One Great Scene from ONE MISSED CALL

ONE MISSED CALL is another of those Japanese ghost films where a girl with long hair seeks vengeance from beyond the grave. The interesting spin is that the victim receives a cell phone call from the future of the exact moment of their death. (Before you die, you receive THE RINGTONE.)

The film is well directed (by Takashi Miike, showing unusual restraint), but there isn't much here that hasn't been done before. That is, except for one masterful sequence...the kind of scene these films ALWAYS avoid.
You see, one girl receives not just a call, but a phone image of her demise. The picture appears all over Japan, and when the media gets wind of the story, they put the girl on a live television special. A clock counts down to what should be her final moments, and the question is... how will the ghost get her when she's protected in a studio and being broadcast all around Japan?
With so many horror films depending on the victim being alone when the killer strikes, this is a ballsy scene. Miike cuts between the show (both on the air and behind the scenes), the girl's best friend and all of Japan, creating a really high level of tension.
If you want to know what happens, ONE MISSED CALL is available on DVD. It's a little slow, but overall not bad.