12 February 2016

THREE... EXTREMES. 2004. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.


THREE... EXTREMES. 2004. TARTAN ASIA EXTREME. DIRECTED BY FRUIT CHAN, PARK CHAN-WOOK AND TAKASHI MIIKE. STARRING MIRIAM YEUNG, LEE BYUNG-HUN AND KYOKO HASEGAWA. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

This strictly over-18s horror film is a collaboration between three of the Asian horror genre's finest directors. Fruit Chan, Park Chan-wook and Takashi Miike have each contributed a segment. The segments are entitled DUMPLINGS, CUT and BOX and are famous for containing shocking and extreme (hence the title!) horror sequences. The films are from Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan respectively. Talk about a cultural pot-pourri...! I love it, love it, love it.

DUMPLINGS was by far my favourite short film. It tells the story of Mrs. Li, a rich housewife who looks to a local- but extremely dodgy- chef to prolong her youth and beauty. Desperate to retain- or should that be regain?- the love of her unfaithful husband, Mrs. Li eats dumplings cooked for her by the strangely youthful-looking Aunt Mei because said dumplings apparently contain restorative and regenerative powers.

Mrs. Li wolfs down the dumplings in the full awareness that they contain a truly gruesome secret ingredient. Just how far is this desperate housewife prepared to go to attract the attention of her louse of a cheating  hubby? You won't believe how far she's prepared to go...

Director Fruit Chan later expanded this horror short into a full-length feature film. From a grisly appetiser to a main course of pure gastric abomination, as it were. As Mr. Burns from THE SIMPSONS might say: 'Excellent....!'

The second segment is about a movie director who comes home from shooting one day to find that a disgruntled extra whom he's employed in the past has planned a series of nasty surprises for the director and his wife. There are a couple of clever twists in this horror short and it features Lee Byung-hun, the handsome co-star of I SAW THE DEVIL (2010), an excellent Korean horror flick.

The final segment was probably my least favourite. Takashi Miike, director of the truly twisted film AUDITION, presents us with a film that's quite arty and metaphorical in places, which I found a bit annoying. It's the story of a female novelist who unwittingly committed an act of such heinous atrocity in her childhood that it haunts her to this day. What exactly has she done, and will she someday have to pay the piper? Be sure your sins will always find you out...

These three films make for an incredibly entertaining night's viewing. You certainly couldn't find a better way to showcase the different talents of these brilliantly talented directors. Treat yourselves to a great night in with THREE... EXTREMES. And remember, a nice big plate of dumplings would make a delicious side-dish if you're feeling peckish. They have these amazing restorative powers, you know. I wonder what's in them...?

  AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.

Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can contact her at:


http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com





1 comment:

  1. Loved this movie. If you have not seen it yet, check out Miike's Imprint, his unbroadcast Masters of Horror entry. It will parts of you that you didn't know where cold.

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