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From HouseofHorrors.com Recent Reviews
Now, any movie where a phone offers a threatening caller presents a series of problems. The biggest one is this: what happens if anyone in the movie were smart enough to stop answering the damn phone? Well, okay, then the entire movie would fall apart. Besides, since when are horror movies about entertaining logic? Isn’t answering the phone again just another variation on a character being impossibly compelled to investigate that creepy noise in the attic?
I guess, and it’s to the credit of Phone (what a great title) that after a while, I didn't really care. Never enough that it wasn’t in the back of my head, but enough that I watched the film with some good cheer. The film is a stylish excursion into the usual trappings of Asian horror – indecipherable plot, monochrome filters, an emphasis on pauses and meaningful looks, and dirty-haired girls. This film has probably the best variation I’ve seen on that last theme, but this kind of villain wore out its welcome faster than zombies.
What won me over, and what makes the film interesting, is the way it manages to create a villain and victim out of the character of Yeong Ju (Seo-woo Eun). She is the daughter of successful businessman who never seems to have time for his family. She, however, has a bad experience with . . . the phone! and she starts acting up. Considering that she’s only five or six, this is especially ominous. Young kids with dark secrets are also nothing new to horror, but Seo-woo Eun is easily one of the best little actresses I’ve seen in a role like this. Her work deserves comparison with Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed and Jeremy Sumpter’s work in Frailty. She flips from innocent to terrifying with a bat of her pretty little eyelashes.
It’s her quandary that provides the film with its heart, and a good thing too, because the film is a typical Asian horror in almost every other respect. This is not an insult, but it is a concerned observation. I’ve been drenching myself in these movies lately, and it seems that almost all of them go the route of offering atmosphere, style, but almost no payoff, unless you consider twist after twist after twist a payoff. I call it jerking the audience around.
Phone is not above some of these tactics, but it does have a few scenes of suspense that work surprisingly well. Additionally, it manages to keep its plot from disintegrating in the final reels. In fact, I think its ending is a real success, especially in the way it brings together some weird Freudian touches and its look at what can tear a family apart. For what it’s worth, I kind of gave a damn. So there’s that. Which is nice.
If you’re a fan of Asian horror, this is a fun one. If you’re not a fan, this exemplifies everything that you already probably hate about the genre. For me, it was a fun two hours. Turn the lights out, make some popcorn, and, for the love of God, turn off your damn phone.
Buy Phone on DVD at Amazon.com
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