Gabal (2005)

Director:

Shin-yeon Won

Writers:

Sung-won Cho (screenplay)
Hyun-jung Do (story)

Release Date:

12 August 2005 (South Korea)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

In Seoul, Su-Hyeon is terminal with leukemia, and bold due the treatment of chemotherapy. Her sister Ji-Hyeon buys a long-haired wig...

Plot Keywords:

Possession | Homosexual | Hair Loss | Wig | Suicide

Cast

Min-seo Chae	...	Su-hyeon
Hyon-Jin Sa
Seon Yu	...	Ji-hyeon

Also Known As:

The Wig (International: English title) (Philippines: English title) (DVD title) (Singapore: English title)

Runtime:

South Korea:106 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Japan:R-15 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

South Korea

Quotes:

Hee-ju's ghost in Soo-hyun's body: Teacher. It's me, Hee-ju.
Ki-seok: [Confused] Soo-hyun...
Hee-ju's ghost in Soo-hyun's body: I'm Hee-ju, not Soo-hyun... Feel me. I'm not a man anymore.
Ki-seok: You're not Hee-ju... Hee-ju's dead.
Hee-ju's ghost in Soo-hyun's body: I'm alive right now! I've waited so long for this moment. I so wanted to reveal myself to you...
Ki-seok: Hee-ju, it's no use. Let Soo-hyun go. That body isn't yours.
Hee-ju's ghost in Soo-hyun's body: You liked me. You loved me!
Ki-seok: I loved you... But ...
Hee-ju's ghost in Soo-hyun's body: Love is for one person only!... And it never wavers.

A Wig from Another Dimension

The movie pamphlets, posters and TV commercials for ''The Wig" (Scary Hair), a horror film centered around a demonic hairpiece,'' do not do this psychological shock-horror movie justice.

Although there are underlying sexual politics at work in Director Won Shin-Yeon feature film debut, they did not warrant billing the film as just a common variety summer sex tease. Someone should have told the promotion team that shock-horror also sells, and ''The Wig'' delivers with several frightening instances. Though the deeper psychological elements were weakly executed by the novice director, he can be excused considering he had but one demonic wig to work with.

That demonic wig is not just scary-looking, it moves, too -- even flies. Some of the movie's more startling moments derive from the animated hairpiece leaping out at our moody heroines. The long dark coiffure goes from spooky, to haunting to, at length, murderous...

The wig is a gift that Chi-hyon (Yu Son), who later has her vocal chords ripped from the back of her throat in a automobile accident, gives to her younger sister Su-Hyon (Chae Min-So), who loses her hair via chemotherapy. The wig is possessed, fabricated from the hair of several dead women, the audience is only belatedly informed, that is why the wig revitalizes her cancer-ridden body, and soon takes over her mind.

The movie should do better than expected. Despite the anemic air-conditioning at a theater in downtown Jaffna on a sultry evening, the teenagers in the audience laughed and screamed with the characters on the screen, giving the impression that the film may overcome its bad marketing.

Won first received artistic recognition for his grand prize-winning film short ''Puppy for President.''