Ji-won is a reporter who's has just exposed a child-sex crime ring and from that break through she starts receiving threatening phone calls from a stalker. So, she moves into her sister's vacant house and also switches her mobile number to escape it. But the harassing phone calls still keep on coming and one day her niece Yeong-ju answers it and not too long she starts acting rather unusually. Ji-won continues to receive these eerie phone calls, which she comes to learn that her new number happens to be cursed by the spirit of Jin-hie, a love-struck girl.
Asian horror films really love their fashionable technology or either vengeful female ghosts. And this one is no exception to the trend. Now it's the dreaded phone's turn for some paranormal activity in the form of the medium. This is definitely the phone call from hell! You'll be hoping they'd put their mobile on silent with the constant ringing. You can only take so much within a short time.
Now you're probably thinking it'll be the been-there-done-that musty modern Asian ghost story and I can't say it isn't at times. Some scenes and ideas absolutely resemble "Ringu", "Ju-on" and "Dark Water". Although saying that, the Korean entry "Phone" does provide an effectively, glum mystery-thriller, where the supernatural tone is more a smokescreen to the bigger picture. The twists are not so predictable and I found it to offer many surprising revelations mainly the climax. Inconsistencies and lack of logic makes its way into the knotty story, but at least it wasn't terribly convoluted like most of the same field. It was definitely a compelling slow-burn type of story that slows up drastically in the mid-section, but really picks up for the final third. Mixed through the plot are interesting side-stories, the traditional flashbacks and the investigation into the curse that all ties in. Sounds derivative, but it's far from uninspired.
The strongest aspect of the film has to be that it's a highly polished and slick looking production, which manages to invoke such a menacing claustrophobic feel from its murky backdrop. Director Ahn Byeong-ki does well in streamlining the film with eerie set pieces and visually striking images without so much of telegraphing them. Helping the subdued air of mystery and dread is the elegantly pulsating score and a good mix of bone rattling sounds. Special effects are steadily controlled within the story and they're executed to perfection. The performances were mild by the leads Ji-won Ha and Yu-mi Kim, but with the exception of Seo-woo, who's very good as Yeong-ju, the scary little girl who can't stop pulling ugly faces and hissing.
After watching this you'll won't be waiting by the phone for too long. A traditional Asian entry into the contemporary tragic ghost story, which is entertaining and technically well made.
Asian horror films really love their fashionable technology or either vengeful female ghosts. And this one is no exception to the trend. Now it's the dreaded phone's turn for some paranormal activity in the form of the medium. This is definitely the phone call from hell! You'll be hoping they'd put their mobile on silent with the constant ringing. You can only take so much within a short time.
Now you're probably thinking it'll be the been-there-done-that musty modern Asian ghost story and I can't say it isn't at times. Some scenes and ideas absolutely resemble "Ringu", "Ju-on" and "Dark Water". Although saying that, the Korean entry "Phone" does provide an effectively, glum mystery-thriller, where the supernatural tone is more a smokescreen to the bigger picture. The twists are not so predictable and I found it to offer many surprising revelations mainly the climax. Inconsistencies and lack of logic makes its way into the knotty story, but at least it wasn't terribly convoluted like most of the same field. It was definitely a compelling slow-burn type of story that slows up drastically in the mid-section, but really picks up for the final third. Mixed through the plot are interesting side-stories, the traditional flashbacks and the investigation into the curse that all ties in. Sounds derivative, but it's far from uninspired.
The strongest aspect of the film has to be that it's a highly polished and slick looking production, which manages to invoke such a menacing claustrophobic feel from its murky backdrop. Director Ahn Byeong-ki does well in streamlining the film with eerie set pieces and visually striking images without so much of telegraphing them. Helping the subdued air of mystery and dread is the elegantly pulsating score and a good mix of bone rattling sounds. Special effects are steadily controlled within the story and they're executed to perfection. The performances were mild by the leads Ji-won Ha and Yu-mi Kim, but with the exception of Seo-woo, who's very good as Yeong-ju, the scary little girl who can't stop pulling ugly faces and hissing.
After watching this you'll won't be waiting by the phone for too long. A traditional Asian entry into the contemporary tragic ghost story, which is entertaining and technically well made.