Phone

One rainy night, a young woman starts to receive disturbing text messages on her mobile phone. Whilst in the lift of her apartment building her phone starts to ring, the lights are out and she answers. Upon placing the phone to her ear she hears unsettling noises that soon result in her death, this case then leads to one woman...

Investigative journalist, Ji-won (Ha Ji-won) has embroiled herself in a series of underage sex scandals to the point where she has started to get threatening phone calls. Her boss recommends that she quits the investigations and work on something different such as her interest in paranormal activities. Ji-won decides on disappearing for a while. She changes her phone number and for the duration of the trial is offered to stay at the house of her best friend, Ho-jeong (Kim Yoo-Mi) and her husband, Chang-hoon (Choi Woo-jae) who will not be moving in for quite some time. Now giving her time to concentrate on writing her novel, Ju-won begins to feel at rest.

Not long after settling into her new surrounding, Ji-won begins to receive a series of phone calls and e-mails once more, from her mysterious stalker and begins to investigate. She finds out that the owners who previously shared the same number as her had died and this becomes her first clue into trying to solve events. Whilst at an art museum with Ho-Jeong and Jeong's young daughter, Young-ju (Eun Seo-woo) her phone begins to ring. Young-ju picks it up and answers, suddenly her screams fill the hall and she is taken to see a doctor. From this point onward her behaviour becomes more erratic and unusual as she begins to worry her parents. It would appear as if she is possessed by some other spirit and it is down to Ju-won to continue her search into what is happening and try to solve the mystery before a worse fate encounters her and Young-ju.


The film starts off strong; in fact right from the opening titles it manages to create a sense of genuine horror and with the lights down and the sound turned up you might just jump. The first five minutes indeed set the tone nicely, creating an interest for the viewer but soon the film settles into a series of 'shock' tactics which work for the first forty minutes or so before becoming more of a let down during the second half as we learn more about the history of the calls.

The whole thing might not be particularly original but it takes a familiar premise and re-invents it to an effective enough degree as it strays back and forth between horror and thriller with the first half of the film delivering the scares and the second half slowly unravelling the incidents and motivations behind the characters. Whilst the horror remains prevalent throughout it becomes subtler and soon turns more into a psychological piece. The film as a whole needs to be paid much attention otherwise you will find yourself getting confused, I did and have since understood it better although there is a small part that I would have liked to have had clarified.

The events and the character's motivations are all tied up nicely at the end but it still lacks a certain something in its presentation. Maybe it is just me but I don't scare easily, that's not to say it doesn't work well, it is satisfying and I am sure that there are those who will be affected more. Director, Ahn Byeong-ki knows how to deliver, albeit in a typical, conventional way, the kind that most audiences seem to appreciate. I guess when you're directing a film you think of the cinema experience first and so here we have a few parts that try to cause the viewer to jump in sudden bursts, foregoing the more tension filled build up. This is what I would have liked to have seen, more of a sense of a horror present but throughout the film we don't get that truly eerie feeling. The most disappointing thing would be the ending. After finding out about everything there wasn't really a need to take the film any further by trying to add a final shock, it fails to work and I feel that the intentions of the mysterious force were made clear and were successful and so it should have remained settled.


The performances are all good, the most noticeable one being from newcomer, Eun Seo-woo. This young actress has much to go through in the film and she is quite something at times. My only complaint would be that some of her actions come across as being too forced such as the screwing up of her face, which clearly she has been told to overdo, even if it wasn't the intention it is how it came across. Ahn Byeong-ki should have tried to take her direction in a more subtle approach at times, for the most part though she is very effective in her portrayal of a possessed girl.

Ha Ji-won is fine in her role, really nothing outstanding though as she plods along 'til the end. For me the best character in the film is Ho-Jeong played by Kim Yoo-Mi. She is very convincing in her role and is given more to do than any of the other actors. Perhaps the most disappointing character would be Chang-hoon; Choi Woo-jae plays this without much effort, often seeming a bit wooden at times. The remaining cast members fill out the rest of the film nicely.


The DVD

Bear Entertainment and Starmax have teamed up for this DVD release

Picture

First up is a fine anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer. This stands up very well with the dark setting of the film. Colours are strong and black levels hold up well. Good job again from these fine distributors. The optional English subtitles are excellent as per usual.

Sound

There is a Dolby Digital 5.1 EX option which sounds great, full use of this soundtrack has been made, right from the start. There are also a lot of subtle creepy moments that come across well. Even better for those who have a home cinema set up is the inclusion of a DTS ES surround track and while I haven't heard this I am sure it is equally impressive

Extras

Note: None of these extras have English subtitles.

This two-disc set comes with quite a few extras. The first DVD offers the film along with audio options, which include a commentary track by the director and actress. The second DVD features interviews, behind the scenes footage, the real story of Phone which sounds interesting, if only it was subtitled. Also present is a making of feature, production note, deleted scenes, epilogue and finally trailer and T.V spots.


Overall

This entry into the Horror genre is a respectable enough piece of work that treads familiar territory but adds something of its own. It's not great but what is there works well enough. I think though that it is forever cursed with being compared to other films of its kind even though it isn't particularly fair to do so. The way I see it is if you can take something that has been done before and manage to re-work it successfully then that's a good thing. I think that Phone is successful in this respect but a little fine-tuning could have made it great.