(Various spoilers follow)
For any fan of Asian cinema - Japanese films in particular - the early 2000s were a very special time. Takashi Miike pulled himself out of the much of V-Cinema (no-budget straight to video flicks) hell and became an international sensation, effectively patenting his unique brand of crazy and opening the flood gates for two-bit imitators and other similarly-skilled instigators. Of the latter category, Sion Sono's Suicide Club put him on the international map much like Miike's Audition, Dead or Alive, and Ichi the Killer did for him. Post-Suicide Club, Sono steadily honed his craft on the semi-sequel Noriko's Dinner Table, mind-bender Strange Circus, dark drama Hazard, and the much more commercial J-Horror entry Exte - or as commercial as a film about killer hair extensions can be.
