Ekusute (2007)

About hair extensions that attack the women that wear them.

Directors:

Sion Sono, Joe DiGiorgi

Writers:

Sion Sono (screenplay), Masaki Adachi (screenplay)

Stars:

Chiaki Kuriyama, Megumi Satô, Tsugumi

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chiaki Kuriyama	...	Yûko Mizushima
Megumi Satô	...	Yuki Morita
Tsugumi	...	Kiyomi Mizushima
Eri Machimoto	...	Sachi Kôda
Miku Satô	...	Mami
Yûna Natsuo	...	Kondô
Ken Mitsuishi	...	Tatsuo Sugawara
Hiroshi Yamamoto	...	Jirô Tamura
Tetsushi Tanaka	...	Yaguchi
Hikari Mitsushima	...	Yuriko Shiina
Ayaka Onoue	...	Nana Katô (as Aya Onoue)
Ryôsuke Nagata	...	Yûta Sakurai
Erika Mine	...	Sarina Tanaka
Mari Hayashida	...	Yukari Suzuki
Yoji Tanaka	...	Takashima

Storyline

What if extensions carried the grudge of the individual to which the hair originally belonged and started attacking people wearing it at random? Customs agents discover a huge amount of human hair used as materials for 'hair extensions' along with the dead body of a young girl with a shaved head. With the corpse being soon transported by the police, the results of the autopsy determine that the woman's internal organs have been harvested. The possibility is pointed out that she was kidnapped in some foreign country and was a victim of black market human organ racketeering ring. A sinister, fearless smirk comes over Yamazaki (Ren Osugi), the morgue night watchman. Yuko (Chiaki Kuriyama) is a young wannabe hair stylist apprenticing at the Gilles de Rais hair salon. After working late each day, after returning home, she tirelessly practices her skills on head mannequins with wigs. One day, her sister, Kiyomi, forcibly entrusts her eight-year-old daughter, Mami, to Yuko. For some reason, ...

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Plot Keywords:

cunt | fluzzy | crying | deviant | tear | 

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Taglines:

What lovely hair you have...

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent and disturbing content, some terror and language

Did You Know?

Connections

References Joshû 701-gô: Sasori (1972)

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Soundtracks

Haruka
Music by Zentaro Watanabe
Lyrics by Eri Machimoto
Performed by Eri Machimoto
Courtesy of SME Records

User Reviews

Not buildup- or constructed well enough for a horror.

Now, doesn't the premise of this movie sounds just awesome and interesting? A movie in which hair extensions attack and kill those that wear them, how could this movie not be awesome? Well, for one because it picks a totally strange and wrong approach to its subject.

The movie is a horror but only with its main premise. The movie itself picks a more dramatic approach, while the horror moments are mostly being comical and over-the-top ones. It's such a weird mixture of different genres, that doesn't quite work out that great or ever becomes very interesting to watch.

At first I actually thought this was going to be a parody of the Japanese horror genre but then suddenly it started to take a very serious and more straightforward approach with all of its dramatic story elements. I just don't know how to take this movie and I wonder if the film-makers themselves knew what direction they were going for.

Because the movie is mostly being a drama, it also means that it has a slow pace and buildup to it. Nothing wrong with that, as long as there is something good or interesting going on in the story as well. And that really isn't always the case in this movie. As a matter of fact, even though this is a well under 2 hours short movie, it still feels like a much longer one.

I feel that the movie could had truly benefited more from its horror. It should had done more with it, since it actually was the horror that still made this movie somewhat worthwhile. Yes, it has a ridicules concept but that's why it also works and becomes an original and interesting one with its horror. Also the effects looked pretty decent and some more killings or gore could had really spiced up things for this movie. The potential and possibilities were all there but the movie never really fully uses any it.

A strange mixture of far too many genres. It's not all that bad but it still remains a just too big of a waste, of some fine potential.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

17 February 2007 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Exte: Hair Extensions

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$113,701

Company Credits

Production Co:

Central Arts, Toei Picture Company Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1