I might have exceeded my posting quota for the day (is there even one?), but then again it's past midnight anyway so technically, it's no longer Friday. Plus, I don't think I'll be able to sleep easily, not after the movie I just watched.
Three facts only a few people know about me:
1. I love Chiaki Kuriyama. I saw her first in Battle Royale, then in Kill Bill Volume 1, and then I made it a personal mission to see her other movies and TV series, like Hagetaka (TV), Ashita no Kita Yoshio (TV), and Ju-on (movie). If there was one Japanese actress that I absolutely adore, that would be her.
2. I love horror films. Not the watered down Hollywood remakes, but the original Asian version. There's nothing better than a good scream that comes after a truly scary scene. Unfortunately, not a lot of horror movies can do that for me.
3. I enjoy watching Japanese shows. There are quite a few exaggerated (or even lame) acting, and some really bizarre story lines, but I guess it's all a matter of perspective.
Anyway.
I watched Exte: Hair Extensions because a) it's a horror movie, and b) it has Chiaki Kuriyama in it. Because I know that Japanese films can be "way out there," I wasn't really expecting something that should be expected of a generic horror film.
But OMGWTFBBQ.
Asiamediawiki summarizes Exte's plot as follows:
A beautiful young girl is found brutally murdered within a container full of hair. A man with an insatiable hair fetish steals the corpse, which grows hair endlessly, and fashions hair extensions to sell to salons. Little does he realize that the extensions carry the fury of the girl's vengeance, killing anyone who wears them. Director Shion Sono (who also directed Into a Dream) ingeniously mixes comedy with fright in this hilarious and hair raising J-horror.
I don't know about hair-raising, but it was certainly hilarious, and not always in a good way. The main antagonist, Gunji Yamazaki (Ren Osugi) was such a creeptoid I can't even bear to hate him. His job as a mortician should be creepy enough, but his hair fetish is even worse. Plus, I keep picturing him as the bartender Shinichi in Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, so I can't really take him seriously as a villain in a horror film.
Chiaki's performance is good (or maybe I'm just biased), although there were low points here and there. Still, a convincing performance, overall. I love the parts where she would talk to herself, like narrating her actions in a third person's point of view. Not a lot of people could pull that off without looking utterly ridiculous. And then there's that scene with the broken shard of glass she tries to cut Yamazaki with (she actually did, but instead of blood, hair sprayed out of his neck...insert uneasy shudder here), and it's Battle Royale all over again. At least she didn't aim for his balls this time.
Overall, an okay movie. Not really scary (although the first scene, when the guards saw the dead woman's face amongst all that hair in the cargo container, scared me good), but not that crappy either. Can be watched alone in the house, with the lights closed, because you won't get the feeling that a cold, white hand will suddenly tap you on the shoulder. You might never want to have hair extensions after, though.
Want to give it a try? Here's the YouTube link, for starters:
You can always order the DVD after :)
Oh, and just a final share, one of the funniest lines in the movie, said by the detective to his assistant/partner:
(about Yamazaki):
"Don't judge people based on them creeping you out."
Off to bed now for me! ^^
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