Arrow Films has once again returned with a new release of classic Toho J-Horror films with the One Missed Call Trilogy. Like their previous releases of the Ringu series and the Bloodthirsty Trilogy, Arrow Films has given fans a terrific set with the best transfers of these films currently available as well as a virtual treasure trove of special features.
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All three One Missed Call films are presented in this release in their original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 5.1 and 2.0 stereo sound. Kadokawa provided these transfers for this release. All three films look great however the first One Missed Call is the best looking of all three. It is presented on its own disc whereas the second and third films share a disc which does lead to them having a slight decrease in quality from the first film. The one that I noticed a slight drop in visual quality was the third film. The third film also takes place outside and in day light far more than the first two so that may account for some of that slight visual drop that the darker One Missed Call 2 didn't seem to share.
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As mentioned above all three films have 5.1 and 2.0 stereo sound and sound terrific. The sound for the first film did seem to be changing throughout the film from normal to very soft. However changes in sound are a fundamental aspect of horror films so it's hard to say if the volume changes were some kind of technical issue or just a part of the film's suspense tactics. All sound tracks are in Japanese and no English dubs are included. This may be an issue for some viewers but it wasn't for me and didn't remove anything from the experience.
| Extras: |
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Just like their Ringu Collection Arrow has pulled out all the stops for this release! The extras run the entire gauntlet from making of features, to an audio commentary, to interviews, to original publicity material from Japan including press footage from the first film's premier and a music video for the second film. I've included a complete list of extras with the rest of the technical details at the top of this review. Perhaps the most interesting are the various short films included. My favorite ones are composed of footage shot for the first film. One of the main characters in the film goes on air in the TV show called Live or Die which sees a panel of hosts and a priest try to analyze the situation and exploit the poor woman's incoming death. This special is presented as an extra that allows you to switch between two camera angles at will at special moments in the program. At one point in the first film the main characters discover a hidden camera containing footage in a manner similar to the Paranormal Activity series. You can watch the entire tape as a special feature and it's quite effective as a piece of horror filmmaking even without the context of the feature film it appears in. A far less frightening but still entertaining special feature is The Love Story which serves as a prequel to the third film explaining the back story between the main character and her love interest.
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I'm continually impressed with every release that Arrow Films produces and this one is no exception. Just like their previous Toho releases Arrow Films delivers another exceptional product that gives fans a chance to not only own these films with the best transfers available but an extensive amount of special features that are not only terrific but serve to make this set out do any previous release. Highly recommended.
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