One Missed Call (Miike)

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In my mind, Takashi Miike will always be known for two specific type of film techniques. The first, and probably more well-known of the two, is being really fucked up. And by that, I mean his movies are really fucked up. You either know exactly what I'm talking about, or you don't even know who Takashi Miike is.

The second thing I'll always remember him for is this specific type of scare that gets me every time. There'll be a cut to another shot, and the object of your fear will be there, in plain sight, drawing absolutely no attention whatsoever to itself until it moves. Holy shit. I am not ashamed to tell you people those scenes will freak me the fuck out every time I see them. It just sucks that both of these film techniques are surprisingly absent in this movie.

The "problem" with One Missed Call is that there's not enough Miike flavor in the mix. If I had never heard of Takashi Miike, if I wasn't familiar with some of his other films, my expectations would have been much different, and I acknowledge that. Hell, I more than acknowledge that, I apologize for it, because One Missed Call is actually a very good Japanese horror movie in an already-saturated market, that I simply couldn't enjoy because it wasn't weird enough to make me believe it was directed by Takashi Miike.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You are right, I do not know who Takashi Miike (is that pronounced Me-E-kay), but as I was reading the part about your worst fear standing in the middle of the screen and drawing now attention to itself until it moves, I was immediately reminiscing about Signs. The hand, in the cellar, with the Rory Caulkin. (Haha, Clue reference).
January 30, 2008 at 5:23 AM
Anonymous said…
Classic.
January 30, 2008 at 5:24 AM
Kevin Warzala said…
Yeah! That's exactly what I'm talking about, except Miike (I think "Me-kay?") is a thousand times worst. The Signs scene is a black hand against a black background. In One Missed Call, you're looking at a white hand against a black background for at least four seconds and they're even talking about it at the same time. Either that's talented filmmaking, or I am very unobservant and easy pickings for ghosts.
January 30, 2008 at 5:45 AM
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