Phone

After writing a series of articles about pedophilia, the journalist Ji-won (Ji-won Ha) receives threatening calls on her cellular and she changes her number. Her close friend Ho-jung (Yu-mi Kim) and her husband Chang-hoon (Woo-jae Choi) invite Ji-won to move to their house in Bang Bae that is empty and closed. When the young daughter of her friends Young-Su (Seo-woo Eun) answers a phone call in her mobile phone, the girl screams and changes her behavior, feeling a great attraction for her father and rejecting her mother. Meanwhile Ji-won receives weird phone calls and sees and listens to a teenager playing Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" on the piano. After investigating her phone number, Ji-won discovers that the original owner of the number, Jin-hee (Ji-yeon Choi), had vanished and the two next owners of the number have mysteriously died in unusual circumstances. Her further investigation about Jin-hee discloses that the teenager was absolutely disturbed with her obsessive love for a man that had broken the relationship with her, and later she unravels dark and tragic secrets about the fate of Jin-hee.

"Pon" is a scary and consistent ghost story that uses elements of many other horror movies but works very well. The association is immediate with "Fatal Attraction" and "Memento Mori" with the obsessive love of Jin-hee; "The Exorcist", with the possession of Young-Su; "Whispering Corridors" franchise with the ghost in the high-school; "Ringu" , "Dark Water", "Ju-on the Grudge" and many other Asian horror movies with the shape of the haired ghost and supernatural situations. The screenplay follows the standard of most Asian horror movies, with non-chronological sequences and a strong twist in the very end. The actresses are excellent and extremely gorgeous, but I was impressed with the performance of the very young Seo-woo Eun, specially after her possession, with her face changing abruptly in many situations. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Telefone" ("The Telephone")

Ji-Won is a young and ambitious reporter, whose recent articles about underage sex rings have made her more than a few enemies. When she begins receiving threatening calls on her mobile phone, she changes the number and moves into the house that her sister and brother-in-law are currently not using. On an excursion with her sister and young niece one day, Ji- Won's phone begins to ring. When her niece Young-Ju answers it, she begins screaming and crying hysterically. At first, Ji-Won thinks perhaps one of her stalkers got her new number, but when she answers the phone herself the next time, she hears the enraged voice of a teenage girl, screaming incoherently. Ji-Won begins suffering from horrific and realistic nightmares, in which a young girl with a ghost white face and very long hair plays Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" ceaselessly on the piano. Worse, Ji-Won's young niece Young-Ju has begun acting very oddly since answering her phone. The girl (who looks to be about 5) becomes fixated on her father and resentful of her mother. The normally angelic child is having violent outbursts of rage, cussing and injuring herself. Ji-Won soon becomes convinced that a ghost is to blame. When she traces her new mobile number back to the two previous owners, she discovers that they both died under strange circumstances. As Ji-Won digs deeper into the past, she slowly unravels the story of a disturbed schoolgirl named Jin-Hee and her obsessive love for a mystery man..a man who was given the now infamous mobile number by Jin-Hee herself.

This Korean ghost story bears similarities to its popular Japanese predecessor "Ringu" but also to other such films as "Memento Mori" "Dark Water" "What Lies Beneath" and "The Exorcist." It is a strong, well-cast film with some amazing performances, particularly by the little girl who plays Young-Ju. It is amazing to see this girl, who couldn't have been more than five or six when she did this film, play her role of possessed victim so well, her facial expressions shifting rapidly with every violent mood swing. The story can be dizzily confusing at times, shifting back and forth from past to present with no warning, but always infused with a strong sense of dread and a few humorous moments to ease the tension. It also has a nice twist ending that I truly hadn't seen coming. This is probably one of the better films that followed in the wake of Ringu's success. Ringu is still my own personal favorite, but Phone is strong enough to stand on its own. Fans of Asian horror will not want to miss this one.

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...

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.