One Missed Call: Final Blu-ray Review

Feb 162020

Once Missed Call: Final didn’t exactly take the trilogy out on top with some silly moments, even when taking into account the premise, and the acting wasn’t as strong in comparison.

One Missed Call: Final
(2006)

Genre(s): Horror, Supernatural
Arrow Video | NR – 109 min. | February 25, 2020

Date Published: 02/16/2020 | Author: The Movieman

MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Manabu Aso
Writer(s): Yasushi Akimoto (novel); Minako Daira and Shiro Kiroi (screenplay)
Cast: Maki Horikita, Meisa Kuroki, Keun-Suk Jang, Ekira Asakura, Yu Kamiwaki

DISC INFO:
Features: Featurettes, Short Film, Trailer
Slip Cover: Yes
Digital Copy: No
Formats Included: Blu-ray
Number of Discs: 1

Audio: Japanese (DTS-HD MA 5.1), Japanese (PCM 2.0)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.85
Subtitles: English SDH
Disc Size: 48.48 GB
Total Bitrate: 25.04 Mbps
Codecs: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A

Arrow Video provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.

THE MOVIE — 2.0/5

Plot Synopsis: One Missed Call 3: Final is the conclusion to the trilogy. Once more, some young adults, this time on a class trip to Korea, begin receiving phone calls from themselves forecasting their deaths. This new curse may stem from the attempted suicide of a classmate, Asuka (MAKI HORIKITA), whom they had mercilessly bullied. The twist this time: the person receiving the call can live if they forward the text, and that person will receive the wrath of Mimiko, the vengeful girl from the first film.

Quick Hit Review: This third and last entry is easily the worst and, this is saying something, silliest of the three, which would be fine if I felt to be compelling piece of J-horror entertainment. The acting here was adequate I suppose but the story itself was thinly strung together and has a finale involving thousands of web users collaborating to overload… Mimiko’s e-mail server (where she now resides). Yeah, alright.

Having said all of that, there was a bit of social commentary going that I did think was interesting as you have a group of characters, this go-around seemingly “deserving” of this curse, turning on one another, begging for the recipient not to forward the message or downright attacking them before they can. Kind of a great commentary about society in general.

However, if it were just that, maybe I could let it slide, this movie’s biggest sin is there’s not one iota amount tension or scariness, felt it was just going through the motions. The kills here at least sometimes have a visual flair (one has a guy spitting out feathers… for some reason), but even when Mimiko shows up, she doesn’t generate very much apprehension or even eeriness.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5

This is part of the One Missed Call Trilogy set which comes with a nice textured slip cover. This movie is shared with One Missed Call 2.

The Making of One Missed Call: Final (51:55) — Older documentary that delves into the process of making the movie with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and filmmakers. A little more traditionally done like an HBO special but still worth checking out.

Maki and Meisa (15:34) — Behind-the-scenes featurette with actresses Maki Horikita and Meisa Kuroki.

Behind the Scenes with Keun-Suk Jang (11:45) — Featurette with the film’s South Korean star.

The Love Story (12:06) — A short film tie-in for One MissedCall: Final.

Candid Mimiko (15:02) — Location tour with the series’ iconic villain.

Theatrical Trailer (1:49)

VIDEO – 4.5/5

Arrow Video releases One Missed Call: Final onto Blu-ray presented in the film’s original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer provided by Kadokawa. The picture quality here is quite good with sharp, well defined, detail throughout with some decent colors, with still a darker tint obviously. There were some minor instances of specs or dust marks but this was an otherwise nice looking transfer and likely the best it has ever looked.

AUDIO –4.25/5

The disc comes with both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and PCM 2.0 track, the former the default option. The DTS-HD MA track offers up clear and clean dialogue through the center channel and while the depth isn’t anything incredible, the front and rears to get some usage, especially with ambient noises or characters running and screaming after one another (and there is plenty of screaming with in this trilogy).

OVERALL – 3.0/5

Once Missed Call: Final didn’t exactly take the trilogy out on top with some silly moments, even when taking into account the premise, and the acting wasn’t as strong in comparison. However, there were a few interesting ideas this one explored the other two did not, so the film has that going for it…

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