Creative quotient
Another one of those Hollywood movies inspired by a classic Japanese horror film.
The story of the film follows a college girl named Beth (Shannyn Sossamon), whose friend, Leann (Azura Skye) dies in a freak accident after receiving a strange phone message. The message appears to be a recording of her death, but strangely it is received two days before the actual accident. Another one of Leann‘s friends, Shelley (Meagan Good) meets with a similar end. When Beth meets detective Andrews (Edward Burns), who believes there is truth to the strange events, the two team up to try and discover the source of the murderous chain of phone messages. Then Beth receives one herself and the film’s plot becomes a race against time before she meets her predetermined fate.

Technical expertise
People may feel Hollywood is getting better by the day, but it seems their obsessions with recreating classic works from other cinema regions is getting the better of them. Films like The Ring and The Grudge did well because they stayed true to their stories and kept gimmicky Hollywood scares at bay. One Missed Call on the other hand tries to be a nerve-crunching thriller-meets- horror film that struggles to stay on the brink of believability.
Horror films with all their formulaic approach and sensibilities work only if the premise and characters appeal to the audience. With One Missed Call it‘s a simple case of a premise done to death recreated with wooden characters that seem to have the intelligence of a piece of log. The result is a film that people will watch five years from now and wonder if it was a sequel to some spoof or parody on horror flicks.
The film relies extensively on its camera tricks and musical interludes to create tension and scares but even then its jump scenes turn out flat.