Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

One Missed Call 3: Final Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 29, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of One Missed Call Trilogy.

The annals of so-called “J Horror” are filled with films where technology is not a boon to Mankind, but rather a kind of threatening curse. In that regard, it’s perhaps only slightly cheeky to suggest that the One Missed Call “franchise” might have just as easily been called Ringu (or at least its Americanized version Ring), since a sinister ringtone on cellphones becomes a harbinger of death. The fact that a joke can be made about interchangeable titles may point out, however, that as even commentator Tom Mes gets into with regard to the first film, there’s a kind of “been there, done that” quality to One Missed Call in terms of technology run amok sprinkled liberally with what ultimately is a kinda sorta ghost story. While he only was responsible for the first film of the trilogy, it’s perhaps instructive to note how Takashi Miike talks in a supplement included on this release about wanting to do more than simply “scare people” with a horror film, and in fact (as Mes also mentions) there are elements in the first film in particular but also with regard to the entire franchise that may not be “jump out of your seat” fright-mare inducing, but which are decidedly angsty and may in fact have you looking at your Caller ID a little more closely the next time your cellphone rings.

Perhaps surprisingly, One Missed Call: Final manages to regain some ground, if only fitfully, that was lost in One Missed Call 2. This film, like the second in the series, offers a “new, improved” location (in this case, South Korea), but it also adds an interesting new element to the litany of frankly sometimes weird “issues” characters in the first film in particular faced (I list some of them in our One Missed Call Blu-ray review). Here, bullying enters the fray and gives the film an intermittently visceral impact, one that no doubt was designed to appeal to teens in particular.

One of the kind of interesting “risks” this third film takes is identifying its supposed villain, a bullied girl named Asuka Matsuda (Maki Horikita), though of course initial perceptions may change as the story progresses. This film’s tether to the setup of the first is in some ways as tenuous as in the second film, even if this film does return to the red candy motif that the first film offered and the second film kind of jettisoned. The “investigating” here is done by a character named Emily Kusama (Meisa Kuroki), and her eventual interrelationship with Asuka provides some perhaps surprising emotional content.

While definitely creepy in its own way, One Missed Call: Final doesn’t quite rise to the heights of the first film, and it can seem awfully padded at times, including some long detours with tangential characters that take what some may feel is an undue amount of time.

One Missed Call 3: Final Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

All three films in the One Missed Call Trilogy are presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.85:1. Arrow lumps all three together in their very brief verbiage about the transfers in their insert booklet:

One Missed Call, One Missed Call 2 and One Missed Call: Final are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 5.1 and 2.0 stereo sound. The high definition digital transfers were provided by Kadokawa.

While I'm "officially" scoring this at a 4.0 at least in part to indicate it's better looking that One Final Call (which I gave a 3.5, which might be on the generous side), this presentation exhibits a bit more variability and inconsistency than One Final Call 2, which I also scored at a 4.0. The opening scenes in the chicken coop are just one example of a somewhat roughhewn look that tends to crop up in dark scenes in particular (another one is the scary moment that takes place in a hotel closet). The palette can occasionally look a bit on the wan side, but overall this boasts some of the same nice accountings of primaries in particular that were also evident in One Missed Call 2. This is another presentation where detail levels can kind of ebb and flow depending on lighting conditions, but while several climactic scenes take place in shrouded circumstances, a lot of this film plays out in rather bright conditions, which helps to elevate both fine detail and the immediacy of the palette. My score is 3.75.

One Missed Call 3: Final Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All three films in this set feature DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. This film's surround track is kind of an intermittently engaging affair, though some of the rumbly LFE combined with low end score can add a feeling of unease to several scenes, even if on the surface they're not that threatening seeming (as in some scenes of kids looking at computer screens). Some of the outdoor material offers good placement of ambient environmental effects, and even a more "spacious", echo laden ambience in some scenes in supposedly abandoned locations can be quite evocative. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

One Missed Call 3: Final Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged this as a two disc release, with the first film and supplements on Disc One and the two sequels and supplements on Disc Two. Here is a list of the supplementary material on both discs:

Disc One ( One Missed Call)

• Commentary by Tom Mes


• The Making of One Missed Call (1080i; 57:06) is an archival featurette which has a lot of fun candid footage of Miike. In Japanese with English subtitles.


• Cast and Crew Interviews (1080i; 14:23) include Kou Shibasaki, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Kazue Fukiishi, and Takashi Miike. In Japanese with English subtitles.


• Interview with Takashi Miike (1080i; 20:15) is in Japanese with English subtitles.


• Screenings (1080i; 14:09) aggregates footage from things like film festivals and the like.


• Live or Die (1080i; 11:56) offers raw footage from the TV special in the film, from two different angles (switchable via the angle button on your remote).


• A Day with the Mizunuma Family (1080i; 2:45) is more "raw footage", supposedly from the "nanny cam" in the house that's seen in the film.


• Alternate Ending (1080i; 3:44) comes with a warning not to let little kids see this due to its "graphic nature".


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:21)


• Teaser Trailers (1080p; 00:51)


• TV Spots (1080p; 2:15)

Disc Two ( One Missed Call 2 and One Missed Call: Final)

• The Making of One Missed Call 2 (1080i; 32:46) is an archival featurette which has some English text elements but which is in Japanese with English subtitles. Like its counterpart on Disc One, this has quite a bit of fun candid footage.


• Gomu (1080p; 3:51) is a short "tie in" to One Missed Call 2 directed by Renpei Tsukamoto.


• One Missed Call 2 Deleted Scenes (1080i; 10:10) are windowboxed and include interstitial commentary from director Renpei Tsukamoto (in 1.33:1).


• One Missed Call 2 Music Video (1080i; 4:46)


• One Missed Call 2 Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:38)


• One Missed Call 2 Teaser Trailers (1080i; 1:37)


• One Missed Call 2 TV Spots (1080p; 1:17)


• The Making of One Missed Call: Final (1080i; 51:55) is another fun archival piece with a lot of candid footage. In Japanese with English subtitles.


• Maki and Meisa (1080i; 15:34) is an archival piece featuring two of the stars of One Missed Call: Final. In Japanese with English subtitles.


• Behind the Scenes with Keun Suk-Jang (1080i; 11:45) is another archival piece, with the South Korean star of One Missed Call: Final. I believe Keun is speaking in Korean, as evidenced by what I think are Japanese subtitles, but there are English subs as well.


• The Love Story (1080i; 12:06) is another "tie in" short, this time to One Missed Call: Final.


• Candid Mimiko (1080i; 15:02) is a "tour" of locations hosted by the "villain". This has some windowboxed elements (with others in 1.33:1), with Japanese writing of some sort underneath, and English subs for the spoken Japanese.


• One Missed Call: Final Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:49)

One Missed Call 3: Final Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One Missed Call: Final makes up at least some the ground lost during One Missed Call 2. The screenplay does a decent job in working in new elements while trying to revisit some of the tropes developed in One Missed Call, but it can also feel artificially padded at times. Technical merits are generally solid, with a bit of variability in the video department, and the supplemental package is excellent, for those considering a purchase.