Blu-ray Movie Reviews

I don't understand why the movie studios continue to remake every single obscure Japanese horror film; even the really bad ones. Of course I didn't know this was a remake going in, but it was easy to tell as the film progressed since it seemed like it borrowed from just about every horror movie of the last few years. The story moves at a brisk pace but that is also one of its biggest downfalls. There is no story development, no character development and honestly, no point. There was never any sense of tension or horror and most of the time I was chuckling at how utterly bad the film was. I did think the cover art was cool though.

While the movie was a stinker the HD transfer wasn’t. Warner continues to deliver solid HD presentations despite using low average bitrates than the other Blu-ray studios. My only complaint here was the elevated black levels, which I felt hurt atmosphere and depth. This is a horror movie so things SHOULD be dark. Shadow detail is still quite good though and fine object detail was excellent. The effects work was on the softer side though, but this is probably a limitation of the budget.

Warner has included a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack and overall it is a nice balance of ambience and dynamics. Like most horror movies there are plenty of those startling blasts of loudness to make you jump. I was impressed with the sound design at times. There are some unsettling moments with nice atmospheric effects and a nice spatial quality that even extends to the ceiling. Surrounds are used aggressively to put you in the moment and I notice a few nice panning effects from time to time. While not the most effective horror soundtrack I've heard, it didn't disappoint.

No extras on this one, sorry.

One Missed Call is definitely one to miss. While I can appreciate how good the A/V presentation is, the movie is REALLY bad and not even close to a genuinely creepy horror film.