... will director Eric Valette survive the move from France to Hollywood?
The original One Missed Call is a fun but disposable piece of fluff, director Takashi Miike's first significant foray into mainstream film and a picture that you can argue was the last really effective title to come out of the hair-ghost wave in Japan. Ringu had run it's course, Shimizu had released the second Japanese Ju-On feature, Kurosawa's Kairo has hit two years before and that particular well of ideas had run dry. Yes, lesser lights continued to milk the trend but the best talents were already looking to move along and this film marked the last stop before the long slide into mediocrity when it came to this particular genre.
So, really, with the hair ghost trope well played out by this point the big reason to pay attention to this coming remake was simply the director. Eric Valette was the man at the helm of hugely impressive French horror picture Malefique a few years ago but despite his obvious skill the man hardly works at all and this is his first feature since. Will his unique style survive the demands imposed on him in making a PG-13 Hollywood picture? If the trailer's an indicator, no. Fans of the original One Missed Call will recognize a few shots and scenes cribbed directly from the original but if I didn't know going in that Valette was at the controls I'd never have guessed it from this.
The trailer appeared briefly on Yahoo and has been removed but can still be found on YouTube.
sorry, but i feel so far, much evidence point to the fact that the Hollywood system is a death trap for most foreign directors.
on One Missed Call, at least Miike had the foresight not to take the Hair Scare gimmick too seriously. he seems to know that Hair Scare was at the tail end of its effectiveness, and anymore of it would only become self-parody. the original One Missed Call was a fun ride, no more and no less.
The guys who did Them are going to do The Eye and if I remember correctly some French dudes are going to do the Last House on the Left remake. Michael Haneke is remaking his own stuff.
And don't forget that almost every HK director that tried out in Hollywood had to make a movie with Jean Claude Van Damme for some reason.
Wow nice cast. Hehe where did that come from? I quite like Malefique myself, not so much OMC so...DVD rental I suppose.
Caterpillar,
which one? Robocop? Total Recall? or ... gulp ... Showgirls?
i like Total Recall a lot. just saw it again the other day and it ages well.
Don't forget Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers, which are both perfect in their flawed way...
(Yes, I know that made little sense)
Starship Troopers is great.
i think initially, a lot of people didn't understand that it's an action movie satire. its cynicism is biting.
i love it.
Most people in Europe seemed (and still seem) to view it as Nazi propaganda. The entire satirical aspect was utterly lost to everyone and I had countless discussions with my friends trying to convince them. This was actually before I got internet so it wasn't until I got the DVD and listened to Verhoeven's audio commentary that I could finally feel at ease for having understood what he was trying to say.
I know my comment is irrelevant, but I so agree with caterpillars comment about Starship Troopers lol :)
I'm also very amazed that there are many many people on this site that have some much inside knowledge about directors and casts. unbelievable.
holy shit!! I thought everyone loved starship troopers, it's a big favorite in our household...i mean the score alone is brilliant faux-Wagner! I'm flabberghasted how anyone could MISS the satire.