Jan
26
2008
Exte: Hair Extensions (Ekusute)
Posted by luna6 Leave a Comment
Movie Review: Exte: Hair Extensions | エクステ
Release Date : February 17, 2007
Country : Japan
Director : Sion Sono
Starring : Chiaki Kuriyama, Miku Sato, Ren Osugi
Runtime : 108 min
Editor Rating : 7.0
Users Rating: 5.75 
(8 votes)
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“Exte” (Japanese for Hair Extensions) isn’t your typical horror film. While most Japanese horror films feature pale faced ghosts with long silky black hair, “Exte” brings those longs strands of black hair to the center stage and injects the hair with the ability to kill at will. Sounds strange? Indeed, it is a strange premise, but not so strange when you remember that the film was directed by Sion Sono who brought us such weird but fascinating films like “Suicide Circle,” “Noriko’s Dinning Table” and “Strange Circus”.
In “Exte” a container is found that is filled with human hair extensions and the body of a deceased female. After an autopsy, the police learn that the girl’s body was harvested for body parts. Then a creepy morgue attendant named Yamazaki, takes the corpse back to his home. It seems Yamazaki has a fetish for hair and the corpse is able to produce luxurious long black hair.
Meanwhile a young hair stylist, named Yuko (Chiaki Kuriyama) comes home to find a little girl Mami at her home. The girl belongs to her half sister (Tsugumi), who left her there without notice. Yuko then discovers bruises all over the Mami’s body, inflicted by her psychotic mother. A few days later, Mami is bored at home and decides to walk to her aunt’s hair salon. She gets lost along the way and Yamazaki (the morgue attendant with the fetish for hair) finds Mami and takes her to her aunt’s hair salon.
A couple of days later Yamazaki re-appears at the hair salon with a bird cage filled with hair extension samples. The staff at the salon all try on the extensions. Shortly afterwards, the staff and customers that wear those extensions home start turning up dead.
“Exte” also marks Sion Sono’s foray into the mainstream market. The film was released by Toei, one of the three major studios in Japan. From the audience’s perspective, if they go into “Exte” expecting a Ju-On or Ringu type of film they’ll likely end up disappointed. Rather “Exte” has visuals that are shocking, but done in a totally unique manner and minus the gore normally found in such films. The film does share some of the traits with Sono’s cult favorite the “Suicide Club” but presented in a way that more mainstream audiences may get into. The satire found in “Suicide Club” with trends and fads, re-appears somewhat in the form of hair extensions which is the hot item of the day for young ladies. The topics of abuse and dysfunctional families are also brought up again in “Exte” but not with the detail found in “Suicide Club.” Where “Exte” differs from the “Suicide Club” would be its more light hearted moments. Chiaki Kuriyama (the chain wielding femme fatale in Kill Bill) talks into the camera at certain times, narrating the story in an unusually chirpy manner. The name of the hair salon is “Gilles De Rais,” who happens to be one of the first serial killers in modern history. There’s also the wacky over the top performances by Ren Osugi as Yamazaki and Tsugumi as Kiyomi Mizushima (the psychotic mom).
“Exte” is a movie that defies easy classification, except with Sion Sono’s own films. The movie doesn’t have the bite of “Suicide Club” but it does contain imagery that is totally unique, a story line that is mostly unpredictable, and the appearance of Chiaki Kuriyama (smiles). Fans of cult films should be particularly enamored with “Exte.”
buy Exte: Hair Extensions from YesAsia
Cast:
Chiaki Kuriyama – Yuko Mizushima
Ren Osugi – Gunji Yamazaki
Megumi Sato – Yuki Morita
Tsugumi – Kiyomi Mizushima
Eri Machimoto – Sachi Koda
Miku Sato – Mami Mizushima
Mirai Yamamoto – Salon Owner
Yuna Natsuo
Ken Mitsuishi – Detective
Hiroshi Yamamoto – Detective
Tetsushi Tanaka
Yoshikazu Ebisu
If you like this film you may enjoy: The Suicide Club, A Snake of June
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2007 Movie Reviews, Japanese Movies, Movie Reviews |