...not the worst horror movie I've ever seen, but it is among the more tedious.
One cop does believe her, though: Detective Jack Andrews (Edward Burns). However, when Andrews mentions it to his fellow cops, they think he's as looney as Beth. Besides, it's unclear if he buys into Beth's story because his own sister was a victim of these mysterious deaths or because he thinks Beth is cute.
Everything goes according to formula in the film, including Beth and Detective Andrews pairing up as a sort of buddy team to investigate the deaths that nobody else thinks are supernatural murders. And they get into the usual dark and spooky places that turn out to be anything but scary.
There's even a sleazy television producer (Ray Wise) thrown in to do a cell-phone exorcism on live TV. I kid you not. I have no idea where that idea came from or why it was in the plot because like so much of this picture, it goes nowhere and we get nothing out of it. And should I mention the inhaler? Nawww.
"One Missed Call" is not the worst horror movie I've ever seen, but it is among the more tedious. Do we ever learn much about the characters or take any interest in them? No. Do we care about what happens to them? No. Is there any part of the story that even comes close to making sense? No. Is there any part of the story that is at all suspenseful or frightening? No. Is there anything new or original about the plot line? No. Is there any reason for this movie to exist? I'm sorry; that was rude. And I'm digressing.
Video:
Warner Bros. offer the film in two screen ratios, which they describe as "Full-screen" and "Widescreen." The full-screen format measures a 1.33:1 ratio and the widescreen measures 1.85:1 anamorphic, enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The full-screen format is not, however, a typical pan-and-scan affair. In fact, compared to the widescreen, it clips a small amount of the image from the sides while displaying more image top and bottom. I suspect that the studio cropped both screen formats from the same full-frame original camera negative.
In any case, the picture in both instances is fairly ordinary. It's slightly vague, soft, and fuzzy, with a bit of murkiness in the darker sections. There is also a good deal of visible but normal print grain in evidence, probably a condition one would have noticed in a movie theater as well.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio acquits itself a little better than the picture, being pretty good on most accounts. It's as clear and clean as we might expect from DD 5.1, with a decent stereo spread, a modestly good dynamic impact, and some effective surround information, which tends to get better as the movie goes on. Bass is a tad on the wooly side, but it does its job, too.
Extras:
The only "extras" on the disc are a few trailers at start-up. Other than that, you get nineteen scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
Parting Shots:
If there had not already been about 800 Japanese horror-movie remakes in the past few years, "One Missed Call" might have scored higher on the rating meter. As it is, the movie does nothing that we haven't seen before and better. Its haunted cell phone idea is silly, its explanation for the idea is nonsensical, its characters are shallow to the point of nonexistence, and its action is bland in the extreme. One might best describe this would-be thriller as tired. Go watch "The Ring" again; you'll have more fun.
What do you mean I'm digressing?
Everything goes according to formula in the film, including Beth and Detective Andrews pairing up as a sort of buddy team to investigate the deaths that nobody else thinks are supernatural murders. And they get into the usual dark and spooky places that turn out to be anything but scary.
There's even a sleazy television producer (Ray Wise) thrown in to do a cell-phone exorcism on live TV. I kid you not. I have no idea where that idea came from or why it was in the plot because like so much of this picture, it goes nowhere and we get nothing out of it. And should I mention the inhaler? Nawww.
"One Missed Call" is not the worst horror movie I've ever seen, but it is among the more tedious. Do we ever learn much about the characters or take any interest in them? No. Do we care about what happens to them? No. Is there any part of the story that even comes close to making sense? No. Is there any part of the story that is at all suspenseful or frightening? No. Is there anything new or original about the plot line? No. Is there any reason for this movie to exist? I'm sorry; that was rude. And I'm digressing.
Video:
Warner Bros. offer the film in two screen ratios, which they describe as "Full-screen" and "Widescreen." The full-screen format measures a 1.33:1 ratio and the widescreen measures 1.85:1 anamorphic, enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The full-screen format is not, however, a typical pan-and-scan affair. In fact, compared to the widescreen, it clips a small amount of the image from the sides while displaying more image top and bottom. I suspect that the studio cropped both screen formats from the same full-frame original camera negative.
In any case, the picture in both instances is fairly ordinary. It's slightly vague, soft, and fuzzy, with a bit of murkiness in the darker sections. There is also a good deal of visible but normal print grain in evidence, probably a condition one would have noticed in a movie theater as well.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio acquits itself a little better than the picture, being pretty good on most accounts. It's as clear and clean as we might expect from DD 5.1, with a decent stereo spread, a modestly good dynamic impact, and some effective surround information, which tends to get better as the movie goes on. Bass is a tad on the wooly side, but it does its job, too.
Extras:
The only "extras" on the disc are a few trailers at start-up. Other than that, you get nineteen scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
Parting Shots:
If there had not already been about 800 Japanese horror-movie remakes in the past few years, "One Missed Call" might have scored higher on the rating meter. As it is, the movie does nothing that we haven't seen before and better. Its haunted cell phone idea is silly, its explanation for the idea is nonsensical, its characters are shallow to the point of nonexistence, and its action is bland in the extreme. One might best describe this would-be thriller as tired. Go watch "The Ring" again; you'll have more fun.
What do you mean I'm digressing?
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[release]23208[/release]