Takashi Miike’s 2003 Japanese horror movieOne Missed Callis one of the most well-known from the genre, but the 2008 remake isn’t much to write home about. The original film did well at the box office, grossing more than $16 million. While the remake made even more money and grossed over $45 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, it is one of the most unpopular 2000s horror movies.
Remaking a film is always a gamble. If too many elements are exactly the same as the original, that is undoubtedly boring. If the new movie strays too far from the original, though, that can be a problem as well. There are many reasons why the J-horror remakeOne Missed Callhas received so many negative reviews.
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What Is One Missed Call About?
One Missed Callis about a curse that gets passed along when a character dies while they are mad. Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon), who is in college, loses her good friends Leann Cole (Azura Skye) and Shelley Baum (Meagan Good) under mysterious circumstances. As the movie continues, Beth learns that Ellie Layton (Ariel Winter) created the curse when she passed away.
While curses are always a smart horror storytelling device and often result in someterrifying horror movie demons, this remake misses the mark. The curse at the heart of the story is the only interesting thing about the film. The premise ofOne Missed Callis that someone will get a phone call and it will be their self from the future, explaining their time of death. While this is definitely a creepy idea, theOne Missed Callremake just isn’t compelling enough to stand on its own.
It’s hard to watchOne Missed Callwithout thinking of another J-horror remake:The Ring. The horror movies both feature deadly phone calls. ButThe Ringis one of themost timeless 2000s horror movies. It tells the same scary story as the original and manages to be its own movie as well. The same thing can’t be said of theOne Missed Callremake from 2008.
What Is The Original One Missed Call About?
The originalOne Missed Callis about Yoko Okazaki and Yumi Nakamura (Ko Shibasaki) who realize that something strange is at play when Yoko’s cell phone rings. It turns out that Yoko is calling herself… from the future. Yoko gets a bad feeling about this and then, two days later, she passes away. Yumi starts to figure out what is going on: a curse is getting passed around, and it always starts with this eerie phone call.
There are a fewAmerican horror movies based on great J-horror, but the 2008One Missed Callremake definitely isn’t one of them. When watching the original, fans of the genre will agree that the remake doesn’t capture the same sinister tone or all-engrossing, creepy atmosphere. There are so manyuniquely scary J-horror moviesand the originalOne Missed Callwill engage horror fans as it’s impossible not to want Yumi to succeed in her search for the truth. The remake misses the opportunity to present a smart and compelling character who audiences care about. Beth is very generic and doesn’t stand out.
What Did Critics Have To Say About One Missed Call?
One Missed Callhas a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Since no other J-horror remakes got that rating, this movie definitely stands out. It has a 0% on the Tomatometer based on 80 reviews and a 29% Audience Score based on over 25,000 ratings. It’s interesting that the originalOne Missed Callisn’t all that highly-rated on Rotten Tomatoes. It has a 44% rating on the Tomatometer and a 62% Audience Score. While of course those ratings are better than 0% and 29%, they are still fairly low.
The general criticism of theOne Missed Callremake is that it’s dull and not scary. This is something that can be said about many of theworst horror movie remakes. Much of the time, the original movie is superior in terms of character development, plot, and atmosphere. Too many times, a horror movie that revolves around technology ends up being corny. That was certainly true of the 2020 movieCountdownabout a killer appthat predicts when people will die. BothOne Missed CallandCountdownmiss the mark and don’t present a truly engrossing story
Many of the critics whose reviews were included on the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page shared that horror fans should check out other movies instead. There are manyJ-horror movies from the 2000sthat are much more fun, engaging, and terrifying, and any of them would be better and scarier choices thanOne Missed Call.
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