The Wig Explained

The Wig
Native Name:
Child:yes
Hangul:가발
Rr:Gabal
Mr:Kabal
Director:Won Shin-yun
Producer:Kim Yong-dae
Lee Seo-yeol
Starring:Chae Min-seo
Yoo Sun
Sa Hyeon-jin
Music:Kim Jun-seong
Cinematography:Kim Dong-eun
Editing:Kim Sun-min
Studio:Korea Entertainment
Distributor:CJ Entertainment
Runtime:106 minutes
Country:South Korea
Language:Korean
Gross:[1]

The Wig is 2005 South Korean horror film directed by Won Shin-yun, and starring Chae Min-seo and Yoo Sun. It was first released on August 12, 2005, in South Korea and was released onto DVD in the United States in 2008.

Plot

A young woman named Soo-hyeon (Chae Min-seo) is battling cancer and her older sister Ji-hyeon (Yoo Sun) decides that she should take her home so that she can enjoy what little time she has left rather than spend it in a hospital. Ji-hyeon is mute, because of a car accident that impaled her throat. She buys a long-haired wig for her sister so that she can go out without feeling ashamed of being bald; Soo-hyeon is very happy with the gift and wears it constantly: she begins to look and act healthier and more attractive, and leaves the house often.

Soon, however, Soo-hyeon begins to become a vainer girl who becomes obsessed with the wig and begins to try and steal Ji-hyeon's boyfriend. He breaks up with Ji-hyeon but is not interested in Soo-hyeon. One day, one of Ji-hyeon's friends finds out that her husband is cheating on her. Soo-hyeon lends her the wig, saying that she will feel prettier and better. The next day, however, the friend is found dead with her husband, covered in hair. Soo-hyeon's wig has been returned to her, mysteriously. She cruelly ignores Ji-hyeon at every attempt at conversation and is plagued with frightening images of the friend's demise. The next day, she tries to have sex with Ji-hyeon's ex, but Ji-hyeon picks her up and the two drive home. Soo-hyeon goads her, angering Ji-hyeon.

At home, the two don't speak until Soo-hyeon washes the wig and Ji-hyeon sees a ghost in it, revealing that the wig is cursed and is corrupting and possessing Soo-hyeon. Ji-hyeon grabs the wig and locks Soo-hyeon in her room, then cuts the wig to shreds. The cancer comes back stronger than ever and Soo-hyeon has to go back to the hospital, unhappy and refusing to see her sister. She escapes the hospital after not taking her medication. We then see a disturbing scene of Soo-hyeon pulling pills from her bloody scalp.

It is revealed that the wig belonged to a man who was in a romantic relationship with Ji-hyeon's ex. Being gay, he was shunned by Ji-hyeon's ex and beaten by a group of teens, cutting his long hair. He then committed suicide. The ghost of the man is the one who is corrupting and possessing Soo-hyeon, who tracks down Ji-hyeon's ex, and the two then reconcile. As they kiss, Soo-hyeon's hair grows at an impossibly fast rate. Ji-hyeon appears and sets fire to the long hair, freeing her sister and destroying the ghost. Unfortunately, she hallucinates that the ghost is in the same place as her sister and beats her to death. As Soo-hyeon dies, her sister realizes it was a hallucination and cries at what she has done. The film ends with a photograph of the two girls as children, before Soo-hyeon's cancer and Ji-hyeon's speech loss.

Cast

Reception

Critical reception for The Wig has been mixed.[2] DVD Talk and Shock Till You Drop were both relatively ambivalent in their reviews, as both felt that the movie wasn't the best that Asian horror had to offer but still had some viewing value to it that people would enjoy.[3] [4] Bloody Disgusting echoed these sentiments, as they felt that the movie "requires a lot of commitment on the part of the viewer" but that the payoff was "worth it, because as strange as it is, you might not have seen anything quite like it before."[5]

Trivia

Chae Min-seo actually shaved her head for the movie.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: GABAL (THE WIG). Box Office Mojo. 19 December 2013.
  2. Web site: DVD Verdict Review: The Wig. DVD Verdict. 19 December 2013. 24 June 2008. David. Johnson. https://web.archive.org/web/20100611095714/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/wig.php. 11 June 2010.
  3. Web site: The Wig (Region 3) (review). DVD Talk. 19 December 2013.
  4. Web site: The Wig (review). STYD. 19 December 2013.
  5. Web site: The Wig (review). 7 June 2008. Bloody Disgusting. 19 December 2013.
  6. Web site: [movie] horror movie 'wig' shooting ('가발' 촬영 현장 공개) . www.youtube.com . 18 June 2019.