Chakushin ari (2003)

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Yasushi Akimoto (novel)
Minako Daira (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 January 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Death cannot be put on hold...

Plot:

People mysteriously start receiving voicemail messages from their future selves, in the form of the sound of them reacting to their own violent deaths.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Message | Sound | Hospital | Asthma

Cast

Kou Shibasaki	...	Yumi Nakamura (as Kô Shibasaki)
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi	...	Hiroshi Yamashita
Kazue Fukiishi	...	Natsumi Konishi
Anna Nagata	...	Yoko Okazaki
Atsushi Ida	...	Kenji Kawai
Mariko Tsutsui	...	Marie Mizunuma
Kumiko Imai
Keiko Tomita
Kayoko Fujii
Yoshiko Noda
Azusa	...	Ritsuko Yamashita
Tetsushi Tanaka
Mitsuhiro Sato
Kaoru Hanaki
Hassei Takano
Koji Yazawa
Daisuke Iijima
Minori Fujikura
Shoichi Kamiya
Mika Yagisawa
Karen Oshima	...	Mimiko Mizunuma
Sena Shimuzu
Sakuya Yamada
Kohei Yoshida
Shinnosuke Abe
Noriko Eguchi
Saeko
Kiyomi Kobayashi
Yuna Mikuni		(as Yuna Mikunu)
Megumi Okada
Erena
Atsuko Murakawa
Kosuke Kimoto
Kana Ito
Akira Matsuda
Yorihito Kinouchi
Yasuhi Nakamura
Masanobu Matsuda
Barae Tagaki
Sachiko Isarai
Ken'ichi Endô
Yutaka Matsushige	...	Ichiro Fujieda
Gorô Kishitani	...	Oka (undertaker)
Renji Ishibashi	...	Motomiya (detective)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cristina Valenzuela	...	Ritsuko Mimiko (voice: English version)

Directed by
Takashi Miike

Writing credits
Yasushi Akimoto		(novel)
Minako Daira		(screenplay)

Produced by
Yoichi Arishige	....	producer
Fumio Inoue	....	producer
Kazuo Kuroi	....	executive producer
Hiroshi Okawa	....	co-executive producer
Naoki Sato	....	producer

Original Music by
Kôji Endô

Cinematography by
Hideo Yamamoto

Film Editing by
Yasushi Shimamura

Production Design by
Hisao Inagaki

Makeup Department
Etsuko Egawa	....	special makeup effects artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bunmei Katô	....	assistant director (as Fumiaki Katô)

Sound Department
Deb Munini	....	adr engineer
Atsushi Nakamura	....	sound
Kevin Patzelt	....	sound editor
Mark A. Rozett	....	sound re-recording mixer

Production Companies

• Kadokawa-Daiei Eiga K.K.

Distributors

• 3L Filmverleih (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• 3L Filmverleih (2006) (Austria) (theatrical)
• ABL Augusta (Spain) (theatrical)
• Bright Angel Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (2004) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Future Film (2004) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Kino Bez Granits (2004) (Russia) (theatrical)
• LNK Audiovisuais (2005) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Media Blasters (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Mikado (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Toho Company (Japan) (theatrical)
• Another World Entertainment (2006) (Denmark) (DVD)
• Filmax Home Video (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Filmax (2004) (Spain) (all media)
• JUDO/films (2004) (Mexico) (all media)
• NonStop Entertainment (Sweden)
• Notro Films (2005) (Spain) (all media)
• Rialto Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Total Film Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• Total Film Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Transformer (2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• Vivarto (2006) (Poland) (all media)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2006) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• OLM Digital (CGI)

Also Known As:

"One Missed Call" - Philippines (English title), USA
"You've Got a Call" - Japan (English title)
"Llamada perdida" - Argentina (video title), Spain
"Üks vastamata kõne" - Estonia
"1 puhelu tullut" - Finland
"1 ubesvart anrop" - Norway
"Cevapsiz arama" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"La llamada" - Peru
"La mort en ligne" - France
"Mistet opkald" - Denmark
"Nieodebrane polaczenie" - Poland
"One Missed Call" - Germany (festival title)
"One Missed Call" - Sweden (imdb display title)
"The Call" - Germany
"The call: Non rispondere" - Italy
"Uma Chamada Perdida" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Una llamada perdida" - Mexico (original subtitled version)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, disturbing images and brief nudity

Runtime:

Japan:112 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Italy:T | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut version) | South Korea:15 | Peru:14 | UK:15 | New Zealand:R16 | France:-12 | Japan:PG-12 | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Spain:18

Company:

Kadokawa-Daiei Eiga K.K.

Trivia:

In the Philippines, the movie poster carries the tagline "For the creators of The Ring and Juon: The Grudge 2." The two mentioned movies have no connection with this movie (except both movies also came from Japan where this movie was originated).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the hand is reaching for Yumi in the hospital, the finger twists backwards, however, you can see someone's hand holding up the arm when the arm and finger start to contort backwards.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King (2011) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Ikutsuka no Sora

"Hello, it's you here. You'll die in a couple of days. You are me... and I'll be dead in just a few seconds"

Well, what can I say? Takashi Miike's take on the whole so-called J-horror hoopla. I bet he was thinking "I can do this too. And I can do it better". And you know what? He was right! RINGU can be considered as the original one that started it all (because of being the first big hit in the genre, for one thing). I'm not even gonna argue about whether it's the best J-horror movie or not. But I am gonna say that ONE MISSED CALL is without a doubt, on some levels, more effective than RINGU. Where Sadako's ghostly tale of terror was sort of touching the boundaries and establishing some clearly defined characteristics of the genre, CHAKUSHIN ARI pushes the boundaries and uses these characteristics as a reference to the genre.

Miike handles a very tight script and a plot that has virtually no holes and a lot of eye for details. Almost every little aspect that is being mentioned in the plot, carries a little set-up within that delivers a pay-off later. The story is intriguing. The death scenes are original and rather graphic. The ghostly creepiness is there. Every jump-scare works (there was one were I almost went through the roof! I recommend watching this with the sound turned up a notch; just let it blast out of the speakers, and I guarantee you: you will jump!). The conclusion is great and practically unpredictable; the twists were damn good. And then there's Miike, who just once again had to give this movie that Miike-touch of his, making it all just one bit more special in a way. And this time, surprisingly, he doesn't do it in the usual way. Not be inserting a sickening scene, or adding some repulsive imagery (though some events and effects really are quite gruesome). No. This time he does it by taking the movie to a different level, by adding that very last scene. And the very last shot should normally have you thinking about something that someone in a very brief scene said, earlier in the movie. The effect it had on me was: wanting to re-watch the movie. Now that's just great if a movie manages to do that. So maybe I should really rate this one 10/10. But I'll reserve that rating for THE AUDITION, my favorite Takashi Miike film ever (for now, at least).

And, by the way: I'm ready for the re-make. It's gonna be directed by Frenchman Eric Valette, who previously directed the magnificent, claustrophobic & Lovecraftian-like MALÉFIQUE. For once, I just might have a little faith in an upcoming re-make.