Phone is a 2002 South Korean horror film. The film follows Ji-won, a young journalist who has been receiving threatening and perverting phone calls after publishing articles about pedophobia. In order to escape the trauma, Ji-won changes her phone number and moves away from her house. Feeling sorry for her, Ji-won's old friend Ho-jung allows her to stay in a house she had built for her young daughter Young-Su. However Ji-won begins receiving even stranger phone calls as she gets comfortable and Young-Su happens to answer one of these calls. As Ji-won investigates the origins of her phone number Young-Su begins acting extremely strange and hostile, especially towards her mother.
An American adaption was set in motion in 2010 with high hopes for release the following year, but did not escape Development Hell.
This film contains examples of
- Bound and Gagged: Ji-won in the climax.
- Broken Bird: Jin-hee after finding out Chang-hoon is married. Ho-jung after finding out that she can't get pregnant on her own and eventually murdering Jin-hee in a moment of jealousy.
- Danger Takes a Backseat: One of Ji-won's nightmares involve her stalker attacking her in the backseat with a knife.
- Final Girl: Ji-won, considering she is so far the only one with the phone number to not die and narrowly avoided being killed by Ho-jung.
- Kill It with Fire: Ho-jung attempts to burn Ji-won and Jin-hee's corpse after The Reveal.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Young-Su (who is no older than five by most) behaving and talking in ways no child should including smashing pictures, grabbing butcher knives from the kitchen at night, and scratching herself to the point of drawing blood.
