Chakushin ari 2

I tend to like Japanese horror, whether is it a gory slasher, or just a creepy film like this one. I prefer the characters over the WB actors they use in Hollywood remakes.

There were some really good actors in the film: Mimura as Kyoko Okudera, Yû Yoshizawa as Naoto Sakurai, and Asaka Seto as Takako Nozoe.

It was a little hard to follow all the characters, but it still was scary and well worth watching.

It may have been better to see Takashi Miike's first part of this to have a better understanding, but it is not necessary to enjoy the movie.

A sequel to Takashi Miike's fun and frightful "One Missed Call," this follow-up set a year later is entertaining, but the mystery becomes a convoluted mess by the end.

The introduction of new characters, a child in Taiwan with frightening abilities and a reporter who's past is possibly(?) connected to the multiple malicious spirits involved, make this sequel harder to keep up with while also making the events of the original film feel accidental.

There's still some great performances and gnarly scares, but this sequel is not necessary viewing, especially if you're a fan of the first film and don't want to see the story become a weird mess.

It's not bad, though. Just okay.

The strangest thing about this movie is that even though all of the characters are speaking Japanese, the whole affair feels like an American remake of a Japanese horror film.

The first One Missed Call was quite the rip-off of the current flavor of the month, when it comes to Japanese-style horror films. Fortunately, it had the talented Takahashi Miike at the helm, therefore even though it didn't really offer the viewer anything new, it still had that Miike flare to it that made all the difference.

One Missed Call 2, is brought to us without Miike and it is apparent to us from start to finish. And we end up with a bland rehashing of old themes, average acting, and nothing special in the dialogue department. Admittedly it is still scary at times, still no where as near as its predecessors of the genre. And the ghost story behind it all is not as compelling either.

One Missed Call 2 is not a waste of money, however, and can still entertain you if you are a big fan of the Japanese horror genre, or even of horror films in general.

I didn't care for the first one; it was competently made, but too derivative for my liking, along with multiple endings, the final one of which didn't seem to make sense. There was a funny line in this movie as some characters recalled the events of the first one and asked "how did that end?"

In the first, there was a chain of deaths linked by cell phone calls apparently originating with a death in a home involving Munchausen Syndrome-by-Proxy. The deaths typically involved some sort of poltergeist activity preparing a location for a death by falling, and then a person being dragged or thrown from a height. Some of the deaths involved twisting of the body in bone-cracking ways. One clue found on the bodies is a red candy, and each call is announced by an annoying ringtone taken from a children's television show (one that exists in the world of the movie).

In this one (I might have called it Two Missed Calls rather than One Missed Call 2), the manner of deaths, and clues and possible cause are mixed up somewhat. The two female leads are quite attractive. Again, I guess it could be said that it is competently made, but I didn't find it very interesting and again the ending involves some sort of twists that aren't particularly appreciated. Those who liked the first one a lot might enjoy this one too. The first one is being remade and I would guess that a sequel will be made to that one as well though it will probably not be a remake of this one (think the American Ring 2 or The Grudge 2).

There's a short film "gomu" on the second disc which takes place in the One Missed Call world, though when in relation to the two films, I'm not sure. It is poorly shot on video and isn't really worth the minute or two that it lasts.

Most disappointing aspect about this sequel is that it falls incredible flat as an horror.

It's a sequel to an already troubled first movie, that showed lots of premise with its main concept but was one that was not without its flaws and also fell kind of short as an horror movie.

I just can't see how horror lovers, or fans of the Japanese horror genre in particular, can get any satisfaction out of this movie. Seriously, most of the time there isn't a whole lot happening and its horror moment mostly consists out of people looking scared whenever they receive a phone call. And the other moment, the feature some more classic Japanese kind of horror elements, you most of the time have no idea what is going on.

Again, just like was the case with the first movie is that this movie becomes incredible confusing in its second half. I can't really say if this was because it was all hard to understand or simply because I had lost interest in this movie, halfway through. Whatever was the case, it ruined quite a lot for me. Before its second half I was still pretty much giving this movie the benefit of the doubt and was still willing to give this movie a better rating then I'm giving it now.

What also really doesn't help this movie is that it has some incredible poor acting in it. It especially ruins a lot of the supposedly scary and tense moments.

Otherwise, it's one fine looking movie, with a typical Japanese horror look and style all over it. Nothing about this movie is basically bad looking, so all the blame could be put on the movie its script and acting.

Disappointing sequel to an already average movie.

4/10

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