''The Wig'' () is 2005

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

n horror film directed by

Won Shin-yun Won Shin-yun (born October, 1969) is a South Korean film director. Won has the unique background of having been a stuntman before making his directorial horror film debut ''The Wig'' (2005). He filmed a series of thrillers, including ''A Bloody ...

, and starring

Chae Min-seo Chae Min-seo (born Jo Soo-jin; March 16, 1981) is a South Korean actress. Chae made her acting debut in 2002 with ''Champion'', and has since played leading roles in horror film '' The Wig'' and the indies ''Loner'' (2008), ''Vegetarian Veg ...

and

Yoo Sun Wang Yoo-sun (born February 11, 1976), known professionally as Yoo Sun, is a South Korean actress. She is best known for the popular family drama ''My Too Perfect Sons'', as well as the films '' Black House'', ''Moss'', ''GLove'', and ''Don't Cr ...

. 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 (

) is struggling against

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

and her older sister Ji-hyeon (

) 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 Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

, because of a car accident that impaled her throat. She buys a long-haired

wig A wig is a head or hair accessory made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig, which makes its earliest known appearance in the English language in William Shakespeare's ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona' ...

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 with an obsession for 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 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 returns to her, mysteriously. She cruelly ignores Ji-hyeon at all conversation attempts 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 ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, 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 place of 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

as Soo-hyeon / Hee-jo ** Kim Kyeong-in as young Soo-hyeon *

as Ji-hyeon ** Jeon Ha-eun as young Ji-hyeon * Bang Moon-soo as Ki-seok * Sa Hyeon-jin as Kyeong-joo * Soy as Hye-yeong * Shin Hyeong-jong as father of Hye-yeong * Seo Joo-seong as husband of Kyeong-joo * Na Hyeon-joo as Min-joo * Ryoo Hyeon-min as Tae-joon * Kim Joo-kyeong as Ki-hoon

Reception

Critical reception for ''The Wig'' has been mixed. ''

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

'' and ''

Shock Till You Drop Shock may refer to: Common uses Collective noun *Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names * Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves Healthcare * Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emerge ...

'' 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. '' 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."

Trivia

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

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wig, The 2005 horror films South Korean horror films South Korean supernatural horror films Films directed by Won Shin-yun 2000s Korean-language films South Korean LGBT-related films LGBT-related horror films 2005 films Works by Do Hyun-jung 2005 directorial debut films 2005 LGBT-related films 2000s South Korean films