One Missed Call
Take two parts Japanese horror, one part satire, one part child-abuse drama and ½ part reality TV. Garnish with a dollop of *Evil Dead 2* , sprinkle some [Hitchcock](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000033/) and serve chilled. That, gentle reader, was Miike’s so-damn-cool new film [.](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0366292/) Sponsored by [Sony Ericsson.](http://www.sonyericsson.com/) A group of friends starts getting voicemail from their own mobile phones, dated a few days in the future. The messages contain the sounds (and images) from the moment they die. This, of course, freaks them out, and is a nice little nod to “Ring,”http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0178868/ the current inspiration for much of the Japanese horror movie genre.
You’re never quite sure if Miike is taking his subjects seriously or not. There are sequences that out-gore and out-camp even the campiest of Braindead gorefests, then we cut into a hospital, where the main characters are having a serious conversation about child abuse, and how they theorise that the events in the film are due to childhood violence. Then there’s the reality TV producer who tries to get ratings by putting a future victim on his show. Or does he really want to help?
Then there’s the “boo!” factor. There’s one in particular. I haven’t jumped that high in a movie since that mummy in Se7en coughed. If I hadn’t emptied my bladder into a urinal before the movie, it would have been all over the seat.
There are scenes so shocking that they’re funny – the audience laughs, but nervously. There’s a scene with a bloody, rotten, dripping corpse, and it’s one of the most touching in the entire film. Or is it? I sympathised with a bloody rotten dripping corpse. That’s pretty funny. Or was it touching? Both?
One of the things about Miike’s films that never ceases to amaze me is how he seamlessly blends different genres, different emotions, and different situations into one movie – even into one scene. His films show us the humour in horror, and the pain in satire. It’s as if he has too many ideas for just one film – indeed he makes several each year – and has to fit as many as possible into one film.