To be honest, this film is hardly the most original horror I’ve seen. It basically is a rip-off on “The Ring”, “The Exorcist”, “What Lies Beneath”, “The Innocent” and “The Black Cat”, mixed together with a touch of giallo. And to top it all off, its confusing as hell.

Ji-Won is an investigative reporter who after having exposed a sex-crime ring is being threatened by their goons, especially over the phone. So she gets a new one… and picks what turns out to be a cursed phone number. When her goddaughter comes in contact with the phone, she begins to act psychotic, and while they first believe she is sick, Ji-Won begins to suspect the phone and thus begins to track down the history of the number and its source.

Ahn Byeong-ki clearly lacks a sense of structure and never allows the story to develop its own pace, but crammed it with references and shock sequences. And shocks are the films major weakness. Rather than keeping its audience in suspense, it shocks.

But having said all that, the film isn’t all bad. Once it finally finds it grounding, about 40 minutes into it, “Phone” turns out far more believable than “The Ring” and has some very scary moments. Horror is rare these days, and considering what else is out there, “Phone” certain delivers.

Henrik Sylow

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