For me, it’s not the act of death that frightens me. What is truly horrifying is the pain involved in getting there. The film, “The Human Centipede,” seems to showcases at least 3 of the most horrifying atrocities imaginable and that is what sets it leagues apart. To endure such cringe-worthy torture, one would need to possess extraordinary determination or utter lunacy.
I’ll go ahead and describe what happens to the film’s victims, The spoilers are unavoidable. But, ultimately I personally don’t care, As (1) this information circulates in horror film fandom, so what is there to hide, and (2) if someone is reading this and looking for warnings, then make sure something like this boils on your radar. This is a movie that I’m not going to beat around the bush regarding.
Alright then, let’s proceed. Dr. Heiter is a mad scientist. He was a surgeon, revered and well known in his field, but now resides in his lavish German forest house that has an operating room in the basement. His skin is as pale as that of a corpse, His hair has been dyed black, All teeth visible when he speaks, His face resembles a caricature of a German Soldier And to top all of that off, He speaks like a Nazi and has a demeanor filled with hatred and vile perversion.
He drugs his victims and throws them into his Mercedes. When they wake up, they find themselves strapped to hospital beds. He gives them a brief slide show to give them context on his plans. He will perform surgery using his.
Please stop reading right now. It is not so much a review, but more like a public service warning.
Heiter wants to ‘surgically’ connect his victims by literally sewing their mouths and anuses together so that when they eat, the food goes in the front and comes out the back. He wants them to be able to walk on all fours like an insect. If you do need to be a part of the Human Centipede, you would not want to be in the middle. Why would he want to commit such atrocities? As I have already mentioned, he’s insane.
He wants to do it because he is part of a film made by Tom Six, a Dutch director whose last two films have an average rating of 4 out of 10 on IMDb, a score that’s so ridiculously low that surprisingly, only very few directors achieve it. Six has now focused on a movie that is supposed to create disbelief, shock, nausea and hopefully outraged. It is being booked as a midnight movie, and is it ever. Boozy fanboys will treat it like a theme park ride.
However, lurking in Six is the spirit of a more sombre artist. He treats his material with utter seriousness; there is none of the joking undertone of a classic Hammer horror film like “Scream and Scream Again”, which starred the all-star trio of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Rest assured, they were having fun. Dieter Laser, who plays Dr. Heiter, takes the role with relentless sincerity. This is his 63rd acting role, but, poor guy, seems to have been born to play this one.
Tom Six is, in fact, the real name of the director. Isn’t it strange that his favorite actor is Klaus Kinski and that he is an AK-47 fan? Also, he wears Panama hats and RAF sunglasses. Definitely not a guy paying with you for a seat on a Ferris wheel. He has stated “I get a rash from too much political correctness.” I assure you that after, this movie, his skin is smooth like a Gerber baby’s.
For a long time, I have tried to apply a broad approach. To put it differently, does a film achieve its objectives regarding its expectations for the audience of that particular genre? “The Human Centipede” achieves above midpoint on this. It is shocking and horrifying enough, all in good measure, to please the most fastidious fan of midnight movies. And it is not just an exploitation film.
For instance, the director uses the antiseptic interior of Heiter’s complicated household effectively. In a Heiter’s house, doors and corridors can lead to nowhere and anywhere. In one scene when the police come asking questions, Six judiciously has Heiter nearly endorsing their suspicion. And there is a scene towards the end which is so pathetic, as the Human Centipede tries to get away, that it goes beyond horror and becomes a form of tragedy.
The cast of Centipede includes Akihiro Kitamura, Ashley C Williams, and Ashlynn Yennie. During his part, the actor screams in Japanese. Probably, he hopes to market the film to the Asian horror market. In the last part of the film, the two actresses do not scream at all, if you follow me.
This time, I won’t grant any stars. The film deserves none of my accolades. How many stars does the score tell us? How many would you give to this film? It has no importance whatsoever. It exists in a dimension where stars rest unbothered.
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