There are some films out there that just make you want to puke. These recently titled "torture porn" flicks, so-called horror films intended to make the viewer question whether or not to continue eating their tuna sandwich, is a current and popular trend amongst cinema goers. The Saw franchise and the two Hostel video nasties have only spread the hunger for this love it or hate it genre, and now The Human Centipede has been released to quench this sick thirst for gore and general hideousness.
The concept alone is enough to put you off your dinner, but should thoroughly satisfy its target audience. Lindsay (Ashley C. Williams) and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie) are two American tourists travelling across Europe when their car gets a flat tire in Germany. They come across a house and ask the grim owner Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser) for help, but end up being drugged by the sinister bastard.
They then wake up in hospital beds in Heiter's basement, where the doctor reveals that he is going to perform a little surgery on them. He is going to permanently sew them up, mouth to anus, so that they can share a single digestive system, along with another man named Katsuru (Akihiro Kitamura). Why is he doing this? Fuck knows.
As you would assume, the film is laden with stomach-churning scenes, which both work for the film as well as against it. A sequence where Katsuru decides to take a dump in the squirming Lindsay's mouth should have you wide-eyed and cringing in horror. However, the film is not a stupid one, it seems well aware of what it is and what it is not. I could sense a tongue-in-cheek tone hidden beneath the over-the-top seriousness.
What holds the film back is some downright bad acting from our two female leads and the simple grotesqueness of it all. The character of Katsuru is slightly annoying with all his screaming and ranting which, although appropriate for the situation he's in, soon becomes frustrating.
Laser's performance, on the other hand, is a fabulously creepy one, making for a fantastic and quirky villain who vastly steals the film. There's also a nerve-shredding escape scene involving Lindsay which had me on the edge of my seat in suspense, one of the definite highlights of the film.
Those of you who want to see this film will know who you are. It's destined to receive a cult following and it certainly deserves it, if simply for the hilariously nasty plot. Don't expect too much and you should enjoy the flick despite its many flaws. Just prepare to be put off that hot dog you're eating.
6/10
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