`EXTREMES' SERVES VIEWERS A TRIPLE TREAT.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

THE CINEMAS of Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong have been pushing the limits of what's acceptable to show for a long time. Now, what may be the most transgressive filmmakers from each country have contributed a madly bent horror short to an anthology, ``Three ... Extremes,'' that more than lives up to its name.

This is a Halloween treat, to be sure. Each mini-movie is visually composed with the most achingly exquisite artistry and care. But ``Extremes'' may have a more lingering, disturbing aftereffect than the American throwaway fright films we're accustomed to, or indeed the formulaic Asian shockers, like the original ``Ring'' and ``Grudge'' movies, that have recently been so popular. The shorts here wed deep psychological fears to outrageous social subversion, and the results are truly marriages made in hell.

Fruit Chan's piece, ``Dumplings,'' tells the story of a wealthy Hong Kong wife, Lee Qing (singer-comedian Miriam Yeung in an impressive dramatic turn), who seeks out a tenement abortionist who can restore fading youth. Bai Ling's Mei makes dumplings with an extra-special filling, and after eating some of the oddly crunchy tidbits, Qing rekindles her errant husband's ardor.

Elegantly shot by the great Christopher Doyle (``In the Mood for Love''), ``Dumplings'' serves up scenes of lovemaking with a broken leg and themes that the right-to-life crowd could appreciate if everything else about the story wasn't an affront to their moral sensibilities.

``Cut'' comes from Park Chan-Wook, who earlier this year sent us the insanely, brilliantly brutal ``Old Boy.'' It's the tale of a film director whose home is invaded by an enraged extra who not only can't stand his boss' success, but the fact that he's a good person, too.

Like ``Old Boy,'' ``Cut'' involves a number of sadistic tests designed to inflict the maximum amount of psychic as well as physical pain. This is a fairly standard feature in many Korean films, but in this one, Park works it into an intriguingly Hitchcockian play of guilt-transferral. Movie-within-a-movie tricks, enhanced by deft, almost invisible CGI assists, lend classic form to the unbridled cruelty.

Takashi Miike has made some of Japan's most imaginative psychosexual freak-outs. Compared to nightmare-inducers like ``Audition'' and ``Gozu,'' his quiet little chiller for this collection, ``Box,'' is almost restrained. Still, it's a near-perfect, if sometimes confoundingly dreamy, hothouse concoction of sibling jealousy, incestuous longing and haunted revenge.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

THREE ... EXTREMES - Three stars

(R: violence, sex, children in jeopardy, language)

Starring: Miriam Yeung, Bai Ling, Lee Byung-Hun, Kyoko Hasegawa.

Directors: Fruit Chan, Park Chan-Wook, Takashi Miike.

Running time: 2 hr. 5 min.

Playing: Nuart, West L.A.

In a nutshell: Very alarming, short scary movies from three of Asia's most intense directors. All gorgeously filmed and totally crazy.

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Mei (Bai Ling) creates dumplings that have the unusual ability to rekindle fading ardor in ``Three ... Extremes.''