(2007, Japan)
It's good to see actress Chiaki Kuriyama finally back in a Japanese horror film. But with Sion Sono directing, it was never going to be a straightforward affair.
 
Sono also wrote and directed the infamous SUICIDE CIRCLE aka SUICIDE CLUB (2002), with its unbelievable opening sequence where dozens of schoolgirls join hands at the edge of a subway platform and then jump under a train. Despite a central story of an investigation into the serial suicides, the director tied in a bizarre subplot involving a girl band. The opening was a great hook, the dramatic scenes were gripping and downbeat, but Sono was obliquely exploring other themes - the sort that only film critics seem to understand. The bizarre song and dance from the extremely nasty villain took me by surprise, and the movie flew over my head as I listened to a really bad song, apparently a tribute to THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Nope, I didn't get that reference - had to read about it later. Anyhow, EXTE is Sono's new film, half of which I love, half I didn't.
 I knew something wasn't quite right during the opening scene, when customs officers open a dockside container only to find it full of human hair. When a corpse is discovered inside, one of the officers makes a comedy face before running away. Surely this was a serious horror film? That's how it's been sold.
Chiaki Kuriyama plays Yuko, a trainee stylist at a small hair salon. Her studies are interupted by her step-sister who dumps her daughter with her while she's off partying with drunken businessmen. As if babysitting wasn't problem enough, a weird guy turns up at the salon giving away hair extensions, cursed ones...
 I love Sion Sono's handling of the horror scenes, but I don't understand what else he's trying to achieve. EXTE has many fine horror moments, with strong performances from a good cast. But the story is almost non-existent, driven only by the whims of a completely insane villain. Not realistic-insane, not movie-stereotype insane, but comedy-mad like a 1960s BATMAN villain. Penguin likes umbrellas and birds, Riddler likes riddles, Catwoman likes cats… and in the same two-dimensional way, Yamazaki likes hair. That's it. No complex backstory, no scheme, no plan. He just likes hair. This point is oft-repeated, especially when he sings a useless atonal ditty, the lyrics of which are just 'my hair'. If Sono is trying to send up the horror genre, he needs to be funnier.
While actor Ren Osugi (of UZUMAKI, NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE, AUDITION and many more) is always reliable for creepy villainy, but here he's asked to dress in wigs and silly sunhats. As Yamazaki, his day job is to sell the hair he cuts from corpses while on night shift in the mortuary. As a vaguely camp hair extensions salesman, or waltzing round his grubby apartment talking to a corpse, he seems to be playing for laughs. But not only isn't it funny, these scenes are completely at odds with the rest of the film. There are gruesomely detailed deaths by hair, as it tries to rip itself free of its owner, or as it snakes around into ears, up noses and slithers around eyeballs...
Despite the spectacularly painful hair murders, the only real horror is when the abused girl's mother tries to reclaim her, banging on the door, and trying to lie her way into the house. The characters in this storyline are well-rounded and expertly acted. It totally works as a grim drama. But as soon as we return to Yamazaki, the film becomes a comedy again.
 
There's so much that I like about EXTE. The shame is that Sion Sono could make great horror films, if only he took them seriously. I suppose that if you get his humour, the film may still work for you.
EXTE- HAIR EXTENSIONS is shortly on DVD in the US, and already out in a special edition in the UK.
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