EXTE: Hair Extensions
 

I finished watching Sion Sono's EXTE: Hair Extensions, a strange piece of Japanese cinema. Within the subgenre of 'cursed items' in Japanese horror, EXTE is about cursed hair extensions. Normally I wouldn't watch something built around such a shallow gimmick idea, but a director as clever as Sono would is going to have other things on the agenda, so I gave it a chance. Plot: a dead girl who was victim to an organ harvesting ring takes her revenge on the world through her continuously growing hair which is made into hair extensions. Anyone who uses these extensions has a real bad day.

The production is well done and very watchable. Well-acted, well-directed, and the visual effects were good, better than one would expect. A very watchable and professionally mounted film if not hugely budgeted, and not some amateur quickie like say, Asylum pictures type movie.

EXTE kind of an odd mixture of cheerful and grotesque. It's not quite as bizarre as Sono's other films, and a bit more straightforward than I expected, but still pretty wacky compared to other films of its genre. Don't watch this movie expecting another Grudge or Ringu clone, it is more fun and campy rather than scary. It does has a few freakish kills though, so it is very much a horror film. I would say its worth watching if you are in the mood for something light as opposed to something dreary and portentous.

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Grave of the Fireflies (1988) : A

Akira (1988) : B+

Ghost in the Shell (1995) : A-

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I finally saw the original Shutter (2004). I had to forget about all the vengeful ghost Asian horror films I've seen to give it a fair shake. Liked it quite a bit. One of the best in the sub-genre.

Ditto! One of my favorite Asian Horrors. Have you seen ALONE?..from the makers of Shutter. It's quite good too.

I haven't seen Alone but it's on my watchlist based on one of your previous recommendations. I didn't know it was done by the makers of Shutter. Bumping it up the list now, thanks! :)

I saw The Eye some years ago. I bet some have seen The Maid as well, where a Filipino (my nationality) starred.

"Journey to the West" 7/10

Pure chinese crazy adventure which had all the Stephen Chow trademarks. Sadly the story slowly fell apart after the very long but highly entertaining intro with all its Stephen Chow craziness going on. Only thing missing was Stephen Chow himself.

It's on Netflix if interested.



"Confession of Murder" 7-8/10

An action/thriller/comedy for the people who liked "I Saw the Devil", "Chaser" and whatever is in between.


On Netflix if interested.

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Ab-normal Beauty (2004)

I gotta say, I didn't like it as much as many reviewers did, lauding Oxide Pang Chun for his style. It did have some interesting concepts, and the characters were likable enough, but it lost me with some overly-dramatic melodrama in the middle, and the switch in tone to torture for the last half hour might have helped the fizzling story move forward, but felt a bit tacked on. I also didn't quite understand how the ending actually happened, which, at least for me, counteracted the suspense.

Definitely a significant step above a lot of films that lack creativity and skill in execution, but not good enough to be placed in the top echelon of Asian horror.

6/10

I really didn't like Alone it took me three attempts to get through it. I only presevered though as it has it's moments but I just didn't connect or engage with them when on screen. Felt there was no real reward for my perseverance too. It left me with absolutely no affection for it.

I would have given it a 5 but I agree with everything you say. It felt very average to me but I agree it was well delivered, presented and created but not enough to truly captivate me. I've seen much better and much worse.

LAKE OF DRACULA : BLOODTHIRSTY EYES. 1971

A bit of a hokey tale. A 5 year old girl has a near encounter with Dracula but he manages to find her 18 years later. She shares a home with her sister and has a steady relationship with her doctor boyfriend and seems to be all things Mary Tyler Moore. The soundtrack is...well, groovy and this Dracula has yellow eyes!!!