Since the popularity of Ringu in 1998, Asian and even American cinema has bared witness to the "scary long black hair" phenomena that has been exploited in numerous recent Asian horror films, namely those to come out of South Korea. Although, the long-haired-theme isn't anything new to cinema (it's also how the Japanese traditionally conceive their ghosts), it didn't become such a phenomenon until Hollywood got wind of it and dished out films with Asian-influenced ghosts with long black hair. Thus, I bring you The Wig -- a film that literally revolves around the long black hair, essentially even making it a central "character." Despite how silly that sounds, the movie is actually quite creepy at times, and surprisingly doesn't spew out the same type of scares we've seen time and time again with Asian horror lately.

The story revolves around a pair of sisters who seem to never get a break, as the older sister is a mute due to a terrible car accident, and her younger sister has cancer with little hope for recovery. In an attempt to cheer her younger sis up, the older one purchases a wig to possibly help boost her sister's morale since she’s lost her hair to chemotherapy. Surprisingly-enough the wig actually worked in boosting the sister's confidence and even making her seem more energetic and happy. Sadly, this is only the beginning of things to come, as the older one begins to realize changes with her younger sis, not only emotionally, but physically as well. It soon becomes apparent that the wig she purchased may actually cause more harm than good, and tries to dispose of it before it's too late.

From deadly red shoes (Red Shoes), to a questionable musical instrument (Cello), it seems that South Korea's horror genre is obsessed with inanimate objects causing harm to people. Either way, this movie actually works in its favor. The pacing and performances from the leads were well done, especially from actress Yoo Seon, who played the mute. The film pretty much mostly revolves around the two sisters, and the fact that one of them is mute makes the story all-the-more interesting, because we know she's not gonna grab a phone in hopes of calling a nearby friend for assistance. First-time director Shin-yeon Won successfully manages to turn a tired sub-genre into something different by capturing the proper mood and tension to create an above-average Asian horror flick with some fairly creepy scenes.

If you can look past it's somewhat silly premise, you'll find that it's a surprisingly good and sometimes even creepy flick. Worth a check.