Three Extremes (2004)

Thursday, 12 February 2009 00:00

Reviewed by Carol Sullivan

Genre: Horror
Released: August 20, 2004
On DVD: February 28th, 2006
Rating: R

Director:
Fruit Chan (segment "Dumplings")
Takashi Miike (segment "Box")
Chan-wook Park (segment "Cut")
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DVD Features
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Extended, feature-length version of Dumplings

Commentary on Box by director Miike Takashi

Trailers

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What happens when you get three Asian-horror master-filmmakers together? You get the Three Extremes, three nightmarish tales from the best that the horror genre has to offer...A week after watching it, I'm still thinking "Wow!"

Dumplings - The Hong Kong Extreme

Directed by Fruit Chan (Hollywood Hong-Kong), Dumplings is a fantastically twisted tale about what women are willing to do to stay young looking. Aging TV star, Mrs. Li (Pauline Lau) has gone to a grubby apartment building in search of Aunt Mei (Bai Ling); the mysterious woman who makes magical dumplings. But, the secret ingredient to these yummy fountains-of-youth is the most horrific thing you can imagine. I won't give it away, but when Mrs. Li bites into them, my skin promptly crawled off of my body.

Needing a bigger and bigger dose of Aunt Mei's dumplings, we wonder how far Mrs. Li will go to stay forever young.

The first of the Three Extremes, Dumplings sets the tone for the two stories to come. Deliciously creepy; this movie definitely delivers the heebie-jeebies!

Cut - The Korean Extreme

Flawlessly Written and Directed by the the talented Park Chan-Wook (Oldboy), and starring the handsome Lee Byung-Hun, Cut is the next movie in our fantastic threesome and probably my favorite. Mind-blowing and macabre, the clever story and dialogue glue you to the screen. And the set and filming add to the punch of this disturbing tale...

The movie begins on, of all places; a horror-movie set. The cast and crew are headed home for the night as we follow the Director (Lee Byung-Hun) home. When he turns on the lights in his house, he finds that he is not alone. A twisted mad-man has turned his funky home into a torture chamber- a replica of the movie set. This spurned movie extra has also gussied up the Director's wife in a trap of taut piano wires; her death imminent. So, what does this lunatic want from them, we wonder?

Intelligent and creepy as hell, Cut is an amazing treat for all of the senses. Watch it twice; I sure did !

Box - The Japan Extreme

Directed by the talented Japanese icon, Miike Takahashi, Box is a visually beautiful film that really gets under your skin. The third in our trio of tales is about a pretty young author/recluse and the secret she has been hiding for fifteen years. When she begins to see the ghost of her dead sister, Kyoko (Kyoko Hasegawa) is forced to remember her past and the tragic death that she, herself, caused. Box is a fantastic story about jealousy, insanity and just how far into hell our regrets can take us.

A great touch to this film is that much of the soundtrack is merely the hushed sound of falling snow. The viewers eyes are forced to focus on the screen in order to experience the tale and the result is eerie and mesmerizing. This movie still had me thinking about it, a week later. Box is smart and beautiful and totally disturbing; don't miss this one.

All in all, Three Extremes is an absolutely mind-blowing trio of deliciously depraved stories guaranteed to make you think...and squirm!

Highly recommended as a rental and/or purchase...Personally, I bought it immediately!

Overall Rating: 4 1/2

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