Upon seeing this movie on the rental shelf, all shiny and brand new, I couldn't help but think, "Wow, that seems a little too 'J-horror' for Sion Sono. I hope this isn't really that bad." Apparently a lot of other reviewers on this site had the same initial doubt. For those of you who haven't been in tune with where those annoying girl-with-long-hair Hollywood remakes have been coming from, "J-horror" refers to a sort of sub-sub-genre of popularized Japanese horror movie usually about ghosts, hauntings, and attracting American audiences. No, seriously, the grand majority of the films dubbed "J-horror" are really not all that different from American horror films because they were inspired by American horror films. Many of them fall also under the "Asian Extreme" label that was practically invented by Tartan DVD, which is basically horror and action movies, only, hence the title, more extreme. Caution should be used when attempting to get into those movies, but there is some good stuff out there. Look for Sono, Takashi Miike, Chan Wook Park, and Shinya Tsukomoto.
Anyway, Sion Sono is much more well-known for the epic "Suicide Club", a consistently dazzling and nearly impenetrable thriller that, like all good horror, comments painstakingly on the social situation its filmed in. Other movies like the follow up Noriko's Dinner Table and the metanarrative Strange Circus stamp Sono down as a director to pay attention to. A movie called "Hair Extensions" just doesn't seem like his thing--but it is. Or rather, he makes it his.
This movie's plot is often described as being about a hair stylist having to fight against evil hair extensions that kill each other, but it's more like two different sensibilities ultimately clashing. The one sensibility is that very campy J-horror realm of a cursed corpse exacting revenge upon the world via hair that grows out of literally every wound and orifice, distributed by a strange fetishist who likes his fair share of silly disguises. The second aspect is the comedic-melodramatic story of young Yuko, stylist-in-training, who gets pulled out of her happy existence as a hopeful up-and-coming 20 something who likes quirks such as narrating aloud her own life when her abusive hipster sister drops off her (the sister's) little daughter Mami on Yuko's doorstep. Yuko is forced into fending for her new charge, who she quickly grows fond of, though she has to struggle against the young girl's altered perceptions of reality rended from being abused by her mother. Meanwhile, the strange hair fetishist and Yuko meet via the hair salon, people start dying, and bungling cops have no ability to understand what's actually going on. Eventually Yuko has to defend little Mami not only from an abusive mother but from violent, murderous hair. AND ITS AWESOME...
Sono is one of those gifted filmmakers who can lead the audience through horror, tragedy, comedy, and melodrama at sudden and unexpected turns, never missing a beat. Some parts of "Hair Extensions" seem cheaper than others, but he's not afraid to let the ridiculous be ridiculous and the serious be affecting. This isn't exactly his greatest work, but some parts noticeably stand out. The scene where the sister and her lover come into contact (literally) with the hair extensions is one of the most shocking, disturbing, amazing, and hilarious--and sudden--scenes in cinema. Yuko's relationship with Mami is more than just a caring adult to a hurt child, it's complicated and Yuko doesn't always know how to handle herself. Weirdly enough, "Hair Extensions" is both the most absurd and most real of Sono's work, with a fully fleshed out and functioning world supporting some of the most random acts of carnage ever shot. Even if this movie doesn't appeal to you intellectually, it certainly has sensationalistic thrills. The funny thing is that the reverse is true, too.
--PolarisDiB
Anyway, Sion Sono is much more well-known for the epic "Suicide Club", a consistently dazzling and nearly impenetrable thriller that, like all good horror, comments painstakingly on the social situation its filmed in. Other movies like the follow up Noriko's Dinner Table and the metanarrative Strange Circus stamp Sono down as a director to pay attention to. A movie called "Hair Extensions" just doesn't seem like his thing--but it is. Or rather, he makes it his.
This movie's plot is often described as being about a hair stylist having to fight against evil hair extensions that kill each other, but it's more like two different sensibilities ultimately clashing. The one sensibility is that very campy J-horror realm of a cursed corpse exacting revenge upon the world via hair that grows out of literally every wound and orifice, distributed by a strange fetishist who likes his fair share of silly disguises. The second aspect is the comedic-melodramatic story of young Yuko, stylist-in-training, who gets pulled out of her happy existence as a hopeful up-and-coming 20 something who likes quirks such as narrating aloud her own life when her abusive hipster sister drops off her (the sister's) little daughter Mami on Yuko's doorstep. Yuko is forced into fending for her new charge, who she quickly grows fond of, though she has to struggle against the young girl's altered perceptions of reality rended from being abused by her mother. Meanwhile, the strange hair fetishist and Yuko meet via the hair salon, people start dying, and bungling cops have no ability to understand what's actually going on. Eventually Yuko has to defend little Mami not only from an abusive mother but from violent, murderous hair. AND ITS AWESOME...
Sono is one of those gifted filmmakers who can lead the audience through horror, tragedy, comedy, and melodrama at sudden and unexpected turns, never missing a beat. Some parts of "Hair Extensions" seem cheaper than others, but he's not afraid to let the ridiculous be ridiculous and the serious be affecting. This isn't exactly his greatest work, but some parts noticeably stand out. The scene where the sister and her lover come into contact (literally) with the hair extensions is one of the most shocking, disturbing, amazing, and hilarious--and sudden--scenes in cinema. Yuko's relationship with Mami is more than just a caring adult to a hurt child, it's complicated and Yuko doesn't always know how to handle herself. Weirdly enough, "Hair Extensions" is both the most absurd and most real of Sono's work, with a fully fleshed out and functioning world supporting some of the most random acts of carnage ever shot. Even if this movie doesn't appeal to you intellectually, it certainly has sensationalistic thrills. The funny thing is that the reverse is true, too.
--PolarisDiB