EXTE HAIR EXTENSIONS

Directed by Sion Sono
Written by Sion Sono, Masaki Adachi & Makoto Sanada
Cast: Chiaki Kuriyama, Ren Osugi, Megumi Sato, Tsugumi, Eri Machimoto, Miku Sato, Mirai Yamamoto, Yuna Natsuo, Ken Mitsuishi, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Tetsushi Tanaka & Yoshikazu Ebisu

2007/108 mins/Color/Dolby Digital 5.1
1.78:1 anamorphic/Japanese/Japan/NTSC Region 1

Review from the Media Blasters DVD

"What lovely hair you have..."

Custom agents discover a cargo filled with human hair... and a dead girl. According to the police, she might have been kidnapped and a victim of black market organ traffic. But what if hair extensions of a wrongfully killed person carried a terrible grudge?

We meet Yuko (Kuriyama) who is training to become a hair stylist. Her path crosses with Yamazaki, a mortuary that stole the corpse of the dead girl from which hair stills grows. Yamazaki makes the most beautiful hair extensions out of it, attacking those who wear them.

Who else but Sion Sono could make a film about killer hair extensions interesting? This is more madness from the twisted mind of SUICIDE CLUB and STRANGE CIRCUS. The scenes were the hair comes out of people's body are rather disgusting. It’s interesting to note that the hair salon where Yuko works is named after the infamous French serial killer, Gilles de Rais. The story unfolds itself nicely and the whole subplot about the wounded eight-year-old daughter Mai actually traumatized me a little.

The film is presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. The image looks good with no compression or artifacts. We have the choice of Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 and a Dolby Digital stereo and two dubbed audio mixes in English a Dolby Digital 5.1 and A Dolby Digital. I listened to the original Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 and it sounds very good with some good directional FX and loud thunderous .1 bass. Optional English subtitles are also available. The first disc features the theatrical trailer for EXTE HAIR EXTENSIONS along with trailer for other Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock releases as SCRAP HEAVEN, THE GREAT YOKAI WAR, THE MACHINE GIRL and HEROES TWO.

The second disc features a music video for "My Hair" from which Sion Sono wrote the lyrics and music. We also get a couple of TV spots, two deleted scenes. There's an extremely interesting 48 minutes behind-the-scenes documentary (in Japanese with English subtitles), which features interviews with the cast and crew, a look at the FX and more. Finally there's an 8 minutes Q&A with the director from the 2007 Fantasia Film Festival. The film is separated in 12 chapters, features static menus with music and comes in a keep case without a booklet or inlay card.

(Original title: Ekusute)

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2009. ©