J-Horror at its finest: Exte Hair Extensions

C'mon, a horror movie about hair extensions? I've seen some dreadful J-horror in the years following the massive successes of Ringu and Ju-On, most notably The Locker, an abysmal horror flick about evil ghosts that haunt a particular high school locker, and the kids who die if they are assigned it. It even had a sequel. But Exte: Hair Extensions has one thing in its favor, the main reason that drew me to this film: it is directed by Sion Son, the man responsible for two of the most uncompromisingly disturbing and beautifully shot films of this decade, Suicide Circle and Strange Circus. So I took a chance on it, and I am glad I did. This is one of the best horror films I've seen in a long while. Chiaki Kuriyama (actress known best for the vicious schoolgirl roles in Battle Royale and Kill Bill) stars as Yuko Mizushima, an aspiring young hair stylist who is working at a local salon. She has an older sister, Tsugumi, a terrible and abusive mother to her daughter Miku, and spends her time drinking and making love to a local pimp. Tsugumi arrives unexpectedly one day to drop her daughter off while she goes out for a night of binging and trysts. Yuko doesn't know what to do with Miku, especially since she has to go to work. She is disturbed to find bruises covering Miku's body, and the young girl's subservience and manner are hallmarks of an abused child. Yuko tries to connect to her and break through that barrier, but it is slow going -- Miku accidentally breaks one of Yuko's mannequins, and spends the rest of the day cowering in the corner, afraid of what her aunt might do to her. In the meantime, a female body is discovered in a freight crate, covered in hair. An autopsy is done, and she is listed as a Jane Doe. The coroner, however, has a hair fetish, and develops a disturbingly close relationship with the corpse, eventually stealing her from the morgue and taking her home. The corpse continues to grow hair at a super fast pace. The coroner decides that he can make some money by selling the hair as extensions, and he goes off to sell them at the local salons. At one place, the owner purchases some and goes to apply them on a customer. Touching the hair causes a telepathic flashback to the corpse, and how the woman dies. She was kidnapped, raped, and stripped of her hair, eventually left to die. This connection causes the barber to go psychotic, and she kills her customer and herself. The police find a connection between this and the corpse because of the hair. The coroner sells the hair to the salon where Yuko is working. One of her coworkers likes the hair so much she tries it on herself at home, and is killed. Yuko brings some home to practice on. She has also bonded with Miku, despite the girl's accident, by getting her interested in hair cutting. Tsugumi barges into her place one day and over Miku's objections, steals some of her younger sister's clothes and the hair extensions. Tsugumi and her lover are killed by the extensions. The police interview everyone at Yuko's place, and Yuko herself is a person of interest, especially since her sister's death. But it is the coroner they are after, and the police begin a manhunt for him. Yuko realizes that she has left Miku alone with the extensions, and rushes home. Opening the door, she is confronted with a pile of hair which has filled up every square inch of the apartment. Diving in, she rescues Miku, but both are overwhelmed by the hair, and she fall unconscious. Waking up, they find themselves at the coroner's place, but before they are killed, the police come storming in, and in the ensuing chaos the coroner is killed, and the corpse's vengeful spirit laid to rest.

Like I said, this film is nuts! But the inventiveness and direction by Sion Son makes this a classic horror film, taking all the cliche elements of J-horror and putting such a spin on it that it becomes something original. Highly recommended!

Heavenly Forest

Heavenly Forest is another in a long line of Love Story derivatives -- the pure love of a couple undermined by the terminal illness of one of the partners. Makoto (Hiroshi Tamaki) is a loner teen freshman who meets Shizuru (Aoi Miyazaki) on a street corner on the way to class. Shizuru comes across as very young and immature for a freshman, but the two of them strike up a friendship. Shizuru develops a crush on Makoto who is content to find a pal whom they can explore the park beyond a no trespassing sign and take pictures. This friendship is disrupted by a third person, a gorgeous young woman named Miyuki. Makoto falls for her, and Shizuru is heartbroken, but all three form a little clique, friends one and all. Shizuru makes things more interesting when Makoto finds out that she is no longer living at home, and offers her a place to stay at his house. Overwhelmed with joy, she accepts, but when she offers herself to him, he is embarrassed, and nothing happens. She begins to drop hints about the fleetness of life, and how people should embrace the here and now. She manages to get a picture of her and Makoto kissing, and soon after, she vanishes. Makoto grieves for her disappearance, but it is several years before he hears from her again. He has become a freelance photographer, and one day he receives a letter from Shizuru. She is living in New York, and they make arrangements to meet there. Flying over, he reminisces about their past, and concludes that he is truly in love with her. But she does not meet at the arranged meeting spot. Miyuki does, and a puzzled Makoto goes to her place, where apparently the two women were roommates. Makoto discovers that Shizuru had died of an incurable genetic disease. Makoto goes to a group photo exhibition where Shizuru has her works shown, and finds that she had matured into a beautiful woman, and sees all the pictures of their past. Before returning home to Japan, he makes Miyuki promise to send the rest of her letters (she wrote a whole bunch) to him.

I was all prepared to hate this film, but what saves it is the acting of Aoi Miyazaki and some beautiful cinematography and tight direction by Takehiko Shinjo. Aoi carries this film with her disarming charm and vivaciousness. Watching the relationship grow was what kept my interest, until the usual 2/3 mark where that twist kicks in that undermines the film. I knew that she was going to die, but to have that expectation fulfilled was disappointing -- I wanted something different to happen. I would have preferred that he came to New York and not met her or Miyuki, and have some sort of existential conclusion, with a scene revealing to the viewer that only Miyuki knows what happened to their friend. Ah well. Otherwise, an above average romance film, which is saying a lot from me.

Romance, Johnny To Style: Linger

After a string of high quality crime films (Election, Exiled), director Johnny To has moved in a different direction with the film Linger. Vic Zhou stars as Dong, an athletic student who at he beginning of the film is seen making love to his girlfriend. Later he arrives at class with another young woman Yan (Li Bing Bing), who teases the girlfriend with their secret relationship, to Dong's annoyance. Dong and Yan have an argument -- where is this all leading to? , with Yan storming off. Dong pursues her on his motorcycle, and in one of the most reckless acts of romance ever, tries to get her to declare her love for him - her in a bus, both moving side by side down the road. Of course, Dong is killed. Move forward several years, and Yan has graduated, and is working as a clerk in a law firm. Dong's death haunts her, to the point where she can no longer sleep without taking drugs. She regularly sees a shrink, who tries to help her move on. The moment she feels strong enough to not take the pills, she has visions of Dong and the accident. Until one day, Dong appears to her, his spirit still lingering on the earth, waiting for her to confront and resolve her past. Their "relationship" becomes a journey of self discovery for Yan, as she meets a client who shows interest in her. He's an ex gang member who is on trial for withholding evidence regarding his boss; a young man who is also at odds with his past, especially when he falls for Yan. The rest of the film finds Yan accepting that she loved Dong, helping Dong's father reconcile with his son, and starting a new path with the young man. Dong is thus able to move to the spirital world, as seen by Yan, drifting off into the ocean on a small sailboat.

I admire Johnnie To for a change of pace. However, this is one weak story, with very unmemorable characters. Even Li Bing bing, one of the major actresses from Asia, struggles to make her character convincing, and it shows. A lesser effort by To.

The Mastery of Miike - Scars of the Sun

Takashi Miike continues to produce astonishing films. His latest, Scars of the Sun, is part crime drama, part social commentary, with moments of brutal violence that hits the viewer in the gut by being frankly realistic. Katayama is an architect, who, coming home from work one day, stumbles across a mugging of a street person by three teenage kids. Actually, they are beating him to death, and Katayama decides to take things into his own hands and beats up the three teens. This seemingly random act of kindness leads to trouble for Katayama, as his daughter is kidnapped by one of the teenagers (the leader, Kamiki) and murdered. His attempts to seek justice are thwarted by a police force and legal system that protects the youth, and Katayama, by taking the initiative, is seen as a troublemaker, and is blamed for causing his daughter's death. His wife later commits suicide. Kamiki is found, sentenced, and serves three years at a juvenile detention center. He is released on good behavior, and works at a surfboard manufacturing place, taken in by the owner who looks after troubled youth. Katayama learns of Kamiki's release through a probation officer, who asks him to let things be. But Katayama wants justice. His previous attempts, plus his being vocal about killing Kamiki has placed the local cops on alert. He misleads the probation officer by stating that he only wants to see Kamiki, if only to confirm that he is a reformed man. He had been looking for him, but Kamiki, is now under another name. The probation officer takes him to the surfboard place. Katayama sees, him, and runs out from the car and confronts him. The cops have to break it up, and deliver Katayama a stern waning. Kamiki, however, seems to revert to old form, calling on his old chums to monitor Katayama. One of his friends, however, now has a wife and child, and is reluctant to do his bidding. He also had ran into Katayama earlier in his search for Kamiki. But Kamiki threatens his daughter's life, and makes arrangements for a meeting between him, Kamiki, and Katayama. Kamiki in the meantime, purchases guns and ammo online, delivering them to some kids from the old neighborhood, who are enthralled with the weapons. They beat up and shoot the convenience store owner, where at the beginning of the film the initial incident took place. The probation officer is kidnapped by Kamiki, and is used to draw Katayama to the meeting place. He finds Kamiki's friend, dead, and is ambushed by Kamiki's gang. Katayama dispatches the kids one by one, and has it out with Kamiki, and kills the teen. The film ends with Katayama, dying, on top of the building, as the sun rises above.

Scars of the Sun is similar to the excellent The Negotiator in tone, look and subject matter -- that there are systemic problems with Japanese law that allows for people to act criminally, and get away with it. Here it is the troubled teen, those kids who have grown up in an age without rules or mores. According to the film a thirteen year old cannot be sentenced to death nor life in prison for murdering someone -- because of their age, they "don't know what they're doing," and it is more important to rehabilitate them so they can return to society. To Kamiki, this gives them a free pass, a license to kill. Katayma is an interesting character: although he seems like a meek architect, he can more than handle his own against the young thugs, in fisticuffs and with a gun. How is that? It's one of the few things I find questionable in a very good film. To me it is part classic Kurosawa and part Battle Royale, without the over the top violence of the latter. While the average Miike fan might be disappointed that this isn't like DOA or Iichi, this is a thoughtful and well made film that shows Miike's diverseness as a director, and the social commentary of the film ought to keep him as one of the top (if not THE man) directors of Japan. Recommended.