TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

Phone [2002]


RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £7.97 (subject to change)

Nicely made film
Review date: 2008-08-27 Rating: 8 out of 10

Basic plot line but very well made, well acted and a good twist at the end. Nothing particularly original but if you're a fan of Asian horror, or just getting into the genre this is worth a watch.

Similar Products

Reviews


Not the most frightening movie I have seen
Review date: 2008-02-09 Rating: 6 out of 10

This story starts off with a reporter Ji-won, who has published a story about sex scandals, she then starts to receive threatening phone calls from a stranger who is following her.
To try to put a stop to this, Ji-won moves into her sisters house and changes her changes her mobile phone number, however the calls still continue to arrive.
When she, her sister and her little niece Young-ju visit an art gallery, Young-ju answers Ji-won's phone to hear a high pitched screaming. Ji-won and her sister try to pull the phone off Young-ju and Young-ju collapses in terror. This call seems to start off a series of weird ghostly happenings mostly centred on Young-ju, which Ji-won is not sure if this is tied in with the stalker or not. Ji-won investigates further and eventually uncovers a story of unrequited love and revenge which threatens the lives of all around her.
I don't feel that the sex scandal story and the ghost story seem to bear any relation with each other in this movie. I can only presume that the sex scandal threats against Ji-won are used as an explanation for her to move into the haunted house. The sex scandal story seems to be dropped in favour of the ghost story, but suddenly pops back into storyline for no reason very briefly half way through, then disappears again.
The story seems very disjointed, jumping into flashbacks but giving no clue as to when it is going to, therefore you think you are watching present day, then suddenly realise that the story has changed to some months before. The storyline is difficult to follow, a bit of a who dunnit, but you do manage to start to unravel it all by the end of the movie.
The best actor by far is the little girl, adorably cute!! She manages to switch from giggly little girl to extreme evil instantly! The rest of the cast seemed a bit emotionless and I was not able to empathise with the storyline, therefore it lost a bit of the tension and scariness for me.
It was a bit disappointing that more was not made of some potentially very scary scenes and perhaps more could have been made of the similarities in the the characteristics that Young-ju started to exhibit and that of the ghost. If you are looking for a truly scary movie along the lines of the Grudge or Ring, you will not find it here, this is more like a sad love story/ghost mystery. If you love asian horror, then you will probably enjoy this but otherwise I am sure there are plenty of other scarier movies than this one.


Phone
Review date: 2007-10-15 Rating: 8 out of 10

From South Korean director Ahn Byeong-ki comes this shockingly imaginative and quite fearsome horror flick that borrows elements from the Japanese horror classic Ringu but never abuses it like other rip-offs!

Young journalist Ji-won has exposed an underage sex scandal and is told by her editor Ho-jeong to keep a low profile until the men implicated can be tried. Then Ji-won begins to receive mysterious and disturbing phone calls (after purchasing a new cell-phone) in which one of these calls is answered by the editor's daughter, Yeong-ju, who begins to act strangely afterwards... As the phone calls continue, Ji-won must decipher them before something terrible happens...whilst also dodging a creepy stalker!!

Ha Ji-won plays the main character with authenticity and style while she's wonderfully backed up with excellent direction from Byeong-ki, the creepy premise that makes its own in the K-horror genre and her supporting cast are intense, especially Eun Seo-woo (the editor's daughter) who switches from incredibly cute to chillingly evil with such power that you're easily convinced.

If you're a lover of K-horrors or horrors in general then you should definitely pick this up, otherwise move along!!!

A BIT CONFUSING, BUT SUCCESSFUL OVERALL
Review date: 2007-08-07 Rating: 8 out of 10

Ji-won (Ji-won Ha) is a writer who has just published an exposé on men having sexual relations with under aged women. She begins receiving harassing calls on her cell phone, and pegs them to a man whom she sees stalking her. Strange calls continue despite Ji-won changing her number. She also temporarily moves in to her sister and brother-in-law's second home in another town, or another part of the same town. Her young niece, Yeong-ju (Seo-woo Eun), receives one of the first calls--primarily strange noises--on the new number, and shortly after, Yeong-ju begins acting very strangely. At the same time, Ji-won begins seeing ghostly apparitions, and she starts investigating the source of the harassing calls, which leads her to a girl named Jin-hie (Ji-yeon Choi) and her perplexing, frightening story.

As you can maybe glean a bit from the above, Phone has a very complex plot--often too complex for its own good. When all is said and done, the story is fairly standard thriller material, albeit with a couple interesting sub genre twists, but director Byeong-ki Ahn and crew do a lot of hedging to get there. There are a lot of subplots, such as the girl in the elevator in the opening scene, and even the male stalker, which are just completely dropped after awhile. Quite a few small scenes remain a mystery. About one half of the way through the film, the Jin-hie thread enters as yet another subplot, but eventually comes to dominate the film. While all of the material is captivating, even if it's a bit derivative, the result is too overloaded for its own good. Ahn had enough material here to fill three or four films, which is what he should have done instead of meandering around for half of this one.

On the other hand, the loose threads do help set a mood, and some of them become incorporated in what I called "subgenre twists" above. Even though Phone is eventually pared down into a thriller, Ahn sustains his other elements by making the catalyst behind the thriller plot more complex. There's a possession story occurring at the same time, as well as a ghost story. The possessed party ends up subsuming the stalker, shortly after the "stalker proper" disappears. As it might sound, these enmeshed ideas are not the easiest to untangle and comprehend while you're watching the film, at least on a first viewing, which is all I was able to give it so far. Like much Asian horror, it can help to try to read Phone more like a filmic representation of a dream (more a nightmare), even though in this case, I'm not sure that was the intention.

For better or worse, Ahn incorporates many elements that are becoming clichéd in Asian horror. There is a freaky young girl whom other characters come to fear. Water is a ubiquitous, symbolic motif. The antagonist has long black hair, which becomes associated at various times with the water motif/symbolism. There are "spooky elevator" scenes. The horror is fueled by a revenge subtext and is a metaphor for relationship/familial problems (it seems that much horror in Asia is due to a breakdown of traditional modes, or at least the traditional public representations, of relating to others, both romantically and otherwise). Ghosts pop up whom characters do not realize are ghosts. There are scenes showing social dilemmas at a school. A stairway plays a prominent role in the climax. The protagonist is a reporter. And of course, telephones are used as an instrument of the uncanny (perhaps one reason for this is that telephones--and especially in this film, cell phones--are one way that the non-traditional can suddenly intrude into one's life, particularly with unusual communicative modes).

Every one of the above elements can be found in at least a few Asian horror films prior to this one, but all since the mid 1990s. If you give bonus points for originality, or if you subtract points for a lack of the same, and you're familiar with a lot of recent Asian horror, you may be more disappointed with Phone than I was. I don't mind derivativeness in general, as long as a film employs its derivative elements effectively. For me, the familiarity of the themes and signifiers actually helped me sort through the plot and enjoy the film more. Ahn may be wearing borrowed clothes, but he wears them well.

One of Phone's biggest assets is its cast, especially Seo-woo Eun, who appears to be not more than about 8 years old here. She's simply amazing--Korea's answer to Dakota Fanning. She has to carry much of the film in its latter stages while she plays a complexly layered character; she does so with ease. In fact, the end hinges on a twist that is very difficult to see coming because of the skill of the cast.

I was also impressed with the cinematography and the production design. The sets and settings are imbued with symbolism, and even some overused elements--such as the perpetual rain, were given a nice twist when Ahn has it turn into snow instead. A small "flair" accessory can turn those old clothes into something unique, can't it? Like much Asian horror, Phone's more visceral aspects tend to be very understated--this is no Lucio Fulci gorefest. Still, what is present is introduced so it produces maximum impact. The violence, few deaths, and bits of blood that occur are keyed to enhance the drama, which they do extremely well. It's just too bad that the story couldn't have been tightened up more to enable a higher score. But I have hopes that I may like (and understand) the film more on a second viewing.

Must -see Korean vengeful spirit tale
Review date: 2007-01-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

I love asian horror like this, it tends to prey on your nerves rather than try to shock you with explicit gore.
The story begins with Ji-won, who has published sex scandal articles and begins receiving threatening phone calls from a stranger who is following her. To put a stop to this, Ji-won moves house, changes her mobile phone number and then, unfortunately, her problems really begin.
When Ji-won's niece Young-ju (played by an adorable little girl who is obviously enjoying herself immensely and completely shows up all the adult actors) answers her aunt's phone in an art gallery, it sets off a chain of increasingly alarming events surrounding Young-ju which forces Ji-won to investigate further - is it really the men she has exposed who are threatening her or is something more sinister at work? No prizes for guessing!
Ji-won's investigations into her new, seemingly haunted phone number lead her to two deaths and a missing teenager, the missing girl's terrified friend and the unravelling of a mystery which leads her to a shocking conclusion.
This film features an extremely spiteful, vengeful spirit (hell hath no fury..) you find it hard to sympathise with until the end of the film. To say any more would spoil a good plot, this film in my opinion ranks with the likes of Ringu, a Tale of Two Sisters, Dark Water, etc. If you are familiar with these titles, you won't be disappointed.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Choi Woo-Je
Eun Suh-Woo
Kim Yu-Mi
Ha Ji-Won

Creators:
Ha Ji-Won (Primary Contributor)
Eun Suh-Woo (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Tartan Video
Manufacturer: Tartan Video
EAN: 5023965351029
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-01-24
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Running time: 100 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2002

Add to Cart

© 2006 Darren Hester, DesignsByDarren.com, Some Rights Reserved.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional