Presents:
[HEADING=1]Three... Extremes[/HEADING]
Directed by Fruit Chan, Park Chan-Wook and Miike Takashi
I?ve always wondered why so many horror movies seem to conform to the premise of having teenagers being picked off one by one. It?s not particularly interesting, it limits your casting choice to inexperienced actors, and it?s already been done to death. It?s like the zombie craze from the 70s and 80s, only more obnoxious.
Even when being ridiculed to no end, producers still throw out more of the same shit. Hell, it?s gotten so bad that they?re making parodies out of parodies on the subject, with Scary Movie being a parody of Scream, which in turn is a satire of the teenager horror flick genre.
However, this only seems to be an issue on the Western front. Move to the East and you?ll find Asian horror movies that make films like Bloody Valentine look like Saturday morning cartoons. You know what I?m talking about: Ringu, Ju-On, and a bunch of other juicy horror films, most of which feature creepy little girls with long hair.
So if one is starving for horror, checking out the Asian section in your local DVD store might be a good option. And if that is what you are planning on doing any time soon, then let me put something on your recommendation list.
Three? Extremes [footnote]The ellipsis makes the title a ***** to pronounce fast[/footnote] is a collaboration between three different directors from three different Asian countries, and features three short movies:
Dumplings, directed by Chinese film maker Fruit Chan, a man known for creating movies with heavy social commentary of Hong Kong society.
Cut, directed by Park Chan-Wook, the South Korean film maker famous for previously directing Old Boy
Box, directed by Takashi Miike, infamous for such movies as Ichi the Killer and Dead or Alive.
Chances are, you?ve heard of at least one of these guys, and if you have, you know that this is going to be a horror flick unlike most others. I?m glad to tell you that you are right.
[HEADING=2]Dumplings[/HEADING]
Life is hard for an actress who?s lived through her prime. Our protagonist is no exception to this. As she?s growing steadily older, her face gains wrinkles and she loses much of her beauty. This prompts her husband to start having a lover. Depressed about her life, she is desperate to find a way to grow more beautiful.
In comes Mei, a mysterious woman claiming that her dumplings have the power to make you look younger. When asked about how she can prove this, she retorts with a question of her own. ?How old do you think I am?? The actress guesses on 30. I would have said 28. But if we are to believe Mei, she is much, much older than that.
Older than she looks
As you?ve probably figured out by now, the content of these dumplings is the source of horror. And to an extent, you would be right. However, it is not merely the dumplings that will horrify you, but also the arc of our protagonist, and when you get to see the climax that has been built up during these 40 minutes, I can?t guarantee that you?ll be able to continue watching the other two films.
As for what the dumplings contain, well? Let?s just say that Stem Cell research isn?t as appealing anymore.
[HEADING=2]Cut[/HEADING]
This time around, our protagonist is a nice and handsome man in the movie making business, and business is good. He is one of the most successful horror directors in Korea, is married to a beautiful wife, lives in a big, expensive house, and everybody loves him for his warm and charming personality.
Everybody but one.
As he gets home one day, he is knocked unconscious, and wakes up on one of his film sets. His wife is hung from several wires in the ceiling, with her fingers glued to the keys of a piano stationed in front of her, and on a nearby couch is a little girl of barely 7 years old tied down and gagged. The director himself is held back by a rope attached to the wall.
The very haunting setting for this film
In the middle of the room stands a man. He is not attractive, he is not successful, and as we are soon to find out, he is not nice. He hates the director because he is everything he is not, and he wants him to become evil so that his jealousy will disappear.
He gives the man a task: strangle the little girl to death, or he will chop of one of his wife?s fingers every 5 minutes.
The best way to describe this film would probably be: it is what SAW would have been if it was less complicated, less convoluted, and actually good. It doesn?t need over-elaborate traps because the tension is more than enough to terrify, it doesn?t need a bunch of plot twists or conspiracy theories because the premise works in its simplicity, and it doesn?t need a faceless evil the main characters never see because the evil we actually see is much scarier.
Considering that it was released half a month before the first SAW film, I?m prepared to say that the cult following that franchise has gotten should have been given to this movie instead. But I digress. It?s time for the final movie.
[HEADING=2]Box[/HEADING]
Can?t have a Japanese horror film without creepy Japanese girls
A female author is having strange dreams that may or may not be part of her childhood. In these dreams, she is a young circus performer working with her father and her twin sister. Their act is that they climb into incredibly small boxes which their father then shuts, and soon enough they have disappeared.
Backstage, the father favors the twin sister over the two, and incest is implied. Eventually, the jealous girl locks her sister into one of the boxes, and what happens next is both horrifying and thought provoking. The final scene will probably haunt you for some time.
The real appeal of these movies is that none of them rely on cheap ways of scaring you. There is no jump scares, and the gore that is present is not just there for gore?s sake. All three films are very different in many ways, so you won?t get easily bored with the entire film, and if you don?t like one of the movies, there are still two left.
Good horror is hard to find these days, and this is probably as good as it gets, so if you are in the mood to be terrified, this movie is highly recommended. A fair warning though: It is not for the faint of heart. There are scenes in this film which have grossed up people I know for a fact watch the bloodiest of movies with ease, particularly in the first one. Still, if you think you are up to the task, don?t hesitate to get a hold of this film.
