Bloodtype Online

    The lives of two doomed sisters are shattered by the effects of a haunted wig in this very original, but somewhat uneven, Korean horror film.  Jihyun brings her terminally ill sister, Soo-hyun, home in order to spend their final days together away from gloomy hospitals.  Left mute by a devastating car accident, she also resolves to lie to her sister about her condition, carefully asserting that she has been cured.  Determined to make Soo-hyun’s final days special, Jihyun also purchases a long, lustrous wig to help hide the ravages of her sister’s leukemia.  The wig, however, carries a curse.  Its creator died soon after sewing his own finger to the lining and the origins of the wig twist fate and vengeance, revealing secrets so surprising, it is doubtful that any viewer will be able to guess their existence. 

    Soo-hyun’’s spirits are definitely lifted by the wig.  As days pass, she becomes more content and energetic.  Yet, her renewed energy also brings sinister personality changes.  Soo-hyun is obsessed with taking pictures and she stops her medication.  She also becomes predatory and cruel, unable to resist making advances towards her sister’s fiancée.  Even more disturbing are the gradual alterations in her facial features.  Soo-hyun is barely recognizable.  Her health returns (even her doctor confirms her miraculous remission), but violently grim hallucinations disrupt her pleasant moments and she becomes gravely ill when separated from the wig.  Death and fate surround these two sisters forcing Jihyun to investigate the wig’s sinister past. 

    The Wig is a very original story presented in gloomy shades of pale grey and light, drab greens.  Sadness, isolation, and dread follow the characters in nearly every frame.  There are some really nice special effects--Jihyun’s car accident and Soo-hyun’s crime scene visions are genuinely gruesome.  For me, there are two  standouts.  There is a fabulous scene where Soo-hyun is in the tub and the camera remains focused on her emaciated back.  Her head is down and her arms are crossed in front of her, creating this striking shot of a foreign sickly body, detached from a living person.  The other  takes place in a hospital towards the end of the film.  When you take in the actor’s manically gleeful expression along with her incredibly bloody act of self-mutilation, well, that is a scene that will stay with me for quite some time.   

    While I did enjoy the movie, I still feel hesitant about  the way the story is presented.  Again, the resolution is really unexpected (in a good way) but there’s a “Let’s Explain It All” montage and it bugged me.  It’s noticeable because The Wig is fueled by the plot.  The effects are wonderful, but they are used sparingly.  Since this isn’t a string of cool looking blood shots with some lame story tossed in as an afterthought,  plot presentation really matters and it falls short.  The plot falters too.  Since it was this unique cursed wig, given to a cancer patient (how cruel), I felt a little let down.  In spite of the new twists, this story can still get stuck explaining the overly familiar.   

** 1/2

Jennie Milojevic