Reporter Ji Won has recently covered a controversial story about paedophiles, and with the subsequent prosecutions due to come up before the courts she has begun to receive threatening phone calls and emails. Friends and co-workers suggest she changes her mobile phone number and lies low for a while, with one friend even offering Ji Won a place to stay, as she and her successful husband have a spare house in the city which they haven't finished renovating yet. However, despite her efforts the phone calls and computer mischief don't stop, in fact they begin to get even more disturbing and persistent. One day, her friend's daughter answers Ji Won's phone, and what little Young Ju hears affects her in a terrifying way.
Phone is a highly effective horror movie, building on many common themes in recent successful films. Very similar in approach to Ring, it combines old school fears with a modern twist, this time obviously being the mobile phone and email which, while both opening new realms of communication, come with an inherent lack of privacy or safety. Added to this is a mysterious, vengeful ghost of a wronged girl, and also the destruction of innocence of a young daughter.
Both of these dovetailing story points are not entirely original, but are handled with care and placed within a well planned plot which, in the finale, also becomes something of a murder mystery. This is a welcome change of gear, as the shock element of the appearances of a ghost in the background begins to lose its effectiveness slightly. What doesn't diminish is the power of the performance by See-woo Eun as the little girl, Young Ju. I'm not sure of her age, she looks about four, but she puts Haley Joel Osment and Linda Blair to shame as her behaviour becomes more erratic and creepy.
Combining old ideas, modern fears and one amazing piece of child acting, Phone is a worthy peer to the likes of Ring in the forefront of imaginative modern horror movies. |
