Rating: R
Genre:
Horror
Theatrical Release: 10/28/2005(USA
Release Date: 02/28/2006
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1/DD2
Run Time: 126 Minutes
Flags: Graphic Violence, Not For Children, Gore
Distributor/Studio: Lions Gate
Three Asian directors, from Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan, join forces to create an
omnibus horror film,
Three...Extremes. In
Fruit Chan's "Dumplings," shot by
Christopher Doyle,
Mrs. Li (
Miriam Yeung), a thirtysomething former actress with a philandering husband (
Tony Leung) goes to visit
Aunt Mei (
Bai Ling), who sells the most expensive dumplings in Hong Kong.
Mrs. Li knows about their rejuvenating powers, and she also knows about their unpleasant main ingredient, but after some initial nausea, she digs right in. In
Oldboy writer/director
Park Chan-wook's "Cut," a successful filmmaker (
Lee Byung-hun of
Joint Security Area) arrives home to find that a disgruntled extra (
Lim Won-hee) has taken over his home, and fastened his pianist wife (
Kang Hye-jun of
Oldboy) to the grand piano. The madman threatens to cut off the wife's fingers, one by one, unless the director strangles the helpless child he's tied to the couch.
Takashi Miike directs the last segment, "Box," about a young author and former circus performer,
Kyoko (
Kyoko Hasegawa) seemingly haunted by the ghost of her twin sister, who died a mysterious and horrible death while practicing their act. Adding to
Kyoko's trauma, her editor (
Atsuro Watabe) is a dead ringer for her old stepfather/ringmaster, who may have perished in the same "accident" that took her sister's life.
Three...Extremes was shown at Subway Cinema's
New York Asian Film Festival in 2005. For the American release of
Three... Extremes, the order in which the films are presented was altered from the original "Box," "Dumplings," and "Cut" to "Dumplings," "Cut," and "Box." This film was actually preceded by another omnibus film,
Three, that was nevertheless retitled
Three... Extremes II for the English-language market and issued after this one.
~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
;)
