Pôn

Become a major fan of the Tartan video/Asia Extreme movies of late - from the more better known movies like Ring,Dark Water and Ju-On to the more obscure but equally satisfying films like A Tale of Two Sisters and this Korean movie is another fine example. Ji-Won-Hau plays Ji-Won whose story about several men indulging in under-age sex has resulted in them being sent for trial - she is being stalked by one of them so changes her mobile to avoid his abusive calls.As a consequence she begins to receive even weirder calls that she finds really distressing. One of her friends suggests she moves into the house they are renovating to get some peace which she does but all this does is intensify her fears. Her friend Ho-Jeong(Ju-Me-Kim) has a little girl Yeong-Ju(See-Woo Eun) who answers one of the calls and begins to act very strangely indeed.

At first this is put down to part of growing up but as begins to exhibit hostility to her Mother and an unhealthy obsession with her Father Ji-Won becomes increasingly concerned.Her anxieties are heightened when she discovers that several people who owned the phone before her have died in mysterious circumststances and this seems to be linked to the disappearance of a local schoolgirl - how this all works out I shall leave but its a very effective film. For obvious reasons it has been dubbed as Ring on a mobile ,but although it does share certain elements with that the way the plot works out makes it distinctive on its own. Some very creepy moments but what lifts it is See-Woo-Eun as the little girl who appears to be possessed - its a very disturbing performance - forget Linda Blair and the green vomit - this kid is genuinely scary in ways that kids her age shouldn't be....it takes the film into a new area.....and one that will haunt you for some time.....and you will never listen to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in the same way ever again. I can't put my finger on just what makes these Asian movies so effective but with so much dross coming out of mainstream Western cinema these are a haven for people who really appreciate first rate movies.

Highly recommended.

PHONE is an outstanding example of a "haunted technology" movie. In the same way that Japan's Ringu made video tapes an instrument of evil, and Pulse turned the internet into a terrifying abyss, PHONE utilizes our cell phone addiction to great effect. In all of these films, supernatural forces are at work using our own gadgets against us! How can we escape these spooks if we install their conduits in our homes, and even carry them around with us? This movie also features one of the best portrayals of child possession since The Exorcist! Filled with betrayal, jealousy, bitterness, and murder, PHONE is another dark gem from South Korea...

Most of what can be said about this movie has been said by other commenters, but I still would like to put my views forward.

The is a horror movie, in the wake of The Ring (Ringu). The main character is a journalist (as in Ringu) who has written a series of articles about sex offenders which has brought down on her some dangerous people who have been exposed in the scandal.

When she changes her cellphone number to escape her tormentors she ends up with a number with special significance - 6644. From this point on she ends up getting very weird phone calls and after each one, she experiences increasingly violent visions.

The movie is very derivative, this is true. But which horror movie isn't? Dismissing a horror-flick and saying "This movie from 1954 has the same thing" is stupid. You can always find some older work which is similar or even the same. It's no mean feat. What's important in a horror movie is one thing: is it scary? My answer is: it is.

I was very skeptical at first and found the opening scene to be almost dull. But the enterprise takes off, most of all with the incredible performance of the little girl who can turn from sweet little angel to devlish banshee on a dime. If for no other reason, go see it and you'll have to agree that she is completely believable as possessed.

I also believe that the story is richer if less original than the Ring. It is also a very well made without much special effects or gore. It relies heavily on acting and suspense and does this well.

More story than the Ring, less originality. About as suspenseful. I think that if I'd seen the Phone before the Ring I would've liked it more.

That's my two cents worth. :) Go see it if you like horror. Don't see it if you're just going to go look for similarities with older movies.

Man, this film gave me the chills! Quite a few scenes might not make sense until the ending explains why and how it all fits together. One doesn't really understand the young girl's obsession towards her father at first, but it all makes sense with the big reveal. I did feel some details were mentioned over and over for the sake of the story, and did not make believable everyday conversation. The film also jumps backwards and forward in time and one has to understand this storytelling method to fully understand the story. The twist ending was unexpected and a great turn of events.

Ji-won is a reporter who recently uncovered a kiddie sex-scandal. Now the target of hatred by the allies of those she exposed, Ji-Won finds herself being stalked and harassed via her cellular phone. She gets a new phone, but the malicious calls continue. When her young niece Yeong-ju answers the phone one day, she starts yowling and seems permanently traumatized. When Ji-Won starts seeing visions of what appears to be a ghost, she sets out to determine what the hell is going on with her cellular phone, and finds out that the terror is much more personal than she realized.

So there's lots of familiar stuff going on in "Phone." We have a female investigative reporter, the typical female ghost with long black hair, a haunting via modern technology, and jumbled chronology. But this splendid little horror movie is not a rip-off of the effective (but overrated) Ringu. In fact, where many contemporary Asian "supernatural horrors" fail, Phone succeeds. The lead character is admirable and tough as nails, the antagonists are genuinely frightening, the tension is severe, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to follow the non-linear narrative.

The story twists and turns to the point of unpredictability but not absurdity. The acting is great, mostly by first time actors. But this movie really belongs to the little girl who plays Yeong-ju. This girl OWNS the movie and the right to the title of "Creepiest kid." She goes from an adorable little kid to a demonic looking imp with wild facial contortions (sans CGI!) that has violent outbursts and tries to snog her father.

Some parts of the film are cheesy (after all, it is about a possessed cellphone), but all in all this is a great and rather sick movie. Phone confirms for me that the new wave of South Korea cinema is one of the best places to look for effective horror films these days.

My Rating: 8/10.