Director: Tom Six
Writer: Tom Six
Producers: Tom Six, Ilona Six
Starring: Dieter Laser, Ashley C. Williams, Ashlynn Yennie, Akihiro Kitamura
MPAA Rating: NR
Running time: 90 min
(4/5)I have seen one or two things in my day. I’ve been to plenty of midnight madness pictures, I’ve been to several genre film festivals and watched a guy get his arm halfway ripped off during a rodeo. I’ve seen Teeth, Irreversible, Inside and I’ve even seen a close-up of Jesus’ anus being washed by midgets. And I’m sure I’ve probably seen something more squirm inducing, facial cringing or “fingernails digging into your arm rest” type of movie scenes than anything in The Human Centipede, but for the life of me I can’t think of what they might be.
If you’ve been around the movie nets lately, you’re probably no stranger to the premise of The Human Centipede, but I’ll give it to you anyway. In a nutshell, a mad scientist captures unsuspecting victims into his isolated home and conducts experiments on them. More specifically, he needs at least three “specimens” in order to make what the movie’s title refers to as a human centipede. By surgically attaching a person’s mouth to another’s bung hole and severing the tendons in the knee, he creates what essentially looks like one part of what roughly resembles a giant centipede. Attach another’s mouth to the tail end and voila! You essentially have a human centipede. And yes, it’s as gross as it sounds.
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The movie starts like any typical slasher picture. Two scantily clad women, who never learned how to change a flat have their car break down in the middle of nowhere. These two very poor actresses wander through the woods and come upon a house in which they hope to seek refuge and use the phone. Of course there is a crazy guy inside and we all know what comes next. These first fifteen to twenty minutes of the film don’t do much in the way of anything interesting other than build up our anticipation for what we know is to come.
Most of the acting in the film is total garbage (possibly intentionally?). However, Dieter Laser as the eerie Dr. Heiter hams it up to no end and is totally delightful to watch on screen. He’s not particularly scary; he’s just got a haunting bravado to him that plays like horror films of yesteryear. If Bela Lugosi had not been available and Laser was around at the time, he might’ve been perfectly cast as the iconic Dracula of the 1940s. With slim, bony features, piercing eyes and a deep, monotonous voice, he plays his part with a sustainable calm; very rarely losing his cool or his soothing vocal intonations. It’s a lot of fun.
The real “delight” of the film though is watching the actual procedure and its aftermath take place. The build-up is joyously frustrating and the surgery itself is cleverly edited and pieced together with snippets of the actual cutting and sewing of the body parts, juxtaposed with shots of the doctor taking breaks to enjoy his breakfast or simply grab a breather. When we see the finished product, it might be hard for some to stomach, others might laugh uncontrollably while others will just shake their head in bewilderment. One thing is certain, whether you’re repulsed or amused, it is almost impossible to look away. And I defy anyone not to be at least curious as to what could possibly happen next with these characters.
As the doctor plays his sick mind (and physical) games with his new “pet,” it gets increasingly difficult to watch some of the theatrics as various “obstacles” are presented to the protagonists. Obviously being surgically attached to the person in front of you and someone else attached behind you and with no way to straighten your legs in order to run, presents a unique look at the “trapped in a house” scenario given to us by countless other films. Not to mention all of the other scenarios that are sure to run through your mind when conjuring thoughts of how such a creature might function. Yes there is infection, blood-letting and of course shitting involved. How can the protagonists communicate with one another? How will they even attempt to escape? All of these typical subjects are tackled all the while under the watchful eye of an evil doctor and his barbaric methods of maintaining control.
Possibly what makes the film work so well is how it manages to leave a lot of its imagery up to the imagination. Sure we get to see enough to make us realize what’s going on, but at the same time, the mouths and buttocks are covered with cloth. Once the “creature” is completed, other than the idea of what is going on, there isn’t a whole lot of ickiness (relatively speaking). Keeping all of these things mostly psychological and to the audience’s imaginatory devices is what makes everything feel so damn nasty. You’ll likely need a shower when you get home… possibly while keeping all of your clothes on.
I really had anticipated a fairly standard horror flick here with a money shot here and a gross out shot there. I didn’t expect the conventions of horror to be played up so well and was actually a little surprised at how hard it was to keep my eyes on the screen at all times. It’s a high concept that is played out well; mostly because of the antagonist and the writer/director’s knowledge of what really makes an audience giggle or squirm. It ain’t always about the visuals… but a lot of it is! Not sure what’s in store for us as more centipede comes down the pike (apparently this is part of a trilogy), but at this point, I’m sold on anything more with this unique and creepy concept.
I found the film more bewildering and occasionally funny than actually scary. The “100% medically accurate” tagline I think is a clue into the filmmakers sense of humour with this film. Torture Porn as carnival side-show. But I agree that Dieter Laser is bloody good fun in the movie, I’m glad he was on-screen for most of the film, it made the whole affair bearable.
Definitely. I was never once scared in the movie. But if you’re not cringing at some of the imagery and some of the psychological thought process behind what’s happening, something is wrong with you.
So I saw this as a two night only midnight madness event here in Minneapolis. But apparently it is staying on for two more nights this weekend at The Lagoon, for anyone who is local. 11pm shows only.
The human centipede’s cries for help somehow didn’t seem funny to me. They were in real pain, and although I get the villain was supposed to be funny argument, the cruel vibe of the whole affair seemed real to me. What exactly were the funny parts? Was it funny when they were locked in the cage crying for help? Was it funny when the doctor showed them a slideshow that explained what he was going to do to them? Was it funny when the girl at the tail end of the centipede was dying of blood poisoning? Was it funny (spoiler)… when the asian guy killed himself with a piece of glass? Another thing that bothers me. A lot of the reviews on the internet are pathetic and lack original thought by trying to dismiss the performances of the two girls. The two girls, and the asian guy, in my mind, acted their parts as well as they could. If you watched the movie and saw it as a comedy, well, then, you are a little numb.
“Torture Porn as carnival side-show” completely apt.
For me, it wasn’t really scary at any point just a bit too gross and not from what was on screen (though I can’t look at images because everything comes flooding back) but mostly from what my mind did with what was provided. It just pushed all of my squeamish buttons. The only reason I finished it: badge of honor. Yup, saw that – don’t ever need to see it again.
Anyone that looks at the good dr.’s show-and-tell slide show (which he gleefully provides for his victims and the audience, a film conceit if there ever was one) and doesn’t at least crack a smile by the simplicity and clarity of the drawings is not on board with the films sense of glee. Sure it is played straight (and reasonably effectively) for the most part (and for the record, I had no issue with the girls performances, they were pretty good considering the nature of the film)
The issues here is suspension of disbelief. I think Six and company were more interested in the full-blown mad scientist, with all the pregnant pauses on Laser’s expressions that they never really took the ‘horror’ element into enough plausible territory to be truly scary. The film for me is often campy and gross more than legitimately horror filled. I got way more tension and suspense out of something like House of the Devil or Grace, films a bit more reality grounded and dare I say mundane/banal? Neither of those films are about the shocks, they are about the horror. Big Difference.
The Human Centipede will likely be regarded by history as ‘weird’ rather than great. Much like Miike’s Ichi The Killer, Gozu, and other types of envelope pushing body horror.
Agreed. I might argue that anyone who takes this seriously is more disturbed than someone who finds the obvious camp factor and hamming it up rather comical. I wouldn’t say its laugh-out-loud funny exactly (unless it’s nervous or repulsed laughter), but Kurt’s right. This movie is so obviously played for disturbed humor rather than serious torture.
If one actually takes this seriously and is truly saddened when the guy bricks in the girl’s mouth, you probably shouldn’t be in the theater in the first place and I would wonder about your sense of reality.
In regards to the acting. The two girls are pretty bad actors – though as I did mention in the review, it’s possible that this was intentional. And again Kurt is right, when they’re actually speaking with dialogue, it fits in with the whole vibe and style of the type of movie you would see in 70s/80s horror films.
I thought this movie was not at all scary…but I did find it totally SICK…i mean is the man who made this movie retarded or sumtin cuz 2 come up eith sumtin like diz itz just crazy. This would really b sad if there wuz actually a man in this world who would do sumtin like this
We talked at length about this movie here: http://www.rowthree.com/2010/05/05/cinecast-episode-165-the-snooze-button-of-life/
I thought the first one was mediocre at best. Didn’t hate it, but didn’t entirely find much to enjoy about it. Did you read the plot synopsis for the sequel? I don’t really want to watch a movie where a guy rapes a girl with barbed wire or some crazy shit like that. I have my limits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Centipede_II_%28Full_Sequence%29
Jim, have you seen Martyrs or A Serbian Film? Both films, like Human Centipede: First Sequence, are more interesting for their technical competence than their shock or story telling.
The best of breed in this type of film is actually Taxidermia, a legitimately interesting art film with no shortage of shock value and visual grotesqueness.
I’ve been meaning to see Taxidermia and Martyrs. I kept hearing reviews of A Serbian Film as being described as something they wish they could “un-see.” That kinda frightened me away from it. I’m not easily offended or grossed out, but I’m a bit dodgy when I know a film has extensive rape. Irreversible was a bit rough for me, so I’m looking to avoid extremely graphic or gory stuff as I get older. If the sequel to Human Centipede was declared a masterpiece of sorts, I’d probably give in and see it. But somehow I don’t see that happening.
With that said, I definitely want to watch films that have some context behind the shock value, but if it goes too far then I’d rather avoid seeing it. The latest example is in that documentary “Sick” with Bob Flanagan. There was NO reason to see a nail going inside of a cock, only to watch blood spewing out. That’s something I wish I could “un-see.” Taxidermia is something I’ve always been meaning to track down.
It has a quite decent R1 release.
Martyrs is really good for the first bit. As soon as it gets into the actual torture part I lost complete interest. A Serbian Film hit me hardest when it actually dealt with the family as opposed to the violence. The quiet scenes with the family still make me cringe. I still need to get around to seeing Taxidermia.
Good review!
Do you know this other parody?
http://photo-centipede.com/