Sono Sion, the cult director of Suicide Club and Noriko's Dinner Table, continues to thrill and chill with his latest film Ekusute - Hair Extensions (a.k.a. Exte - Hair Extensions). The female long-haired spectre is, of course, a Japanese horror staple, and Sono takes it one step further by placing the dreaded locks at the center of this spine-tingling film. Appropriately enough, Ekusute stars Kuriyama Chiaki (Kill Bill, Battle Royale) who is known for her long straight hair, alongside veteran character actor Osugi Ren. Given its theme, the film could easily be mistaken as just stock J-horror fare, but in his past works, Sono has show himself to be anything but conventional, and Ekusute is no exception. The director leaves his mark clearly with eccentric characterization, unpredictable storytelling, and a creepy meditation on hair, both beautiful and horrific.

Ekusute begins in bloody, unsettling fashion with the discovery of the body of a young girl, whose organs have been harvested and hair shaven to make extensions. The corpse ends up in the hands of morgue watchman and hair fetishist Yamazaki (Osugi Ren), who excitedly discovers that the girl's hair is still growing. He uses her long and silky hair to make extensions, which he sells to customers who invariably turn up dead, strangled by their own hair. When Yamazaki meets flighty aspiring hairstylist Yuko (Kuriyama Chiaki), he immediately becomes mesmerized by her beautiful hair, and presents her with a gift of hair extensions. The entire Video is on this page.

Our Rating is 3 out of 4 hairpins.