MovieChat Forums > Chakushin ari (2004) Discussion > Another Miike misfire movie

Another Miike misfire movie


Having watched Audition, Ichi:The Killer and now One Missed Call I am not convinced that Miike is a good horror director - In this film there was little that was scary or original - we really have seen this film done dozens of times before and much better --- one of the most inconequential movies I have seen

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In this film there was little that was scary or original


I honestly think that one missed call was supposed to be a deconstruction of the Japanese horror genre. That's why it has certain elements in common with movies like Ringu. I don't think it makes one missed call unoriginal, far from it. It should be noted that I haven't seen that many Japanese horror movies yet so I might be wrong.

we really have seen this film done dozens of times before and much better


Like in what? As I said, I haven't seen that many yet and I'm always looking for recommendations.

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Lets rattle off some better Asian horror flicks off the top of my head

Shutter
Coming Soon
Kairo(Pulse)
Ju On The Curse
Red Room
Kings Game
Noroi:The Curse
Occult
The Eye
The Re-cycle


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Red Room? I thought that was awful!! No even in the same league as this.

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I honestly think that one missed call was supposed to be a deconstruction of the Japanese horror genre.


As big of a fan of film analysis (and Asian horror) as I am, I do have to say... I think you're reading into it way too much in this case. Especially as by your own admission, you note you're not overly familiar with Japanese horror.

Nothing about the film really gives any indication of it being a deconstruction. (Miike isn't exactly the most subtle guy. Even in his subtle work... he's pretty blatant with symbolism, metaphors, etc. You'd really be able to tell if his goal was to analyze and deconstruct horror.)

Look, I love me some Miike. I really do. But every so often in his filmography, you run into a movie that while entertaining or solid... is clearly just something he took just as a job to get some work in. (When you make as many films as he does, it's just gonna happen.) This is definitely one of those cases. He probably had a lot of fun making it, and there's some really great sequences, but it's not one of those films that he really put his stamp on in a big way like he does with other films. It's a very by-the-numbers affair, but it was still early enough in that huge post-Ringu Asian horror craze that people could accept it despite being overly derivative and not all that special on its own.

I get the feeling he dug the script (or original novel) and took the job, wanting to make a simple ghost story (which this is) before moving on to more insane-o work like Zebraman, Box and Izo.

A decent horror flick from a fascinating director? Sure. A complex deconstruction of J-Horror? Not a chance.

And FURTHERMORE, this is my signature! SERIOUSLY! Did you think I was still talking about my point?

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