Phone, DVD

by Marc Wiener

The other day I decided I wanted to review foreign horror films for Great Hoboes. They are a passion of mine, and a lot of people are unaware of the riches available in some of these little known foreign gems. Since I had a brand spankin' new DVD copy of the Korean film Phone sitting and waiting for me to watch it, I figured this would be a great place to start.

I may have been wrong.

It's not that I didn't like the film. In fact I found it to be extremely enjoyable. It's just not the audacious introduction to these gems that I would have liked for the Hoboes. The film is derivative of some other films in the genre, both Asian and domestic. There are definite elements of The Ring in it, probably the film most responsible for the surge in Asian horror's popularity (there was an even an article on the trend in last week's issue of Time Out). You can also see the influence of The Exorcist.

However, in some ways, it may be the perfect way to introduce the genre. Asian horror films tend to be slower and more atmospheric than a lot of the U.S. genre fare. They often feature plots that unravel slowly, and often times leave questions with the viewer rather than try to explain every detail. Going back to The Ring again, we can see much more ambiguity in the Hideo Nakata original that in Gore Verbinski's U.S. remake. These films often tend to include some sort of curse, and eerie children. Phone includes all of these elements.

The plot centers on a reporter who is going into hiding after she has revealed a sex scandal. She is being harassed with threatening phone calls on her cell phones from the convicted offender. Soon she begins to receive shrieking, bone chilling noises from the phone as well. When her young niece answers the cell phone one day and is subjected to these noises herself, things begin to change. The girl's behavior begins to become confrontational, aggressive, and in one of the films more shocking plot points, overtly sexual towards her father. This leads to an investigation of the previous users of the cell phone number, and begins to open up family secrets and dark mysteries that should not be revealed to those who haven't seen the film yet.

Derivative in many ways, the plot still manages to always take an unexpected twist that left me interested. The film unfolds in layers and in many cases the new layer adds meaning to what we've come to witness in a previous scene. Careful photography and an excellent use of sound help as well. While there are a few too many forced jump scares, there are some that work delightfully well, and the film steamrolls along in the final act to an edge of your seat conclusion.

Overall, the depth of character and plot are well above typical what we come to expect from common second tier genre films in the states. I'll take a Phone over an Urban Legend any day. Now just wait till my next review when I'll go back and take a look at one of the A list entries that really put these films on the map.

--released on the Great Hoboes of New York on July 6, 2003