I ask this somewhat dumb question in all seriousness.
Is there a cultural significance about hair in Asian horror movies?
The Grudge, Ghost actress, Ringu or Ring, Dark Waters, Eye 2 all have moments where an apparition's hair either covers their face completely or moves as if it has a life of its own. Is this just a coincidence or a common Asian plot device?
You're looking for me and you're going to find me...
I don't know. You might be able to dig something up with the right search terms. It could just be that you can't see the face behind the hair. It reminds me a bit of the illustrations in some books that were pretty popular about 10 years ago. Scary Stories and More Scary stories. They are pretty freaky.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-images/006440465X/sr=8-1/qid=1191016457/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0/105-0795991-2354820?ie=UTF8&s=books&index=0&qid=1191016457&sr=8-1#gallery/
On a side note, do they use a green screen w/ water to get those effects w/ the hair? It seems like the hair is underwater when the ghost float in.
I got one answer in another thread (Fear of Follicle by me. The responder gave me the term Yurei as in vengeful spirit. I'm not a tech type person with regards to your question about the green screen with water. That does sound like a viable method to shoot the effect on film. I'm still amazed about how much of the Sin City movie was added in after the fact. This is a fantastic period of time for special effect film makers. Thirty years ago, they would have resorted to animation because they couldn't make up the effects they use nowadays. The Lord of the Rings is an example. The 1970s animated version of the Hobbit did not satisfy like LOTR from a few years back.
Thank you for replying. I appreciate the link.
You're looking for me and you're going to find me...
On the DVD making-of featurette, you see them filming some stuff in a swimming pool, so the answer to your question is yes.
Regarding long dark hair in Asain films, the book "The Ring Companion" theorizes that is has to do with a male-dominated culture that expects women to be submissive. In a classic, Freudian "Return of the Repressed" kind of way, those things that are repressed in the culture come back as monsters. Long hair tends to be a feminine characteristic, so we're seeing the aggressive side of women in the guise of a monster.
Also, the Korean film PHONE has an child psychologist interpreting a crayon drawing by a little girl. She explains that the girl's self-portrait - drawn with long hair - represents her image of herself as a sexaully mature adult.
By the way, in the movies, this recurring image of long-haired female ghosts seems to have begun with KWAIDAN in 1965.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yurei
I've read elsewhere that the long-haired ghost is a almost a staple of asian folklore.
^_^
Japanese women traditionally grew their hair long and wore it pinned up, and it was let down for the funeral and burial. That's why all these ghosts have long black hair - it's a sign that they come from afterlife. Covered face is a replacement for traditional masks. Mask always symbolized dead returning during festivals of some sort. Face is like a name - it defines the owner. No-face means unknown and therefore dangerous. People normally fear what they don't know or understand.
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