Pon (2002)

Director:

Byeong-ki Ahn

Release Date:

26 July 2002 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The Last Call You'll Ever Get ...

Plot:

After writing a series of articles about pedophilia, the journalist Ji-won receives threatening calls on her cellular and she changes her number...

Plot Keywords:

Journalist | Screaming | Cell Phone | Moonlight Sonata | Trapped In Elevator

Cast

Ji-won Ha	...	Ji-won
Yu-mi Kim	...	Ho-jeong
Woo-jae Choi	...	Chang-hoon
Ji-yeon Choi	...	Jin-hie
Seo-woo Eun	...	Yeong-ju
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jeong-yun Choi	...	Woman in elevator

Also Known As:

Phone (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/disturbing images and some sexual material.

Runtime:

Japan:100 min | Italy:102 min | South Korea:104 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18PL | South Korea:15 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:18 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Ireland:15 | Philippines:R-13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M

Company:

Toilet Pictures

Movie Connections:

References "The X Files" (1993)

Outstanding and frightening horror film

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.