Directed by: Shin-yeon Won
Writers: Sung-won Cho (screenplay), Hyun-jung Do and Shin-yeon Won (story)
Review by Simina(written for http://www.horroronscreen.com/)
In Seoul, Su-Hyeon is terminal with leukemia, and bald due the treatment of chemotherapy. Her sister Ji-Hyeon buys a long-haired wig, but she does not disclose the truth about Su-Hyeon’s health condition to her beloved sister. While wearing the wig, Su-Hyeon recovers her health and hits Ji-Hyeon’s former boyfriend Ki-Seok, changing her behavior and relationship with her sister. When Ji-Hyeon discovers that the wig is possessed by a fiend, she finds that it was manufactured using hair of a cadaver and a dark secret about Ki-Seok’s sentimental life.
Watching this last night, it felt like I was on quest of seeing every Asian horror movie out there, where the main villain is … hair. But after further investigations, I discovered that, like Hollywood is using repeatedly the scary side of werewolves and vampire legends to terrify the audience, Asians (mostly the Japanese) use the legend of Onryo, a ghost intend on revenge from the afterlife. In Noh theatre, she always appears dressed in a white kimono, white makeup, and long, straggly, unkempt black hair. Not that it bothers me. I tend to enjoy this kind of movies. And in this one, the ghost haunts the hair she left behind, instead of a house or a person. But…
Scary Hair (Gabal) also known as The Wig lacks the element of surprise. The idea of two sisters, one with terminal cancer, and the other without a voice, is new. Other than that, you will find different elements used in other horror flicks, prior to this. The investigation after the death of a close friend, the discovery of a secret relationship between the boyfriend and the one from whom they took the hair to make the wig, the sad story of an unrequited love… Well, I’ve seen all these before and it was kind of predictable.
Do not let my ranting get in the way of seeing this movie. Even with the predictability, it still has some moments that successfully make you jump.
I give it 5/10.
Moody Clappers 