Exte: Hair Extensions
February. 17,2007An aspiring hair dresser becomes the infatuation of a tricophilic man who sells hair extensions to nearby hair salons. The source of the hair is the corpse of a girl whose dead body continues to grow beautiful, voluminous, black hair that comes alive, driving those who use the extensions insane or killing them.
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This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
I am from invisablend hair extension company, i saw this movie ,nice movie with great story ,very well usages of horror scenes with nice background music.I am from invisablend hair extension company, i saw this movie ,nice movie with great story ,very well usages of horror scenes with nice background music.I am from invisablend hair extension company, i saw this movie ,nice movie with great story ,very well usages of horror scenes with nice background music.I am from invisablend hair extension company, i saw this movie ,nice movie with great story ,very well usages of horror scenes with nice background music.I am from invisablend hair extension company, i saw this movie ,nice movie with great story ,very well usages of horror scenes with nice background music.
A film about killer hair extensions sounds ridiculous, and it is – but in a good way. EXTE comes across as a semi-serious spoof on the whole 'long haired' ghost sub-genre so beloved of Japanese cinema in the last fifteen years or so. At the same time, it stands alone and works as such a film in itself; there are plenty of moments that blur the line between weird and creepy and just plain surreal. To put it plainly, it's a film the likes of which I've never quite seen before.The film kicks off with a cargo container being opened with the discovery that it's packed full of human hair – as well as a woman's corpse. A strange discovery, but the movie just gets stranger from there. The corpse is stolen by a fetishist who then goes on to sell the still-growing hair to various hairdressers, one of which is the 'Gilles de Rais' salon (named after a French serial killer). The heroine of the film is a hairdresser played by KILL BILL: VOLUME 1's Chiaki Kuriyama who must contend with an unloved child, an abusive sister and various job woes as well as this supernatural curse.The plot is an excuse for a number of scenes in which the possessed hair goes about killing people. It seems to do this from the inside out; instead of bodies splitting open and blood coming out, hair comes out instead. The special effects are well achieved and the film as a whole has an offbeat tone that makes it highly enjoyable and a real breath of fresh air after the latest overly-familiar ghost story. The willingness to laugh at itself is the icing on a very bizarre cake.
I have a good time watching works like this. Films like these use visual, and symbolic codes specifically directed to a certain dark piece of audience, who is willing to live a life in films outside the most widespread conventions, and accept what comes with that. One of the thing i like the most when watching such a piece in a public venue (usually crowded with the hard fans of these kinds of productions) is to observe how those fans respond to certain conventions inside the 'genre'. To me, because i only make occasional visits, it's something equivalent to visiting a foreign country, i observe how people behave, what's mood of the place i'm visiting.Inside those alternative conventions, this is a good film, i suppose. At least it made it for me, to the point of wanting to know more work of this director. He has a vision, in the middle of this kind of capillary horror, he has an interesting concept which spreads clearly and embraces the film, as much as the hair embraces all the characters.Hair as open channels. Hair as an element to connect people, to connect lives, and past lives. And to share death. It's an effective narrative device. The dead hair growing girl works as a kind of noir agent, someone who controls the action, but we are the whole time inside the device (we had to be to make the whole thing credible, and also because it was important for the creators and for the genre to explore the one-eyed dead girl). She manipulates through hair, and has a human puppet who delivers hair, and makes the whole thing work. That silly man is her hands in the street, giving death randomly. That agent believes all the way that he controls her, but we come to understand it's the other way around.This clear storytelling strategy makes the film pleasant enough to me. It's a solid production work, the stop-motions were made with competence, and you will enjoy this if you like to explore interesting storytelling and if you're willing to accept, at least for 2 hours, the conventions of this corner in film universe (that if you're not already inside it).My opinion: 3/5 http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com
I have to say that i had to laugh when i first read a brief summary, which only focused on the hair-horror part. "Killing hair?! what the .. ?!", i thought. But after seeing "Suicide Circle" and "Strange Circus" i knew that there has to be way more than this ridiculous story."Exte" is obviously a parody! But there seems to be an awful lot of people who expected something like the grudge or the ring and are now pretty disappointed. Well, the scenario is pretty cliché and the ending was pretty gruff; nothing has been really explained at that point. Well, there are a lot of indicators which show directly towards parody! ;) At the very beginning for example: all these ultra-cliché dialog which was narrated in an obscure way in third person; the hair-salon which was named after a french serial killer (had to look that up); etc ...BUT!! This film is still pretty scary ... and i don't mean only the hair, which .. was also scary (yeah, i was kinda scared ;) Human were the most scary/pitiful part here: The girl who was abducted and then used as a source for organs; The mother who abuses her child incessantly; then the child itself, of course; the hair-otaku, a real pitiful psycho; the main character (kuriyama) who carries a heavy burden of the past; all these people who don't care at all where this hair is coming from; just focusing on their beauty .. and all these other side-characters who might also have some sort of a problem.Well, why then the hair-horror-part? Isn't abuse horror enough? ... you might ask. Well, i was wondering myself a bit ;) I mean .. from my perspective it worked out pretty well! .. anxiety, fear, panic, anger, frustration and in the end some sort of relief. It was there! Maybe because the hair-horror part made it easier to grasp the part about abuse etc. In my opinion "Exte" is some sort of an homage and at the same time a critique, that most horror flicks tend to be very superficial and are not trying to imply more than pure scare; some thought-provoking stuff; for example abuse .. ? ;)Anyway: Cast was great!! Especially Osugi was really amazing! Art/direction was also a real feat! The Soundtrack wasn't that impressive but however the sound-design was stunningly good!All in all an amazing film! Especially for J-horror fans with a little bit of humor and for those who have an interest in social relevant topics.Too bad that so many people have been irritated by it .. ;)