary on the film, archival interviews with actors Ko Shibasaki, Shinichi Tsutsumi and Kazue Fukiishi and director Miike, an archival interview with Miike, archival footage of the first film’s premiere, LIVE OR DIE TV special, A DAY WITH THE MIZUNUMA FAMILY the main characters of the ghost, an alternate ending for the first film, THE MAKING OF ONE MISSED CALL 2 an archival documentary on the filming, GOMU a shirt film by director Renpei Tsukamoto who directed the second film, ONE MISSED CALL 2 deleted scenes, ONE MISSED CALL 2 music video, THE MAKING OF ONE MISSED CALL: FINAL an archival documentary on the filming, MAKI AND MEISA an archival behind the scenes featurette on the last film and two of its stars, BEHIND THE SCENES WITH KEUN-SUK JANG an archival featurette with the last film’s South Korean star, THE LOVE STORY a short film tie-in to the last film, CANDID MIMIKO an archival location tour with the series iconic villain, theatrical trailers and TV spots and a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin.

I would be lying to say that I tire of heaping praise on Arrow Video. The truth is they deserve the praise they receive for releasing films like this in pristine fashion with the amount of extras they heap on as well. Fans of horror and J horror in particular should make a point of adding this to their collections. And if you’ve never experienced the films then by all means, give this one a watch. 

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