Metacritic Film

One Missed Call

Starring Ed Burns, Shannyn Sossamon, Ana Claudia Talancon, Ray Wise, Azura Skye, Johnny Lewis, Jason Beghe, and Margaret Cho

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and terror, frightening images, some sexual material and thematic elements

Warner Bros. Pictures
Horror | Mystery | Suspense/Thriller
87 minutes | Color
Japan / USA / Germany
Released In Theaters January 4, 2008

What will it sound like when you die? In One Missed Call," a chain of people receive terrifying cell phone messages of their own final fatal moments. Though the messages can be deleted, their number is up. Beth Raymond is traumatized when she witnesses the gruesome deaths of two friends just days apart. Even more disturbing, she knows that both of them had received chilling cell phone messages--actual recordings of their own horrifying last moments. Impossibly, the calls were received days before they died, but each death occurred precisely when and how the messages foretold. The police think Beth is delusional--except for Detective Jack Andrews whose own sister was killed in a freak accident that bears a strange similarity to the deaths of Beth's friends. Together, Jack and Beth work feverishly to unravel the mystery behind the ominous calls. But even as they get closer to the truth, Beth's cell phone begins to ring with an eerie tune and her phone reads "One Missed Call..."(Warner Bros.)

WRITTEN BY
Yasushi Akimoto (novel "Chakushin ari")
Minako Daira (screenplay Chakushin ari)
Andrew Klavan

DIRECTED BY
Eric Valette

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

24 / 100

Critic Reviews

50	TV Guide The result is yet another tired, ultimately incoherent horror movie that undoes the promise of its pretty good premise and potentially interesting story structure with dull scares, sloppy ending and a pair of unconvincing, leaden lead performances.
42	The Onion (A.V. Club) On the shortlist for least essential movie of the decade, a copy of a copy of a copy that's so worn down, it's about as fresh and vital as a fifth-generation dub of "The Star Wars Holiday Special."
40	Variety This decent if derivative scare machine should benefit from a lack of genre competition.
38	Chicago Tribune Scott Schueller While director Eric Valette provides the occasional chill, the disturbing spooks aren't enough to make this boat float. Burns sleepwalks through One Missed Call totally devoid of charisma, and Sossamon muddles along, going through the motions.
38	ReelViews Uninspired and painfully familiar.
38	The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason Anderson Give this call a miss.
30	The Hollywood Reporter The direction is uninspired, acting is lifeless, and the script borders on the inept.
30	The New York Times A poker-faced puzzle whose biggest shock is the absence of Sarah Michelle Gellar.
30	LA Weekly If your cell phone vibrates while you’re watching One Missed Call, go ahead and answer, because even a wrong number will be more exciting than what’s happening onscreen.
25	Premiere Ryan Stewart With his preferences for static, colorless visuals and exposition-laden dialogue over conversation, director Valette has now set the bar for the worst film of 2008.
25	Entertainment Weekly This garbled American remake of Takashi Miike's already staticky 2004 exercise in J-horror is a wrong number.
12	Boston Globe One Missed Call was originally a so-so Takashi Miike freak-out. Now it's a worse-worse American eyesore.
11	Austin Chronicle Do yourself a favor and go rent any Miike film other than this one.
10	Film Threat The original movie One Missed Call is based on was pretty tame, at least by Miike standards. And since it appears studios have no intention of halting this flood of abysmal rehashes, allow me to suggest that they at least have the stones not to pussyfoot around and give us a remake worthy of Hollywood, of America, and of an audience that lacks the willpower to stop buying tickets to half-assed crap.

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