Audience Member
Majestically beautiful tale, this is the second South Korean film that has just stopped in my tracks.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I only saw a little of it with my friends.. but the synopsis here on fb helped..
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/15/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Wigs are creepy; everyone knows that (case-in-point: Tyra Banks). However, long, straight black wigs are scary, especially when they're draped over one's face (see "Ringu"/"The Ring"). So what better antagonist for a horror film than a long, straight black wig? Hmmm...I can't think of any, can you? (Aside from Tyra Banks.) No? Apparently, neither can the educated men behind writer-director Won Shin-yeon's 2005 industry debut, "The Wig", a conventional Korean horror-thriller whose villain is, yes...a wig.
But, before you renounce this film for being so silly (which will happen sooner or later anyway), know that there's a perfect explanation behind the murderous becoming of the film's bad guy/girl/hair...well, sort of (actually, not really). Su-hyeon (Chae Min-seo) is battling leukemia and has lost all of her hair to failed chemotherapy sessions. Her older sister, Ji-hyeon (Yu Seon), discharges her from the hospital in which she was being treated and gives to her a gift: a long, straight black wig that, unbeknownst to either of the girls, was sewn from the hair of a suicide victim who haunts anyone who wears it.
Soon before long, Su-hyeon is making inexplicable progress in health -- she even starts to grow her own hair back-and attempting to create a happy life for herself (mostly by seducing her sister's ex-boyfriend, whom Ji-hyeon had plans to marry). Yet, with her rejuvenated wellbeing comes terrifying, violent hallucinations (you know, severed heads in toilets, ghosts in mirrors; the usual) and a frightening dependence on the wig -- she ages faster and reverts to sickness without it. And she's not the only one who suffers the wig's heinous spell; her sister begins seeing gruesome things as well, which eventually culminate in a bloodletting rage.
Won Shin-yeon certainly never wishes for viewers to feel as though they have a firm grip on his film, as its structure is as confusing as its motive and its story more crowded than a nerd's backpack -- character development is heavily misinterpreted here to include meddlesome backstories (one about Su and Ji's dead parents, the other explaining why Su-hyeon is a mute) and an irritating love-triangle -- and twistier than an Indian burn (particularly the last half-hour, in which Won attempts to make his movie meaningful, but fails). Nonetheless, there are scenes that are sure to make you jump (although they're foreseeable and wouldn't be that daunting if it weren't for the instantaneous jolt of several dozen decibels), as well as some beautiful shots of South Korea that will have you wishing Shin-yeon's focus were on filmscape rather than shock-fright. But it's not. And the result isn't friendly.
"The Wig" is a contradiction of sorts: it's well filmed, yet poorly directed; grimacing, though not scary; busy, but empty. It's the kind of Saturday night fare that leaves you wondering why you didn't watch SNL or Cartoon Network's Adult Swim instead. It's also the kind of DVD that you regret renting over "Sasquatch Hunters". It has three modest bonus featurettes -- a making-of piece, a special effects informative, and a behind-the-scenes take -- but they'll only interest those who thoroughly enjoyed the film itself, and I'm betting even they would rather switch the TV to paid programming than endure more of "The Wig".
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/19/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
>
