Haute Tension (AKA Switchblade Romance)

Despite having an imaginative death scene involving a head stuck in a banister meeting an item of heavy furniture, and also a graphic throat slitting – Haute Tension is comparatively light on the gore and violence that is now expected from more recent offerings in the new wave of French extreme cinema. To avoid being misleading, the afore-mentioned scenes and others do provide plenty to cringe at but they do not form the staple of this fine example of modern European horror film-making.

Haute Tension is a tense psychological stalker movie that uses intrigue and suspense to draw the viewer in and then assaults the senses with brutal killings. There is more to the film than this though, and the plot development which ultimately defines the movie is satisfying and well worked into the story telling. Haute Tension is very definitely a film that is ruined by spoilers, so for those who have yet to see the film this review will be light on details.

The film begins with Marie travelling to stay at her college friend Alexia’s family farm house. As night falls a sadistic killer enters the home and brutally slays its inhabitants apart from the two girls. With Alexia bound in the murderers van, Marie secretes herself onboard and the three hit the road. From here the story powers forward with twists and turns towards a fantastic conclusion.

Haute Tension delivers because it doesn’t neglect any aspect of what a good horror movie should contain. It is filled with the atmosphere of dread so excellently honed in the best of the 1970’s slasher movies. There is tension generated by protagonists being stalked – having to hide and keep silent because their lives depend on it. We see the brutality the villain is capable of and the methodical way he goes about it, causing us to fear him more. Yet there are clues throughout the film that on first viewing we do not pay too much attention to, but none-the-less contribute to a subliminal sense that all is not as it seems. Repeated viewing of this film yields an even greater understanding and appreciation of how finely woven the tale really is.

The character of Marie is complex, and it is a shame that to avoid spoilers this review will not delve into those complexities – although I invite discussion in the comments section. Further to this however, she is quite unlike any other female character from the “slasher” genre and with precious little room for originality in horror this was appreciated. A pole apart from the plastic scream queens of Hollywood, Marie alone provides enough interest to keep watching. Add this to the excellent pacing of the film, and you have a horror movie which engages the viewer from start to finish.

Fans of the genre will love Haute Tension for all the reasons outlined above, but it is also an excellent starting point for those new to extreme cinema or for people who simply do not want the difficult experience of “A Serbian Film” or “Martyrs”. Haute Tension is not heavy-going like these films, it is horrific in places but not in a manner that will disturb or upset (unless the viewer is particularly sensitive).

Haute Tension is tense, exciting, shocking and intelligent – it is a “must see” for any aficionado of modern horror cinema and is highly recommended for anyone with a penchant for great films with a darker edge to them.

The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

As films about fusing one person’s mouth to another person’s anus go, this is a pretty good one! The most shocking aspect of this film is that it is not particularly gory or graphic, and it is the better for it.

In the initial stages of watching The Human Centipede I was preparing myself for a huge disappointment. The two female leads were initially terribly grating and irritating. Being generous, let’s assume that they were well acted to be this way. However as the film progresses the characters develop from vacuous party girls to capable individuals (well one of them, anyway) and we find ourselves rooting for them and caring about their plight.

I don’t think it is giving too much away to divulge that The Human Centipede is a film about three people (two female friends and one unrelated man) who are abducted by a deeply disturbed scientist who aims to create a living “human centipede” by attaching each of the abductees to one another, mouth to anus, thus creating a completely linked digestive system. Given this synopsis, the audience would think that they are in for a gore-fest of gratuitous nastiness; but they are not.

Shortly after we are properly acquainted with the female leads, who are looking for assistance after their car breaks down, they arrive at the house of the antagonist. Here the casting director should be praised as Dieter Laser, who played the mad scientist Dr. Heiter, is every inch the archetype. He is a bizarre looking man, skeletal with an almost demonic face, and his portrayal of deranged evil was superb. Instantly we know that this man is dangerous and we acutely sense that the girls are under imminent threat.

The character of Heiter is more complex than perhaps is expected. In less subtle films he would be a charmer, luring people under a false sense of security and then bludgeoning them. Not so in A Human Centipede, he is cold and unlikable. Despite his objective to abduct the girls he cannot control angry psychotic outbursts – eventually he manages to drug them, describing the details of Rohypnol as he does so.

With the emphasis on the “centipede” itself in the promotion of this movie, it is a pleasant surprise to find a reasonable section of the films second act given over to a taut, well constructed “cat and mouse” sequence within Heiters extensive home. These scenes were thrillingly tense, and a sense of empathy for the hunted girl was well crafted. A nice touch was added where an ultimatum is given to give herself up or face greater suffering when she is inevitably caught. The viewer cannot help but wonder “what would I do?”

The director should be applauded for only giving the audience a couple of brief “cringe moments” during the construction sequence of the Human Centipede. The horror comes not from much that we witness during this scene, but from what we graphically know is happening. Previously, Dr Heiter had demonstrated via a presentation to his captives exactly what he was going to do to them – using scientific language and un-emotive line diagrams. Hence, when the procedure is undertaken little is seen but we know every unpleasant detail that is happening.

We get a greater insight into Dr Heiters madness as he uses general anaesthetic during the procedure – he is not a sadist, he is genuinely focussed on creating what he perceives to be his masterpiece. When watching Heiter go about his work, it is hard not to think of animal vivisection, Nazi experiments and the Japanese Unit 731. This kind of thing goes on, and the people doing it consider themselves justified. This is the true horror that the film hints at.

It is truly chilling watching Dr Heiter training his creation once it is complete. A Japanese guy is “the front” and of course the only one of the tri-part centipede who can speak, yet only in Japanese. This creates a bizarre interaction between the doctor and his “creature”. The captive is of course filled with rage and hatred for his captor, but is utterly at his mercy. He soon learns.

Naturally, the scientist wants his creation to thrive and feeds it well from a bowl on the floor. The viewer is one step ahead at this point and, with the front part feeding, the film does address the inevitable result. As with the surgical scenes this is done briefly and with no gratuitous mess, however it does contain one of the most genuine apologies ever seen in film! The scene is disturbing not for the act occurring, but for Heiter cheering encouragement.

Eventually local police undertake a missing persons search and we are given a ray of hope for our beleaguered captives. I will not expand on whether this hope is in vain or not, but again the film has the viewer urging the victims on and builds tension in a capable manner. The final scene of the film was powerfully done, and invites us to put ourselves in the shoes of who we see on screen.

The Human Centipede is not a brilliant film, but it is a good one. Certainly it was vastly superior to the experience I was expecting and significantly less graphic. If you can handle the concept of what occurs, there is nothing in the film that will particularly trouble you. Given the central premise, this was never going to be classic cinema – but if you are intrigued enough to give it a go you are likely to find it a better film than you might imagine. Someone has clearly come up with a gruesome yet imaginative idea and built a film around it – surprisingly they didn’t do too bad a job.

A Serbian Film

It was with an oppressive yet thrilling sense of dread that I anticipated watching A Serbian Film. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a film where I have gone into the experience with so many other people’s thoughts, feelings and opinions already in my consciousness, even from those who hadn’t actually seen the film. It’s fair to say that that my feelings of anxiety at what I was about to see were greater than anything actually experienced in the film. That said, it was certainly up there with the nastiest films I’ve watched in a fair while.

A Serbian Film is a very good movie, and given that it is a debut from an independent film maker high praise is due. It won’t happen because of the subject matter, but there can be few movies from relatively inexperienced directors that are this accomplished. I understood the main character (Milos) and strongly sensed his commitment to his family and his desire to be a provider. He knew that he was getting in over his head from the start, but greater was his need to offer his family security; and this is the main plot thrust for the film: Milos has entered into a contract to make an adult film for a life changing sum of money, and life changing it certainly turns out to be. 

The set pieces were brilliantly shot, and very unsettling. A lot of this was down to the quality of acting and direction that made me care about Milos and his situation. Srdjan Spasojevic, the director of the film, also scored highly by making me think I was seeing things that I didn’t during the more “boundary pushing” scenes. Often it was the concept of what was occurring on screen that repulsed, rather than any specific image. The now infamous “newborn” scene was a case in point. We didn’t see anything beyond a suggested action, which was vile, but we weren’t privy to the physical details of it.

A lot has been said about the motivation behind making this movie, and its metaphor to the atrocities that occurred in Serbia. It is enough to be told that there is an allegory in the film, it doesn’t have to be obvious. Someone has created art, and stated its motivation. It’s misguided to feel that we need to “get it” further, else all films with that intent will become tediously literal and pedestrian. There were several key pieces of dialogue that did present the metaphor and that was adequate without being intrusive. Further to that, the loss of innocence was a theme that was pervasive throughout; from conversations with Milos’ young son about arousal to the more brutal scenes of depravation and abuse. Speaking of which…

There is a scene involving a machete and a chained woman which can’t be topped for sheer in-your-face horror, it was the ultimate gore scene.  You could see what was going to happen and it did, viscerally and unflinchingly. As with most things in this film, there is always a little cherry on top – and here a comment is made about enjoying rigamortis and Milos needs to be “disengaged” from the victim by two men (I’ll leave that to your imagination!). It completed the scene, added an extra element of disgust and was also darkly humorous. I’ll avoid any further spoilers, although with all that has been discussed within the horror community I suspect it is too late for that. Suffice to say that the director builds to the horror slowly, but once it arrives there is image after image of unrelenting sadism, gore and violence – every single one with a horrific sexual overtone. We descend with Milos into the absolute depths of depravity and we are not allowed respite until we have completed the experience.

Accompanying these scenes was an extremely effective use of music and sound. Some might find the soundtrack intrusive, but given the intensity of the visual images it added a great deal and needed to be prominent to avoid being lost behind the degeneracy occurring onscreen. Some of the low frequency signal generator noises really heightened the sense of intimidation and fear, they resonated and churned in the gut. It was reminiscent of Gaspar Noe’s Irréversible in this regard, although this is where the comparisons end, as A Serbian Film makes Irréversible look like something from Cbeebies in every other way.

Even though I really liked the film, for want of a better verb, it was the victim of the hype and hysteria surrounding it. Maybe I’ve been desensitised, but I was expecting this to mess me up, and it really didn’t – ultimately it was just another film. I’ve mulled over some of the scenes since watching it, but not much more so than any other well made movie, and the films images haven’t been mentally replayed as part of some kind of brain scarring. I had heard I might want to “unsee” it, but I found it not to be the case as the film was ultimately a worthwhile experience.

Some horror journalists have reviewed this film and advised their readership not to see it, that it would be too much for them, and that they only think they want to watch it. If you are reading Transgressive Cinema, you won’t be patronised in this way. You are a horror fan and you understand that this film has a visual power that will shock you. Be prepared for some unsettling images, but I recommend this film to you if extreme cinema is your thing. Of course, if you found Twilight heavy going (or even watched it) you might want to stay away from this one.

In conclusion, it was stylish but with substance; viscerally violent and depraved but with justification. The horror, and the nature of the horror, is some of the most extreme you’ll ever see but this is built up to with a delicate touch. It is a really good film from a director I’ll be interested in following. It will deeply upset many, but for most of the modern genre audience, and that’s you, as nasty as it is it will not deliver on its notoriety, which is a shame because there is more to the film than simply trying to endure its horror. More importantly though, A Serbian Film represents the rarest of treats to the horror fan: a film that we are actually nervous about watching – and for some scenes at least, you are wise to be worried.

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