The Wig

The Wig is not your average ghost movie. While most Asian horror flicks feature long-haired female ghosts, this Korean film is about a long-haired male spirit trying to reunite with his male lover.

More shocking is that the ghost resembles 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung, much to the amusement of Hong Kong audiences. Both are stubborn and passionate men. Also, their hair looks increasingly out of place and dirty as people start to lose faith in their beliefs.

In the film, the man is spurned by his lover and commits suicide. His hair is used to create a beautiful wig, which is worn by a girl dying of cancer who lives with her mute sister.

It comes as no surprise - given that everything in a ghost movie happens for a reason - that the sister is the ex-girlfriend of the ghost's lover. The virginal younger sister begins to see strange things and starts acting like a different person. When she's not dancing in discos, she's using all her charms to seduce the artist. The elder sister senses something suspicious and decides, out of jealousy and despair, to put a stop to it.

This is a weird ghost story, which doesn't work in the end. After a scary and suspenseful opening, the story shows flaws before it can offer something dramatic or interesting enough to keep our attention for over 90 minutes. There are too many loopholes in the plot, and all characters are either too nutty or too selfish for us to sympathise with.

There are a few scary moments, though, much to the credit of director Won Sin-yeon, who does a better job of staging sudden frights with the camera, sound effects and editing than telling a story.