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Gabal (2005)
5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A Wig from Another Dimension, 23 November 2005
Author: Mahatma Fabrizi (mahatma_phanishwar@yahoo.co.in) from Sri Lanka
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.''
7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
A Nutshell Review: The Wig, 11 October 2005
Author: DICK STEEL from Singapore
If you'd know me by now, I take my pick of horror flicks depending on my mood. I'm game anytime for zombie films, might take a little persuasion with vampire flicks, ghosts and goblins I might like too. The Hollywood movies that is, heavily laden with effects, and most of the time compensated with gore. I haven't watched an Asian horror movie since The Ring, and now have taken my first plunge with The Wig.
Oh OK, it's all about the chicks again. Dark Water had Jennifer Connelly, Skeleton Key yesterday had Kate Hudson. In The Wig, we have two beautiful (actually in my opinion, one only) sisters Ji-hyeon (Yu Seon) and Su-hyeon (Chae Min-seo). Su-hyeon is suffering from leukemia, and isn't given too long to live. Her sister Ji-hyeon takes it upon herself to care for her until the end, which isn't expected to be too long. We see sisterly love abound after a cheesy start to the movie, and Ji-hyeon presents a wig for her sister to cover her bald head, the side effects of chemotherapy.
Of course, the wig's possessed by a spirit (hence the obvious title), and therefore takes over the life of Su-hyeon. She seemed to rapidly recover without the aid of drugs, and has a sudden lusting towards her sister's ex-boyfriend Ki-seok. Attitudes and habits change. You can experience the occasional standard horror fare like dream sequences, hallucinations, sudden appearances, pesky cats, dark corridors, creepy attics and the likes. Familiar territory for horror buffs.
So it's left to our heroine Ji-hyeon to quickly discover the whos, wheres, and whys, before it's too late to save her beloved sister from the devil. I suppose with most formulae, this discovery always ties down to the various characters in the movie, and their back-stories. It might interest you that Ji-hyeon didn't speak throughout the movie, as she was injured in an accident, so don't expect a lot of screams from her to raise your goosebumps.
But the main back-story, once revealed, is actually quite sad, especially the scenes after the revelation. It might be brief, and it might just bring out a tear or two from some sensitive audience. A slight twist at the end too when they tie up some of the subplots, which might raise some eyebrows, but only after a few cheap scares by the filmmakers.
And yes, I'll make it a point to peek under the toilet seat for the next few days. Gee, must every spirit from horror movies start to appear from everyday objects? Handphones next, anyone?
5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
This Movie Has "It", 9 November 2005
Author: wkduffy from That Parallel Universe Where What I Say Matters
Like other critics here, I'll invoke the names of some Korean movies that, similar to Gabal, have a special "shine" to them: Bunshinsaba, Tale of Two Sisters, and especially 4 Inyong Shiktak (Uninvited). Like those flicks, Gabal (The Wig) has that special "it."
What do I mean? Well, the emphasis is on characters, characters the viewer cares about (I did my fair share of both weeping and recoiling while watching); there's a dreadfully heavy sadness draping the entire affair; there's a palpable feeling of helplessness, of futility. And you simply HATE to see these already world-weary characters wrapped in such a futile, and almost randomly violent, circumstance. This is not a movie about a possessed wig leaping off the floor and strangling people. If you're looking for silly Halloween fun, hit the road. In fact, the movie really isn't about a wig at all. It is about how our fragile bodies are susceptible to diseases, like leukemia, that no one deserves to suffer. It is about how our fragile minds are susceptible to false hopes, and about how manipulative, and downright evil, we can be when we are in relationship with other human beings.
The movie confronts forced silence (one of the characters cannot speak, and her voice, when she forces it, sounds like scraping metal or a painfully squeaky door hinge). It confronts death, not in a glamorized way, but a kind of death that is a "wasting away" in an antiseptic hospital bed. The lead character's struggle with leukemia and chemotherapy, and her consequent downward spiral into a supernatural nightmare as she wears a possessed wig to cover her baldness, reminded me, wistfully, of Mann, the main character in the first Pang brothers' movie, Eye (a franchise that has simply gone down the toilet).
As a somewhat jaded viewer of horror movies (I suffered through the remake of The Fog a few weeks ago—MEA CULPA!), I am so surprised and practically gleeful when I come across a serious-minded, carefully crafted, complex horror movie that has that special "it," that ineffable substance that is a mixture of artistically presented dread, sadness, loss, and threat--of course with a few jump scares thrown in for good measure! This movie speaks and lives its dread, perhaps not as loudly or as skillfully as 4 Inyong Shiktak (Uninvited), but it comes damn close.
6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
The Wig, 16 October 2005
Author: PlusHauteTension from Canada
I bought The Wig because I liked the trailer of the movie plus I really like to buy Korean horror movies.I bought it along Red Shoes which I still have yet to see and I really liked it.It's like a mix of A Tale Of Two Sisters in style and Thai movie Shutter in substance which are also really good movies.There are a couple of twists along the way and the end twist,I really wasn't excepting it and it shocked me.I would've liked a happy ending but they chose to make it really sad.I own and have seen A Tale Of Two Sisters,Face,The Ghost,Bunshinsaba and Phone which are all Korean and I would recommend best A Tale Of Two Sisters,Bunshinsaba and The Wig.If you are not interested in seeing The Wig in Korean then maybe you should wait for the remake.
5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Evil Wig, 27 November 2007
Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In Seoul, Su-Hyeon (Min-seo Chae) is terminal with leukemia, and bold due the treatment of chemotherapy. Her sister Ji-Hyeon (Seon Yu) 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.
"Gabal" has a promising beginning, with the dramatic story of the two sisters, one of them having a terminal cancer. The intriguing mystery about the wig is also interesting. However, the secret behind the haunted wig is ridiculous and the conclusion is too tragic. I love Asian horror movies, but I found "Gabal" very unpleasant and not scary. The disappointing tragedy in the end is actually awful. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Possuída Pelo Mal" ("Possessed by Evil")
2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Well made crap script., 14 October 2006
Author: ManicMuse from New York, USA
This movie takes itself way too seriously. The title 'scary hair' says it all. The movie tells the story of a cancer sufferer who gets the gift of a cursed wig from her sister when she is released from the hospital. Did I mention that the sister is also mute and in a sucky relationship? Even though the script takes cheesy soap-opera horror to the next level, it is beautifully shot. The actors are good, but the script leaves a lot to be desired. Of course there is a twist or two at the end, but the road that leads there is confusing and cliché. This movie is more like Phone than a Tale of Two Sisters, but Phone seems Oscar worthy in comparison. Don't expect a remake.
2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Better than I expected, 8 February 2006
Author: farcoat
At first I felt annoyed because finally they did a movie out of long black hairs, which was prevalent in a lot of Asian horror movies after "the ring" came out. Titles include The Dollmaster, The Phone, Ju-on or The Grudge, Tale of Two Sisters and so and so forth.
The story is about a young woman who has gone past chemotherapy and is currently trying to live the life she never had. Her elder sisters life was also affected not only because her sisters terminal illness but because she is the only left to take care of her younger sister and she cant go on with life and get married and start a family.
Chi-Hyon, the elder sister, decided to buy a wig for her younger sister, Suh-Hyon, who almost automatically improved overnight after wearing the wig. Then the trouble started.
The film was also a bit longer than I expected, all of which were enough to let the audiences feel empathy for Suh-Hyon (the cancer survivor) as well as get mesmerized by her long silky black hair, which of course has the lead role in the film. Chi-Hyon, her elder sister, was also portrayed as ever caring and slightly on a martyr level, leaving the audiences to feel annoyed and at the same time pity Suh-Hyon.
This movie is internationally called "The Wig".
Asian movie with HAIR uuuuhh..., 26 February 2008
Author: kakoilija from Finland
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Have you ever seen an Asian horror movie with BLACK HAIR????? I haven't this was the first =D=D=D=D=D.
OK I lied... almost all have the element of long hair doing this and that.
If you're a little teen liking seeing horror movies for the first time in your little life then OK, I do get it.
On the positive side the cinematography is good. This is not a micro-budget -dv movie...
I didn't get scared even once. I thought horror movies were supposed to make feel nausea and scare so that sh*t in your pants.
Not this one... luckily I didn't pay for this one as my friend rented this one \o/.
Next time is my turn.
I think that these horror movies have turned quite a bit more non-scary when I stopped smoking hashish and weed prior to the experience few years ago. For some strange reason I remember what's going on =D.
It's not bad, but it's not great... or maybe I'm a tired man who don't feel nothing no more.
And I do hate christians and religion =D.
I know what is wrong with these movies... the pattern to scare you is always the same. Silence broken by fast movement of some unnatural effect accommodated with lots of bass... the sounds are also so convergent in all these movies. It is like as if these movies don't take risks of any kind and take the people watching for granted...
I mean I'd like to see some really disturbing stuff... I think that I could make a really disturbing movie. Something in the vain of modern Exorcist crossed with old Italo-horror. Also taking utter violence, and making bodies look real... I mean bodies hardly ever look real in movies.
I DEMAND ULTRAVIOLENCE AND UNLIMITEDHORROR NOT SOME TEEN CRAP!!!! =D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D=D WHERE'S THE BLACK METAL FEELING?
ridiculous creepy, 10 July 2007
Author: brucev13 from Netherlands
The introduction of "The Wig" sets the tone which is dark and mysterious! Apart from a few creepy scenes this movie never gets scary! The idea of this evil wig has quite a potential in fantastic sense (It is interesting to see how the wig was created and why the wig does what it does) and on a psychological level (The effects of wearing a wig can be quite substantial especially on people who have lost their hair because of an illness! It could have some impact on their personality)! But sadly nothing is done with the far more interesting psychological aspects! At least not in the way I hoped for! Except for the brilliant plot twist this movie misses the mark completely! The fact that "The Wig" takes itself too seriously doesn't help much! When the ambiance is this serious you expect to be scared! The problem is that this never happens! It is very difficult to get scared when the wig moves around like it is some sort of pet! It looks so ridiculous that it is painful to watch! It is difficult to say why this movie doesn't work! But it doesn't help that the actors are average,that there are too many plot holes and that the director didn't know what he was doing!
The wig is coming to getcha!, 14 April 2007
Author: Atavisten from Tellus
Interesting premise here. A wig that is sewn of a suicides scalp takes host in poor Su-yoon, a victim of leukemia who lost her hair during chemotherapy. Throw in a dash of homosexuality and some frustrated artists, mix with all the regular flashbacks, dark corridors, cats jumping in your face and hallucinations and there's your enjoyable standard Asian horror sprinkled with some gory effects. Hm, I found out I don't actually like to get scared of horror movies, now after 15 years of watching 'em. If you, however, like to sit on the edge of your seat and are prepared to look beyond the little stilted acting and weak script this might be up your ally.
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