3 Extremes II (2002) User Reviews

"One" would have been better

[Sinnerman · 7/10 · 31 August 2002]

As quoted from its website,

"The movie THREE is an omnibus of Asian mystery tales, inspired by the desire of three film-makers in three very different countries - Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong - to create an exciting new movie in a proven genre which would appeal to audiences across Asia. THREE represents a true pan-Asian collaboration, as it brings together three acclaimed directors from each country - respectively Kim Jee-woon, Nonzee Nimibutr and Peter Ho-sun Chan - as well as three vibrant new film production companies - b.o.m film production, Cinemasia and Applause Pictures."

Ok, with that out of the way, below my take on "THREE"

The derivative Korean section("Memories" by Kim Jee-woon)is mediocre at best. Resorting to cheap shock tactics, it completely lacks that the hair raising mood provided by the likes of Dark Water or THE EYE(Both Asian Horror Hits over the past year).

For the Thai section("The Wheel" by Nonzee Nimibutr of "Nang Nak" fame), what can I say? To put it nicely, the film would have worked if it was made for an unjaded audience 10-20 years ago. (In short, not very scary)

But for the Hong Kong Section, that's another story.

Directed by Peter Ho-sun Chan("Comrades, almost a love story") and exquisitely shot by Christopher Doyle, "Coming Home"(its title) completely blew me away.

If I had a say, I would have rather "Coming Home" been a complete movie by itself.

Part Sci-fi, part horror, this idiosyncratic film is in a league of its own. In a strange concoction of morbid chills and genuine pathos, "Coming Home" came packed with an unexpectedly heartbreaking punch. I didn't know what hit me until its searing climax. Unbelievable...

Worthy mention goes to Leon Lai for his intensely left-of-center performance. (Spoilers) Despite portraying an initially creepy character with perversed tendency, Leon miraculously blindsided our judgement with his overwhelming conviction to his wife, whose love he had for, is beyond simple words. This was indeed a tour de force performance deserving of award recognition come year end. Had he not completely discarded his pop idol veneer, this film might have fallen apart like its two other Asian counterparts.

Having been mis-marketed as a straight horror flick, audiences who went into "THREE" were thus sorely disappointed. Coupled by the disappointments of the first two installment, "Coming Home" may as a result be denied its rightful chance to shine. And shine it did.

"Coming Home" dared challenge the artistic threshold of its audience. Transcending its genre origins, this profoundly moving film brims with ethereal beauty, stirring soul and most of all, a sincere heart. I am going out on a limb here but I think "Coming Home" can qualifiably rank as one of the most poignant films to come out of Hong Kong cinema in recent years.

At the very least, when all the hoopla dies down, I can take comfort that films like this remain as treasured cult classics for discerning movie lovers out there.

Three different films in one; each of differing quality.

[refresh_daemon · 6/10 · 1 June 2008]

Three is an omnibus supernatural horror film comprised of three one-hour long mini-features. Each one was produced in a different country, Peter Chan representing Hong Kong, Kim Ji-Woon representing South Corea, and Nonzee Nimibtr representing Thailand.

The opening film, Kim Ji-Woon's "Memories" follows two individuals as they grapple with seemingly missing memories: a man who's wife is missing and a woman who's trying to figure out who she is. The work actually foreshadows a lot of what will eventually show up in Kim's following feature, A Tale of Two Sisters, which I really liked. While the film does feature a number of eerie moments, it also suffers from a lack of a strong story. There's not much to its revelation and the characters are fairly static. To its merit, it's probably the most technically proficient of the three films and certainly the scariest.

The second piece is Peter Chan's "Going Home" and this is probably the best overall of the bunch. While its production values are actually the roughest of the three, the story is probably the highlight of the three. The story is divided into two segments, the first where a cop and his son move into an aging complex where few people live and is seemingly haunted. The second, the cop grapples with a seemingly mad homeopathic doctor who is appearing to pursue the resurrection of his dead wife. The film grasps well its theme and the story has a few interesting revelations to provide while also having something to say about the power of love/hope.

It's not a scary piece for the most part, but despite the production values, the direction appears sure and makes great use of its setting and limitations.

The final film is Nimibtr's "Wheel", which is about an arts troupe grappling with the curse of an evil puppet. This is probably the weakest segment. While it does have some good imagery to offer, the story is confusing, aimless and the scares are without method or meaning. Some of the visuals are chilling, but because of the rather slapdash and sometimes illogical story, the overall effect of the piece is muted.

All in all, I have to say that Three isn't a complete waste of time due to the solid piece by Peter Chan and the stylish opening act. On the other hand, it's weakened by the third piece and while the three do try to take on the same overall concept, they seem to be too divergent to really make a cohesive whole, with Nimibutr's "Wheel" really on a different plane than the other two. Probably better viewing for genre lovers of horror or supernatural films and perhaps for more curious cinephiles, but I don't see that it's going to be particularly impressive for anyone else. 6/10 for Memories, 8/10 for Going Home, 4/10 for Wheel. 6/10 overall.

Note: The US release of this film changes the order of the films around so that it opens with Memories, then goes to Wheel and closes with Going Home. I'm not certain how the Hong Kong and Thai versions of the film orders the three; I watched the Corean version.

Haunting and lyrical

[LarkWithakay · 7/10 · 24 July 2006]

Peter Chan's 'Going Home' makes this collection worth watching. A haunting examination of loss and and the clash between Eastern and Western ideologies, 'Going Home' paints an elegiac portrait of isolation and longing in modern day Asia. The cool colors set a mood of emptiness and despair, while the understated performances are poetic in their simplicity. The child actor who plays Cheung is simply amazing; his emotions are utterly convincing and it's easy to forget that he's acting.

Unfortunately, the other two pieces, 'Memories' and 'Wheel', leave much to be desired. 'Memories' somehow manages to be tense and predictable at the same time, so I have to give the director credit for at least being able to instill some sense of terror in the audience. But ultimately, the hackneyed plot is yawn inducing, though the scenes are shot beautifully.

Finally, that leaves 'Wheel', a confusing mess if there ever was one. Throughout the short, I kept wondering if censorship was the reason I hadn't been scared yet.

All in all, most would probably be happier renting Saam Gaang. Although regardless of your decision, I am sure that 'Going Home' will spark some thought-provoking conversation on the dangers of globalization and the dilution of culture to Americanization.

THREE EXTREMES II flounders as horror but flourishes as drama

[generouspalmstroke · 6/10 · 2 March 2010]

After the vast success of "Three Extremes" three other Asian horror savants (South Korea's Kim Je-Woon, Thailand's Nonzee Nimibutr, China's Peter Chan) stepped up to the plate to deliver us a successor.

The original had three tales of distinct horror methods--one of gross-outs, one of violence, and one of psychological maiming. "Three Extremes II" however, seems to have a common theme about all three which is the voyage of the afterlife.

Due to atmospheric and thematic similarities I found the stories a little less engaging when viewed back-to-back. Perhaps this could've been that the first two films of the movie (the first especially) were rather uneventful.

Starting chronologically, the short "Memories" by Kim Je-Woon is South Korea's entry into the anthology. It starts with promise as it shows a man presumably sleeping on a couch and very gradually pans closer and closer to him. Then it shows us more of the room he is in, and immediately Je-Woon strikes a nerve of undeniable creepiness with a huddled women rocking to and from in a corner. This sense of uneasiness quickly dissolves as the story progresses. Nothing really happens throughout. Like I said above it was uneventful--sure people are talking (though there's an odd lack of dialogue in "Memories"), sure they're walking and driving around trying to discover a mystery, but it's a mystery most viewers have probably solved. There's also a woman who seems to have lost her memory, but almost immediately I put two-and-two together and figured out her connection with our main character. Je-Woon uses rather cheap shock-tactics like sudden movements and sharp music to make us jump. Its unfortunate Kim Je-Woon's entry was so weak narrative-wise and predictable story-wise, because he is the director of one of my favorite movies ever "A Tale of Two Sisters". I went in hoping for something exquisite from him but got a rather generic story. I do not dislike the movie, because it does have its pluses like solid acting, beautiful camera-work, and the cutest child you'll ever see in any movie, but I cannot say I liked it either because there was so little story. All-in-all, Kim Je-Woon's "Memories" is forgettable, shiny, and predictable--nothing more than you'd expect from one of Hollywood's J-horror remakes.

The middle segment on the disc is one of Thai origins called "The Wheel" from director Nonzee Nimibutr. Being only briefly acquainted with Thai horror, I found myself excited to see what Thailand had to offer. Many reviews claim this to be the flimsiest entry, but I have to disagree. I think most of "The Wheel" was lost in translation because it is a piece so close to Thailand. It's a cultural short involving Thai beliefs that we North American viewers simply cannot grasp--or at least not appreciate fully. That being said, I personally loved the cultural experience of watching "The Wheel" and felt almost like it was a documentary of rural Thailand. The set design is beautiful and exotic; the costumes and puppets are breath-taking and unique; the entire piece rings with foreign flavor, and was a nice contrast to "Memories" which could've been copied and pasted into any country's film. That being said, while it dealt with horror (spirits, possession and vengeance) it didn't feel like a full-feldged horror. The very opening is chilling but like "Memories" it fades to black rather quickly. Unlike "Memories" I found myself interested by the foreign aspect and the beauty of the setting, from the murky lagoon to the unique houses to the vibrant costumes. The acting throughout is rocky--there's a few actors who deliver questionable performances, and that is probably my biggest qualm with the film. Aside from that it had a very redeeming ending, and in more ways than one.

The closing piece is absolutely and without question my favorite of the three, and probably my favorite out of the original three as well. I think the DVD editors placing Peter Chan's "Going Home" last was strategy, as they started with the most feeble and the "Going Home" segment is powerful enough to make you forget about "Memories"'s weakness and leaves you with a very positive feeling after watching. Had they reversed the order, the haunting touch of "Going Home" wouldn't have survived through the end of "Memories" and my review would be two starts instead of three. That may sound ridiculous but it's all too true. The story starts with a single father and his son who are moving into a new complex, one that looks decrepit and neglected. This dirty setting is awesome for capturing what will happen later. Chan's direction then switches from the father-son relationship and to a much more aberrant relationship concerning a rather shoddy character we're introduced to through the young son and a wife who is seemingly long-dead. This is a ghastly, provocative, touching story of requited love and the testing of lengths one will go through for that love. I will not delve any further into the story--discover this gem on your own. If anything this DVD is worth the $15 for this piece alone--I wish it could've been a feature length film.

Overall, "Three Extremes II" doesn't succeed as horror but are an excellent trio of chilling dramas. It was a disappointing follow-up to "Three Extremes" but the two shouldn't be compared because they are different films with different messages. I picture only a fan of Asian horror liking this DVD, so if you're new perhaps go with something more user-friendly before diving into this piece.

6.5/10

A good one, then a dud, then a great one

[zetes · 7/10 · 10 October 2010]

Actually made before the more popular 3 Extremes, but released afterward in most of the world. These three directors are less bankable than Takashi Miike and Chan-wook Park, though Ji-woon Kim does have A Tale of Two Sisters under his belt. Plus, it's much weaker. 3 Extremes, in my mind, is maybe the greatest horror anthology ever made, so this one has a lot to live up to. It begins with Kim's "Memories", which has some familiar Asian ghost story elements, but concentrates more on the images and moods than actual plot. In fact, the plot is fairly incoherent, though, after having seen the whole thing, it's easy enough to piece together what exactly is going on. I liked it quite a bit. Nonzee Nimibutr from Thailand comes next with "The Wheel". It's also a film that relies more on images than the story, which is about cursed puppets. The images are pretty, but the short is kind of lame. It's not terrible, but it's definitely the low point of this anthology. And then we come to Peter Chan's contribution, "Going Home". This one is the reason to watch this film. Gorgeously shot by master cinematographer Christopher Doyle, it's about a cop and his son who move into a new apartment building. The boy is annoyed by a small, creepy girl who lives across the way, and one day he disappears. While looking for his son, the cop discovers that the neighbor whom he thought was the girl's father is involved in some weird stuff. This one is just outstanding - and completely emotionally draining - and it gets better the more I think about it.

Three complementary types pf psychological and supernatural thrillers with a dark tone

[kluseba · 7/10 · 13 September 2019]

Three, internationally marketed as 3 Extremes 2, consists of three horror short films by renowned Asian directors. All three short movies had something different to offer and were quite entertaining since they didn't overstay their welcome. However, these short movies aren't among the directors' greatest hours either.

The first short film is entitled Memories and was created by South Korean director Kim Jee-won, who made masterpieces like the psychological drama A Tale of Two Sisters, comedy western The Good, the Bad, the Weird and grisly horror shocker I Saw the Devil. Memories tells two stories that slowly but surely intertwine. The first story is about a man whose wife has disappeared and who suffers from memory loss as he can't remember why or how she left. The second story revolves around a woman who wakes up in the middle of a street, can't remember who she is and tries to figure out her identity and what happened to her. On the positive side, the movie convinces with gloomy atmosphere and moody cinematography. On the negative side, the story is somewhat predictable and slow-paced.

The second short film is called The Wheel and was created by Thai director Nonzee Nimibutr, who is known for action movie Dang Bireley and the Young Gangsters, romantic horror film Nang Nak - Return from the Dead and romantic drama Jan Dara. The Wheel revolves around cursed puppets that haunt a group of puppeteers living and performing in rural Thailand. The curse starts when the master puppeteer puts his soul into said puppets but later on orders his wife and child to get rid of them. His wife and child drown and the old man burns alive in his house. A rival puppeteer plans on using these puppets but other grisly events soon start to take place as performers collapse on stage, commit suicide or start to see ghosts. On the positive side, this film is the grisliest of the three and includes several haunting deaths. The locations in rural Thailand are stunning to watch. The movie also introduces us to a part of Thai culture which isn't very known outside the country. The film's sinister conclusion is also memorable. On the negative side, the acting performances are a little bit stiff at times and the movie was obviously suffering from a very low budget.

The third and last short film is called Going Home and was created by Thailand-born Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Ho-Sun Chan, who directed movies such as romantic comedy drama The Love Letter, historical drama The Warlords and action epic Dragon. Going Home tells the story of a single father and cop who moves into a decrepit apartment complex with his infant son. His son soon befriends the strange daughter of the only other family living in the building and then goes missing. His father suspects the weird father of that family who nurses his mysterious wife back to health to be responsible for his son's disappearance. On the positive side, the characters in this movie are really strong, the story takes a few unexpected turns and the movie even has a romantic underlying message which one couldn't expect from a horror movie. On the negative side, several questions in this movie remain unanswered which make it feel somewhat unfinished. This movie should have been elaborated into a full length movie to have a bigger impact.

In the end, all three movies have their merits but also a few minor disadvantages. Expect solid psychological and supernatural thrillers but no grisly horror episodes. All of these short films were entertaining and are worth to be discovered, presented or watched again.

Private Views with Asian Anthologies ...

[MaximusQ8 · 19 November 2004]

The Asian anthology movie "The Three ", in which three directors from three different countries ( South Korea/Thailand/Hong Kong ) craft individual tales unrelated & wonderful !

A)- The 1st anthology from South Korea (( Memories )){40 minutes} by "Ji Woon Kim" where he presents segment of mystery that try to be so scary . - He's the same director who's presented to us on 2003 , Korea's No.#1 Horror Movie (( A Tale Of Two Sisters ))

*Abu Jarrah's Rating 4/5

B)- The 2nd anthology from Thailand (( The Wheel )){36 minutes} by "Nonzee Nimibutr" who presented his big budget for the ghost story in his well-known film "Nang Nak" inside his segment he's presented an tale of cursed Doll .

*Abu Jarrah's Rating 3/5

C)- The 3rd anthology from Hong Kong (( Going Home )){53 minutes} by "Peter Chan" is the most powerful segment in anthologies .

Who the produced of the famous Hong Kong horror movies as " The Eye 1 & 2" he also produce of "The Eye" remade , and he's the same who directed the pretty romantic first-love film "Comrades: Almost a Love Story"

*Abu Jarrah's Rating 5/5

By the way: There's another version for this segment "Going Home" called [Going Home : Director's Cut] It contains eight minutes of extra scenes not included in the original release ! [61 Mins] (to the best of my knowledge)

A unique set of stories from three Asian countries.

[OllieSuave-007 · 7/10 · 16 September 2017]

An interesting analogy of three stories about a woman who disappears from the home she shares with her family and ends up in a futuristic city; a puppeteer who tries to warn dance troupe about using cursed puppets; and a policeman who gets held hostage by a psychotic man who lives with his ill wife.

Each story is produced by the countries of Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand, but it is the Hong Kong one that I remembered most. Leon Lai plays a very convincing and melodramatic crazy doctor who uses herbal medicine to keep his wife alive, while the cop (Eric Tsang) watches desperately to bring the doctor to his senses and reality. Tsang has mostly been cast playing wacky or funny characters, but this one he plays it straight - serious and solemn - a welcome departure.

The cinematography of the story captures the eeriness of the situation and the depressive feeling of the projects the doctor was living in. A riveting story, but unique and dreary at the same time.

Grade B-

Extreme...ly boring

[mwold · 3/10 · 23 July 2009]

I'm nearly 100% sure that these were submissions for the first film that didn't make the cut. 'Memories' by acclaimed director Jee-Woon is oddly both totally predictable and yet full of interesting ideas that never come to fruition. This however is by far the most palatable of the bunch with some nice artistic touches here and there. The second feature 'The Wheel' is truly an exercise in tedium. Made on the cheap and a non-existent hackneyed plot, the word "unbearable" springs to mind. The last feature 'Going Home' starts out with promise but quickly fizzles out. What little story there is is ridiculous and paper thin. Above all, there is absolutely nothing extreme about these movies aside from a minute or two of totally out-of-place gore that seems to have been edited into 'Memories' though the scene serves no purpose, and the chills are virtually non-existent. It would be an enormous challenge to find much to recommend here.

on 'going home'

[jsoros · 5/10 · 30 June 2006]

of all the films, going home was the only one i really found memorable. the story was unique, and the sets were wonderfully atmospheric as well as the soundtrack.

it's full of a stark kind of beauty - i didn't find it the least bit horrifying, and it was actually quite a sad tale that moves at a very slow pace that really kept me wondering how things would end.

spoiler below.

what i didn't understand is what happened to the little boy. i believed the little girl was the couple's unborn child, but why could the little boy see her, and what happened to him? what did the photographer's studio have to do with the story? it seems like the only people who saw her were the photographer who seemed to address her in the opening sequence, and the little boy.

this is the first i've seen of a Chinese 'horror' film, i look forward to seeing more in the future. any recommendations out there?

Third chunk is the charm in Three SPOILERS!!

[ETCmodel02 · 9/10 · 25 October 2002]

SPOILERS!! SPOILERS!! SPOILERS!! SPOILERS!! SPOILERS!! SPOILERS!!

Three short films from three places, South Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong, each progressively better than the last, and certainly worth the viewing. Memories is a sometimes heavy handed jumper with some very cool gross out moments at the end that begin with a heavy nod to the Ring then carry a few steps further deliciously. Downside, the Tales from the Crypt punchline left me feeling pretty empty, really. Told through two simultaneous inter-cut narratives, one follows the hubby trying to remember what he did, while the other follows the wife waking up with amnesia in a street. The hubby material is generally boring and laden with noise blast jumper moments that are OK, but nothing new, except the visitation from the apparent ghost of the missing wife whole feels a brain is a good thing to waste after all. Nice one. The wife's narrative as she goes through a mini-Memento tracking through the clues and flashes of memory trying to figure out who and where she is kicks ass. This is well shot, well edited, tense and absolutely wonderful. Apparently also too good to be true, because the climax of the short film is apparently a simultaneous realization by both people as to what had happened between them. Neat. Now we've managed to resolve the mystery, true, in the lamest way possible, well, not completely lame, it's definitely disturbing on a visceral level which has appeal on a base level, BUT now we also feel empty, because the wife, who by now we dig, well her whole struggle and journey past the scary construction sites and insane cab driver, now all of that is rendered useless and unjustified, while the hubby rides off into the sunset the tail end of a Viagra commercial. Damn, almost a genius piece of jumper genre fare. The Wheel is a very captivating and almost completely alien yarn that works well and moreover is generally fun to watch. Starts a bit slow, and the appearance of dead loved ones could have been held off until the end, and didn't get the crying blood thing but it looked cool so who cares? Ends extremely well, who can frown on a machete welding preschooler? Moving on. Going Home is what I bought this anthology for without even knowing it. Oh my. Beautifully rendered in every department, the location is an astoundingly effective nearly abandoned pair of adjacent dense apartment towers in the seedier side of HK, where we follow a Dad and son moving in while everyone else is moving out (the building is going to be demolished in a month explains the manager). We meet another couple and a little girl, and we learn through brilliant art direction all kinds of things, like how ghosts do graffiti, how Eastern medicine cures liver cancer, how to best groom and maintain a beloved wife who has taken a three year hiatus from living to get well again, and most importantly, how big a urine bottle needs to be to adequately provide for your well saturated hostage. I'm making light only because I'm giddy with joy over how fresh, beautiful, terrifying, disturbing and ultimately heart touching (did I say "touching", more like "pounding with a meat cleaver and pair of well matched tuna"). Been a long time since I've burst into tears during a movie, not counting tears of frustration. I love this film, and frankly, of the three, this one most deserves to be remade as a full length feature with more characters and intertwined stories, because frankly, the location alone is simply a freak magnet. And here I also have to retract earlier snide remarks about Leon Lai. Although I expect he was massively directed, still, in this he was simply perfect, and trust me, his role would not be an easy one to pull off for most actors, not convincingly anyway. Perhaps he has found his true niche in cinema? And as for the rest of the cast? Although familiar already with the power of Eric Tsang, the rest of the cast was new to me, and further, blew me away as well, astounding as two of the actors I'm referring to are tiny children, not something I'm generally impressed by. And how does the beautiful Eugenia Yuan manage to hold so still playing a stiff and still manage to convey her character? (something I've ironically accused Leon Lai of doing in the past, ha ha. Ok, I did like his album "Sound". So sue me...)

One out of Three

[billcr12 · 4/10 · 11 October 2014]

This is a trilogy of horror tales, and only one out of three worked for me. The first one involves a man who cannot remember what has happened to his wife. Every time he goes to sleep he has different, disturbing dreams regarding her whereabouts. The story is very unstructured but has a decent ending. The second segment is not much better than the first. Puppets are the main feature and they can cause all sorts of mayhem due to curses from the original owners. Lots of screaming, but it bored me to death. The third film is by far the best one. A man moves in to a run down apartment complex with his young son. The only other tenant is a man taking care of his supposedly paralyzed wife in a wheelchair. Turns out that his spouse is actually dead and he is using Chinese herbs to bring her back to life. It is clever and original and it kept me interested to the finish. My advice is to fast forward past the first two segments and just watch the third.

Scarier than Final Destination 2

[Swedehorrorfan · 3 September 2003]

I´m a bit surprised with the negative reviews of "Three" here at imdb. I thought this was a good movie, chilling and intriguing. The first segment, "Memories", is my personal favourite, good acting and some genuinly scary moments. Much more scary than Final Destination 2 anyway. The 2nd installment is somewhat a disappointment after the great first one. Poor acting, no interest for the characters and not at all scary. The 3rd movie "Going Home" is a beautiful story about true love, perhaps not that scary, but still a great story.

Asian fear of the supernatural

[edchin2006 · 5/10 · 30 July 2007]

Very entertaining if your interest lies in the cross cultural views of the supernatural. The acting and production values are very high. For fans of scary movies and those scared of the dark, this rates at least an 8 and is a must-see. For non-fans of the genre and those lacking the appropriate phobias, it's a way to learn how to scare your friends.

The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project, The Shining and Psycho may be thought of as Western views of the para-normal which evokes fear and discomfort in the the viewer. The unknown and unexplainable often generate that eerie and queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach, or awaken a simple sense of curiosity. Are you afraid of what is behind the curtain or do you want to see what's there? Three is a good way of measuring your Asian Fear Quotient.

The first two segments really sucked

[KineticSeoul · 3/10 · 10 September 2010]

At first I thought this was a actual sequel to the original and was excited to see it, and was disappointed to find out it really isn't actually a sequel and just titled it 3 Extremes 2 because it has three horror segments and it's better for marketing. At least from what I heard. The first two segments sucked, the first segments started out kinda creepy but it started to go in the cheap scare direction and nothing about this segment was memorable and the title of the first segment is "Memories". The second segment is the worst out of the three and really hated it, super boring as hell to watch and absolutely nothing about it was scary. The thought of creepy puppets being cursed may seem like a okay idea, but the direction and everything about this crap is boring. Seeing how the director screwed up for just a short segment, his other films must suck as well. I just really disliked this segment. The third segment is my favorite one in this film, and if the other segments was good as the last one I would have really enjoyed this movie. The plot is about a cop that moves to a apartment with his son, and the person living near them is a necrophiliac or seem like it. I liked how when you think one thing of what is actually going on, it changes to something else and keeps you guessing. I enjoyed this segment and if the other segments was good as this one I would have given this film a way higher score, but as a film itself overall I didn't like it because the first two segments sucked big time. Just do yourself a favor and skip to the last segment "Going Home".

3.8/10

Cinematography and Horror

[christian94 · 8/10 · 17 July 2017]

3 shorts with varied results

"Memories" Kim Ji-Woon (Korea) 8/10

"The Wheel" Nonzee Nimibutr (Thailand) 5/10

"Coming Home" Peter Ho-Sun Chan (China) 9/10

Kim Ji-Woon has some stylish and effective camera-work (Kyung-pyo Hong) to convey the plight of a separated couple. There are some scary and beautiful moments. He is a Korean director that seems to be able to do not wrong and his cinematographer would later win awards with landmark movies like Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004), Mother (2009), Snowpiercer (2013) and The Wailing (2016). The female lead from Busan (Kim Hye-Soo) is gorgeous and well captured on film in this fantasy horror.

Nonzee Nimibutr manage some set pieces with some symbolic fire and details traditional statutes and wardrobe, yet fails to convey fear or interest in his haunted puppet ploy. His sexual-charged Jan Dara (2001) is a classic of Thai cinema.

Peter Ho-Sun Chan makes a daring take on (also) a sort of separated couple story. He boasts brilliant editing and engaging writing and acting. He works with cinematography legend Christopher Doyle who delivers solid city atmospheric scenes. This Hong Kong director had more than 10 feature films before this short and later would direct the well-received The Warlords (2007).

Nothing Extreme about it

[trickpixel · 4/10 · 6 April 2011]

If you are deciding whether to watch this film based on the fact that you enjoyed the original Three Extremes, then you should not. Avoid at all costs. At best, in this film there is only 1 horror story and 2 supernatural dramas.

While the original had cutting edge horror directors, superb pacing and tension (minus dumplings due to extreme editing) this one only has one acclaimed horror director and two horror producers trying to direct horror. The 1 horror director I am referring in this series is Jee-woon Kim (A Tale of Two Sisters) and though he manages to make the best short of the three shorts (entitled Memories), the other two fail so horribly that it really deflates any effort put in by Jee-woon.

Stay far away from this if you liked the original, it left me in poor spirits and I felt totally cheated by the producers of the original and their ploys to cash in on how amazing the original film was.

I would recommend this to people who normally are afraid of extreme Asian horror cinema as this is a great vanilla way of enjoying supernatural/paranormal stories. Also, die hard fans of Jee-woon should catch Memories because it has great acting and is technically far superior than the other two shorts. You can also witness some of the evolution of the atmosphere employed later from A Tale of Two Sisters.

Plain weirdness, bored gore and real fear

[renelsonantonius · 13 November 2003]

As a post-Halloween presentation, Titus Brandsma Center, a Carmelite-run service organization here, held a screening of 3 Asian horror films:Higuchinsky's 'Uzumaki'(Japan), Youn-Hyun Chang's 'Tell Me Something'(South Korea) and 'Three', a trilogy of shorts by Ji-Woon Kim(S. Korea), Nonzee Nimibutr(Thailand) and Peter Chan(Hong Kong). The conceit behind the event was to "run along the same vein" as 'The Ring', a trend-setting, box-office hit Japanese spine-tingler(recently shown on Philippine television in a tolerable Filipino-dubbed version).

OK, 'Uzumaki'(which translates in English as "spiral" or "vortex")is a bizaare study in communal fixation and paranoia, with any swirl-shaped object as the ubiquitous motif. This debut film by Higuchinsky(who worked before as a director of music videos)succeeds in conveying the sense of collective disturbance and fear that grips the small community of Kuzouguchi, its distinguishing claustrophobic quality brings to mind the kind evoked by David Lynch in 'Blue Velvet'--it's only that the Japanese director takes one step further with his really, really fantastic and grotesque turn of events. But I guess that to fully enjoy the film, one should take it AS IT IS, with any "interpretation" of the purported "metaphorical" significance of the spiral following later(in my case, much, much later, if ever).

While 'Tell Me Something', bad luck of all bad lucks, was the much-maligned film in the line-up--with good reason. For despite its fair share of gore and tension, and a good-looking lead pair(the lieutenant and the lady under surveillance), a stubborn fact still shows up:that the film is another jaded offspring of the jaded serial-killer genre(it doesn't really take a lot of mindwork to guess, about 45 minutes--or even less!--into the film, who the murderer is;now, even this is a jaded remark!). Strangely though, on 2nd viewing, I began to find 'Tell Me Something' to be kind of interesting(it appeared that it wasn't really that bad), for at least, it scored a few points in the following:having a toned-down tension, evoking a noirish atmosphere with its rain-drenched urban locale at night and going against the "obligatory" fate of the lead pair being eventually romantically or sexually involved with one another(never mind the lack of a well-defined motivation, anyway, the two are as aloof to each other as they are to the viewers)--sigh, even this is a jaded indulgence!

But I still believe that Korean Cinema is one of the exciting film industries that we have, serving us with a good number of brave and provocative films in recent years, among them, Chul-Soo Park's '301/302', Jin-Ho Hur's 'Christmas in August', Ki-Duk Kim's 'The Isle' and 'Address Unknown', Jung-Ji Woo's 'Happy End' and Ji-Young Chang's 'The White Badge.'

Thankfully, the best was saved for the last, for 'Three' was the clear favorite of the audience(including myself). To be noted particularly are the 1st and 3rd episodes:Kim's 'Memories' and Chan's 'Going Home'(I wish I could say the same for the 2nd short). What I'm interested is how did these 2 episodes work upon the emotion of fear, as it's a given fact that such feeling is the one that films of the horror genre want to arouse mainly from the audience.

In 'Memories', where does fear spring forth? As it turns out, it's from the husband's(Bo-Seok Jong)"ghost of his own making", so to speak, as there's a terrible secret that he tries painfully to conceal. He may have succeeded in keeping it from other people's notice, but definitely not from the prodding of his own conscience, thus the hallucinations and nightmares(even if it appears that these don't seriously bother him at all!).

As it should be, the viewers don't completely have any idea about this "secret" at the start of the film, but through Kim's skillful interweaving of the husband's and the "lost" woman's(Hye-Suk Kim)respective scenes--he, as he confronts his terrifying nightmares;she, as she wanders through a barely-inhabited city, where various omens singularly happen to her--all told with little use of dialogues, it little by little builds up toward the grisly revelation, its utterly nightmarish quality is like Franz Kafka and Edgar Allan Poe have joined forces for the modern times.

The director may have relied on "old tricks" to scare the audience(anyway, it worked), but the best thing is that we can make sense of the fear thus evoked, we can "connect" with it. And this, the fear of having done a terrible misdeed and of having to face up with the nightmares(or "bad memories")that consequently spin out of one's own sinful act--whether one gets away with it or not.

On the other hand, watching 'Going Home' is like watching an assortment of 'Psycho', 'Awakenings' and 'The Sixth Sense.' However, it's of such a potent tragicomic quality that the viewers are still put under the spell, brought into force by a marvelous confluence of terrific performances(with Leon Lai at the forefront)and astounding mood photography(predominantly slimy green)by Wong Kar-Wai's "recording angel", Christopher Doyle.

Going through my files, I came upon my few notes on an early work by Chan, 'He's a Man, She's a Woman'(featuring the late Leslie Cheung), a hilarious comedy of errors-cum-ugly duckling tale-cum-gay film. Having this film in mind as I try to recollect 'Going Home', it makes sense why odd humor shows up from some nooks and crannies of this otherwise poignant and eerie tale of the transgressive power of love. Handled foolishly, this uncomfortable blending of humor and horror might've churned out another low-grade and campy shocker('Starship Troopers' and 'The House on Haunted Hill', anyone?).

Whenever the emotion of fear is aroused in us by this awarded episode, it's FOR Leon Lai's bespectacled, agonizing character--for his not being able to bring up the kind of family that he deserves, for his failure to achieve what could've constituted his happiness in this temporal life(the episode's title, in fact, implies "being with one's family"). And so, as in 'Memories', the "fear factor" here makes sense.

Listless horror anthology, 2/3 bad

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 19 September 2012]

Hard not to resist the appeal of this one: a trio of short horror films, made as an international cooperation between South Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong. Although it's marketed as a sequel to the similar THREE EXTREMES in the west, it's actually a stand-alone movie that was retitled to tie-in with that film.

Sadly, this turns out to be a pretty dire film, one you'll need a lot of patience to sit through. It takes a long time for anything decent to emerge during the running time, and until that point we're stuck with sub-par filmmaking.

The first, South Korean story, is middling at best. It's a rather pretentious retelling of a similar story that was played out (with Ian Hendry as the main actor) in the Amicus portmanteau TALES FROM THE CRYPT some thirty years ago. The director goes for an arty-farty approach, emphasising style over substance, but the resultant film is dull and the twist ending is so obvious as to be barely worth bothering with. In an attempt to spice up the mix, some generic gore/scare sequences are thrown in too, but they add little to a listless and unengaging tale.

If the first story was routine, then the second is completely diabolical. This is the Thai effort, about some dolls that have the power to bring about a curse following the death of their owner. There's no story to it and certainly no scares whatsoever, just lots of aimless camera shots of Khon dancing and some very bad acting indeed. Even worse, the final twist is utterly insulting, an unwelcome throwback to Dallas.

The third and final story turns out to be actually rather good, although I doubt if anyone will still be awake for it at this point. It's a Chinese tale about families living in a run-down tower block that starts off rather predictably before getting better and better. The reliable Eric Tsang stars as a father of a rather precocious youngster who runs off with a spooky little girl, and the story draws in Tsang's hermit-like neighbour, a doctor caring for his sick wife. This story is unpredictable throughout, complete with plenty of creepy moments and a genuinely unsettling ending which makes you sit back and mull over what's come before. It's just a shame that the first two tales weren't on this level

Far less impressive than the first

[saraccan · 5/10 · 26 April 2018]

This is the second installment of the Three Extremes films. Far less interesting than the first one. 2/3 arent worth watching at all.

Memories, The Wheel and Coming Home are the titles of the films. Memories and the Wheel were bland and boring. Coming Home was the interesting one. Its about a single father cop moving into a new apartment and their neighbour, a husband who is taking care of his paralyzed wife.

Great one!

[rastiazul · 10/10 · 10 January 2007]

I absolutely loved this movie and I only had a chance to watch half of it! I will watch the whole thing eventually. It has an awesome plot, it is more mystery than horror, I usually don't watch horror movies but this is one of the best movies I've ever seen. The actors are very good. Hollywood could learn something of this... Im gonna research this director and possibly watch another one of his movies. Besides the plot and the actors, the photography is another pro of this movie, I liked the scenery very much. I guarantee you'll be surprised by the different changes in the course of the movie, it is good mystery!

I also liked this movie so much because i feel identified with the "waiting for the loved one", but in a different way of course heheh.

Underwhelming horror omnibus

[alain-kapel5 · 5/10 · 7 March 2024]

This cross-cultural Asian horror anthology is a precursor to Three Extremes (2004). Curiously, it was marketed as Three Extremes II after its rerelease in order to cash in on its successor's popularity, despite being older.

I've seen the 2004 version a long time ago, and scarcely remember it. That's why I can't quite compare it to this one at the moment. But I do know that this one is, unfortunately, rather unimpressive as a whole. Only the first segment was interesting enough to be truly enjoyable IMO. I'll try to break the stories down a bit.

1. Memories - dir. Kim Jee-woon The Korean entry in the anthology is also the best for me. Kim already displayed his directing chops in his early days, so Memories is slick and stylish with strong atmospherics, acting like a preview of what's to come. Its story is insubstantial and kinda routine, but the visuals and mood largely compensate for that fault.

2. Wheel - dir. Nonzee Nimibutr The second entry is a Thai folk horror revolving around cursed puppets. This entry is only sporadically interesting, and only from a visual standpoint, mostly because of its unique setting. But it's completely lacking in execution, being marred by weak horror elements and a totally uninvolving story. The weakest segment in the anthology.

3. Going Home - dir. Peter Chan The final entry comes from Hong Kong and, like the second one, it is forgettable and underwhelming. In this case, the plot is actually promising, with good actors to complement it. The technicalities are also proficient. But it's the longest entry (around 50 minutes) and very patience testing. I don't expect constant shocks, but in this case they would be welcome to shake things up. The segment itself is more of a supernatural drama than horror, which might have contributed to my disappointment. I wanted something scary after that second segment, and this one failed to deliver too. But as I said, it has a few things going for it, at least, so it's not a total waste of time.

Overall, this just wasn't good enough to be recommended. If I had to choose, Kim's entry is the easy winner here because of its creepiness and psychological aspect. Otherwise, you're not missing much by skipping the film.

Be patient, for the last story.

[fedor8 · 4 April 2022]

The Korean story: 5/10

Atmospheric but also slow, and with a blah ending. It turns out he murdered his wife because she cheated on him? It isn't entirely clear whether she did, but even so, what kind of a stupid ending is that? And where is the revenge part? Plays like an abandoned, half-finished script.

The Thai story: 4/10

Visually totally bland, with a story that falls neatly into the yet-another-evil-puppet-revenge-story category. Or not so much revenge as a curse this time around. A highly unoriginal premise executed clumsily and fairly dull as well.

The Hong Kong story: 8/10

Easily the best story, although I can't say I understood it completely. So why did the boy disappear, and did he get killed? If so, by whom? By the little girl? Why would she do that? The girl is obviously the ghost of the fetus the doctor couple decided to abort, or is it? The photo shop is some kind of a stepping-stone just before Heaven or Hell where the newly dead people have their pictures taken - at least that's how interpret it - but again we come back to the question of the boy's disappearance. It is OK to have a lingering mystery i.e. To not have every aspect of the story fully clarified, but not leaving the viewer even a tiny hint is a bit weak. Nevertheless, a highly original plot.

Much better but still flawed Anthology effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 5/10 · 14 May 2015]

Three more stories told by emerging Asian directors.

The Good Stor(ies): The Wheel-In a small Thai village, a theater troupe reenacting famous folklore tales finds a cursed puppet washed along their shore. When everyone who comes into contact with it suddenly experiences grave encounters, a local boy tries to find a way to end the curse. Overall this one was quite enjoyable with their being a lot to like here. The main part of this one is the fact that the atmosphere created with the puppets is pretty chilling, as their mannequin-like looks and highly-elaborate decorations make them gorgeous to look at with a sinister air beneath the facade, and that creates a really lasting impression here. That the back-story about the rival clans and curses brought along makes for quite a fun time here with this one really getting a chance to play that up with the different situations encountered throughout here, from ghostly executioners and general pains around the body to supernatural fires and possession that becomes quite creepy along the way. While this one does get a little confusing with all the slow-motion shots that tend to go on forever distorting the dialog to make it pretty tough to figure out what's going on in the later half, the atmosphere and pacing are more than enough to hold this up.

The Bad Stor(ies): Memories-Awaking from a car accident, a woman with no memory tries to piece the puzzles of her identity back together while her husband seeks to find the reason of her strange disappearance. As more and more clues come together, they gradually realize the strange rationale for both situations. Frankly, the only thing really enjoyable here is the finale twist which manages to come off quite nicely and has a lot of great scares present here because of that. The main problem is the fact that these are so late into the segment that the rest of it being taken up with the strange mystery is just excruciating to get through. The low-key pace and drama-like feel of the situations don't help matters as barely anything happens beyond their friends questioning each other while she runs around trying to find the cause of her condition. None of this is really engrossing material nor built for generating scares, and as a whole this one is pretty weak.

Going Home-Moving into an apartment complex, a man and his son try to get along with a reclusive neighbor who keeps his comatose wife in their apartment. When the son goes missing and the search leads him to the apartment, he finds a far more sinister reason behind the wife's condition. This one really could've been great and was certainly full of positive points here with the engrossing mystery and strange behavior setting up a really chilling set-piece later on when he comes barging in looking for his son, and that's when this one turns south by having the kidnapper really be more compassionate and caring rather than a sadistic captor which makes the rationale for holding him all the weirder. None of these scenes really drive up the horror atmosphere all that much by keeping this one so low-key and drama-based that it really doesn't offer many thrills here. That's also in keeping with the final half where the back-story is finally revealed which steers this one even further away from horror into a dark romance effort that doesn't do much for keeping this one all that scary. It's a real missed opportunity.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language, Nudity and children-in-jeopardy.

Not Quite As Extreme...

[azathothpwiggins · 28 December 2021]

After watching the original 3 EXTREMES, one might expect the so-called "sequel" 3 EXTREMES II to be as, or even more unsettling, gory, or terrifying.

Is it?

Well, not really. While the first film was refreshingly bizarre and somewhat revolting in spots, this follow-up is rather mild with fewer shocks or gross-out story lines. It's also far more concerned with the supernatural than its predecessor.

The three stories involve ghosts, curses, and reanimation along with some dismemberment and murder. All three tales are good. Just don't expect another thriller full of disturbing subject matter and stomach-turning revelations...