One more in the recent trend of Japanese horror adapted to American cinema. Initially I thought this phenomenon was due to American laziness – Japan has all these good horror ideas and a specific look about their films; why bother thinking of whole new films when it’s easier to steal them from someone else, right? Well, that could be. But I think it’s rather that American horror blew its watt in the ’70’s and ’80’s.

Even though this film’s premise is just silly, despite the mobile phone part the plot’s not bad. There are some good ghosties, and though the acting’s only marginally decent, that’s all part of the fun and tradition of the horror genre. The fact that it’s all centred around mobile phones speaks volumes about a population with a completely new set of fears and thus new horror villains. In The Ring the girl came out of the television, in One Missed Call the victims get calls from a dead person, etc. But this isn’t a dissertation so I won’t go on about that…

Shannyn Sossamon plays the heroine, Beth, who teams up with Detective Jack Andrews (a conveniently young and attractive man played by Edward Burns) in order to solve the mystery behind the deaths of a number of their friends, all of which are preceded by ominous phone calls. It seems that the perpetrator behind all of these calls is waging a war on the middle class, as the victims all receive calls and voicemails on their mobile phones. Though removing the battery from the phone doesn’t seem to work (the characters thought of that), if you simply don’t own one you’re good.

Once I came to terms with the fact that people were being attacked via their electronic accessories, there was just one main problem with the story. When these kids (I use that term loosely) are fearing for their lives, knowing the predicted time of their own deaths, they’re still walking around the city waiting for an anvil to fall on their heads. Wouldn’t any halfway intelligent person be, oh I don’t know, sitting by themselves in a sterile, empty room with no windows? If you have two days advance notice of your death you have time to prepare, people! There were also some good comedy moments. I don’t think they were supposed to be funny, but a disembodied hand dialing a phone – hilarious. An attempted exorcism of a mobile phone – also hilarious. Honestly, I debated even seeing this film because I expected it to be complete tripe. But all told it’s not too bad. If you’re a horror fan and enjoyed other films in the same ilk such as The Ring and The Grudge, you won’t be disappointed in One Missed Call.

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