Chakushin Ari (One Missed Call) poster & wallpaper
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Kou Shibasaki, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Kazue Fukiishi, Renji Ishibashi, Goro Kishitani

Visionary horror film director Takashi Miike delivers a typically stylish and idiosyncratic scare-fest with this thriller. Yumi Nakamura (Kou Shibasaki) is a mildly paranoid young woman whose good fri... read more read more...end, Yoko, receives a strange and mysterious call on her cell phone. The phone's read-out says that the call came from Yoko's own number, but from three days into the future; 72 hours later, Yoko dies in a bizarre accident moments after getting the same call over again. Yumi learns that Yoko isn't the only person to have had this experience; the spirit of a vengeful woman has been creeping into people's cell phones, and one by one is taking the lives of the folks in their internal telephone books. As Yumi struggles to solve the mystery of how and why this could be happening before someone else dies, she discovers the story has more to do with her than she imagined. Chakushin Ari was a major box-office success in Japan, where leading lady Kou Shibasaki is a popular recording artist as well as an actress. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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65% liked it

9,568 ratings

Critics

42% liked it

26 critics

R, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: Takashi Miike

Release Date: November 3, 2003

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DVD Release Date: September 13, 2005

Stats: 1,050 reviews

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One Missed Call. One Missed Call. Chakushin Ari (One Missed Call) Chakushin Ari (One Missed Call) Yumi!!! One Missed Call. Kou Shibasaki Kou Shibasaki Kou Shibasaki Yumi!! One Missed Call. One Missed Call. Kou Shibasaki
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Flixster Reviews (1,050)

  • JonathanHutchings
    February 4, 2012
    JonathanHutchings
    The first act of One Missed Call is masterful, with Miike utilizing his most clever devices since Ichii, but the film is ultimately undone by weighty exposition and too much excess. Aside from the terrific TV station scene, you can really sense the struggle of an unconventional f... read moreilmmaker trying to find his comfort zone in a commercial enterprise.
  • ariuza1
    December 17, 2010
    ariuza1
    The idea of this is very similar to the grudge or just to another horror film that was already made at the time but I must put One Missed Call as something different and scary at times despite all its flaws and its terrible remake that should be left in the dark forever. So yet a... read morenother simple yet freaky story.

    People mysteriously start receiving voicemail messages from their future selves, in the form of the sound of them reacting to their own violent deaths, along with the exact date and time of their future death, listed on the message log. The plot thickens as the surviving characters pursue the answers to this mystery which could save their lives. Or die horribly trying in the process.

    The remake itself was just awful why they made that OR even remake our movies is a mystery to me. I walkout out of the remake at the 55 minute mark my all time record was Caligula re-release at 24 minutes. I love Takashi Miike Ichi the Killer that is just brutally awesome but this has its flaws yes but I find it to be good despite what otherts put it.
    Kô Shibasaki and Shin'ichi Tsutsumi do okay jobs despite there major acting problems and to the others I wont hold my breath. The storey is like a major rip off of other ghost films and to people that have seen lots of them the similatys will hit you sooner or later. That exorcism scene was like WTF but maybe that was just me. Some freeky settings but that's about it I guess.

    My final line is, see it if you are a major horror fan and DON'T see the remake.
  • animegirlaya
    November 5, 2010
    animegirlaya
    Wouldn't say I ever liked this that much though somewhat scary just really boring and we have seen it all before. To me this is just another hunted house movie that tries to be scary doing what the grudge did as well as the ring and just putting it together. Meany seems to like t... read morehis and it was successful but I just thought it was average. The remake was just plain awful one of the worst I have seen.

    People mysteriously start receiving voicemail messages from their future selves, in the form of the sound of them reacting to their own violent deaths, along with the exact date and time of their future death, listed on the message log. The plot thickens as the surviving characters persue the answers to this mystery which could save their lives.

    I thought the story was just kario, the grudge, the ring put to together to make really one boring movie that scars yes. But most time you can easily see what's going to happen.

    30% for story scary but really lacks

    60% for acting its okay and pulls throw you can see there flaws

    60% for special effects not much here but it looks okay though

    70% for characters some are likeable other are not you just don't seem to care

    50% for everything else music came for Kario so in this it just doesn't work.

    I would say skip but if you like horrors go for it.
  • 366weirdmovies
    June 6, 2009
    366weirdmovies
    Yumi's friends begin receiving phone calls from their own numbers with a date in the future, and they wind up dead on that date; she fears she too is on the murderer's call list. Miike recycles ideas from the superior AUDITION; attempts to provide psychological depth via child a... read morebuse backstories and multiple twist endings can't salvage this talky, overlong effort with too few scares.
  • gor41
    October 29, 2008
    gor41
    Worthy (just) addition to the J-horror canon which doesn't stray far from the conventions but has enough chills and a coherent narrative.
  • matertenebraum
    September 11, 2008
    matertenebraum
    Most Japanese movies are considered as low-budget compared to their Hollywood counterparts. This is because their production costs are so high. However this factor does not deter Japanese creative production teams to come up with movie gems, in different genres.

    In the realm o... read moref Japanese horrors for example, a studio working with a limited budget has to resort to Jaws-style direction, in which you hardly see or visualise the ghosts/monsters.

    And it is through the movie's simplicity, or by not showing/explaining too much, that J-horrors have turned up the notch on the haunting and horror levels through movies such as Ring and Dark Water. Of course there are the still plenty of gorefest movies such as Suicide Circles and Ichi the Killer, the latter being a courtesy of that notorious but prolific J-director, Takashi Miike.

    So it is remarkable and truly rewarding to see how Miike toned down his tastes for the twisted and perverted in One Missed Call. Furthermore he implemented his flair of storytelling through symbolisms and graphic metaphors quite nicely. Any shock/gore elements were used in such a way that they serve the movie, instead of downgrading it to a cheesy flick.

    In conclusion, One Missed Call satisfies on many levels, providing you keep an open mind and just enjoy the ride. Another plus of the movie is the appearances of several gorgeous J-idols, such as Kazue Fukishii and Kou Shibasaki. Nifty!
  • kiriyamakazou
    June 15, 2008
    kiriyamakazou
    Takashi Miike puts his usual bizarre take on cinema aside to handle a fairly more commercial horror film. Like Ring or The Grudge it's a supernatural investigation film that follows a fairly predictable route. It's ticks all the boxes we've come to expect though it is done in a v... read moreery professional and expert mannor. Not many genuine scares though the television station scene is as intense as the one from Zodiac. Unfortunately this interesting moment passes and isn't followed up, surely a live death screened on national television would have a huge effect on the country if not the world. Like I said it isn't mentioned again which is a shame.
  • newvogueravyn
    June 6, 2008
    newvogueravyn
    I liked this a lot. I believe this film influenced the Korean horror film Phone, which is one of my favourites, and this one gets added too. Not much different from the standard ' j-horror' fare, except in the motivation of the ghost, which was welcome.
  • ceWEBrity
    January 23, 2007
    ceWEBrity
    A tepid and uninspired but still rather interesting J-horror. Worth the time you put into it, but you're never going to watch it again.
  • ryguy4738
    April 2, 2011
    ryguy4738
    4.5/10

    Here is a film that was almost on the good side of decent, but staggered right from the start. This causes the admittedly ambitious premise to go to nigh complete waste, and this also causes Takashi Miike's "One Missed Call" to come a bit short when it comes to scare... read mores, entertainment, story, characters, or anything, for the matter.

    Yet, this is not quite a bad film. It's about a mysterious phone-call that people keep getting. The voice is that of their own; but they are always in a dying or near-to-dying state. This strikes our "characters" as particularly odd, and as with nearly all J-horror flicks, the story turns into a mildly entertaining, seldom engaging visual-trip that alas doesn't offer enough of a plot or enough of a visual-trip. It's sad, really. But unwatchable-sad, no. Save that for the remake.

    The film often tries hard at a good atmosphere, and it almost creates one. I liked how this film used minimal gore, and didn't try to scare us in the cheapest of ways. This is admirable, and the film is at its best when it's not trying to be the creepy, effective horror movie that it just wasn't meant to be. Yes, it's forgettable. So much that I can't even recommend it to horror fans; since this one might put a couple of them to sleep. It's a bore for the most part; never doing much to shock, disturb, or surprise us. At least SOME horror movies could keep me awake for more than 75% of the time, which is more time than most horror films have the potential to manage.

    This film is not poorly made, poorly acted, or even poorly written. It just isn't as good as it wants to be. But at least they tried; that they did. But it's hard to forgive a film that looks good, but can't scare you. I didn't feel frightened after watching the film, and I found the plot to be unintentionally ludicrous. The idea is pretty good- another smart techno-horror/thriller idea from Japan- but there's not much else to admire about the film.

    Word to filmmakers: dead people that spit out candy and admittedly cool but forgettable visuals DO NOT SCARE ME. A ghostly virus that kind of spreads through cell-phones, however, does scare me; but this film doesn't embrace the concept all that well. Takashi Miike directed "Ichi the Killer" and "Audition". Those films deserve recognition. If "One Missed Call" deserves any, then it's as a film that would be playing on someone's television within a film. At least it may find solace there.

View All Chakushin Ari (One Missed Call) Reviews

Critic Reviews

V.A. Musetto
April 22, 2005
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

One Missed Call is a mess.

Dana Stevens
April 21, 2005
Dana Stevens, New York Times

One Missed Call staggers under the weight of its director's taste for baroque excess.

Jan Stuart
April 21, 2005
Jan Stuart, Newsday

There is something uniquely delicious in what the film says about the desperation of some cell users. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
April 20, 2005
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

So unoriginal that the movie could almost be a parody of J-horror tropes, yet Miike, for a while at least, stages it with a dread-soaked visual flair that allows you to enjoy being manipulated. Full Review

Michael Atkinson
April 19, 2005
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

No more than Miike's shot at generating a polished, rote, expertly composed J-horror flick. Full Review

Roger Moore
April 15, 2005
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Routine horror with a confusingly drawn-out finale. Full Review

Derek Elley
April 14, 2005
Derek Elley, Variety

For much of the going, Miike juggles the Asian psychothriller portfolio (elevators, clock hands, vengeful ghosts, buried family traumas) with gleeful skill. Full Review

Steven Rea
April 12, 2005
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Miike, whose work usually veers into more surreal, experimental terrain, uses creepy-crawly juxtaposition, grisly violence, and dark humor to create a nightmare scenario for the text-message generation.

David Nusair
June 11, 2010
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

At the movie's core is a mystery that simply isn't even remotely interesting... Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
September 16, 2009
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

More annoying than answering a wrong number phone call. Full Review

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  • 2008- Which movie, remade and rereleased in the United States in 2008, was known as "Chakushin Ari" in Japan?   Answer »
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