Korea, 2002
Director: Ahn Byeong-Gi
Cast: Ha Ji-Won, Kim Yu-Mi, Choi Wu-Je

In the Korean thriller Phone, a girl is threatened and finally killed by events involved with telephone messages from a stranger of an unknown source. After the girl’s sudden death, her good friend Ji-won who is a magazine reporter investigates the case by using her mobile as a clue. He manages to find out the number of the person who sent out the calls, but to his surprise it is no longer in use…

This is the Korean answer to Hideo Nakata’s legendary Ringu. I truly enjoyed it from the beginning to the end. The difference between these two is that in Phone, the cell phone is just an element in the film instead of being the main focus of the film. The film revolves around characters and their motivations for things they did or do and the plot doesn’t focus that much on the cell phone. Of course you will find out what is behind it and its pain and motivation. And it is very interesting how all the elements (the cell phone, characters, and so on) tie together.

Ahn Byeong-Gi did splendid in conducting this film. In a way, it is directed like The Exorcist. It flows like classical music. Even though there were still some slow moments, no scene was totally unnecessary. And overall everyone’s performance is fantastic. Sometimes it feels like the girl is over the top, but she did a phenomenon job playing the possessed character.

If you like good horror movies and are a fan of Ringu or Dark Water, this one is for you. Make sure you watch it late at night when it’s very quiet and dark. It brings the experience to next level.

Shogo is an award-award winning filmmaker currently hard at work on a new project. Asian Fever is his weekly column devoted to Asian cinema and related topics.