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It's very
rare for me to sit in awe of a film after the credits roll. I see
some decent movies from time to time, but most of the time it's the
same old thing, just rehashed in a competent way. It's been a good
while since I just thought "Wow" after the film was over. The Human
Centipede gave me this feeling. When the film started, I was scared.
I thought it was just going to be another "hot girls lost in the
woods" type of film. I was way off base. The Human Centipede follows
Jenny, and Lindsay, two girls vacationing in Germany. The girls get
lost on a trip to town, and to make matters worse, they get a flat
tire. From this point on, the film is extremely creepy, and
atmospheric.
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An encounter with a local, whom
the girls think is there to help them, sets the tone for the
rest of the film. The girls decide to venture out into the
rainy night to try and find somebody to help them get home.
Soon, they come across a house, in the middle of nowhere.
Here we are introduced to Dr. Heiter, played astonishingly
well by Dieter Laser. From the moment they meet our devilish
doctor, you can tell somethings not quite right. |
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The girls are desperate to get back to
their hotel though, so they enter the house in order to use the
phone. Our doctor goes to the kitchen to fake a phone call to
emergency service, as well as prepare a roofy cocktail for our women
in peril. I'm going to stop here, because explaining the rest of the
film would ruin it's impact on you. I'll just say, the film is
called "The Human Centipede" and it delivers what it promises. The
film's tagline is "100 % medically accurate" I don't know, I'm not a
doctor. The way it was explained, and ultimately carried out in the
film was believable to me though, so I have no qualms about the
claim. Some really nice effects are put on display, and when we
finally see the creation in motion, it's pretty special.
One of my
only complaints is, I feel that most of the foreign dialog could
have went without being translated into subtitles. While the scene
still retains it's creepiness, not knowing what was being said to
the girls would have added an extra level to the feeling of
isolation. Another problem I had with the film was that the girls
were really annoying. It was hard for me to feel sympathy for them,
but I'm not really sure that I was supposed to to begin with. I was
happy to see them get what was coming to them, because frankly, I
was tired of hearing their mouths. While this sounds like a major
problem with the film, it really didn't bother me that much. I still
felt like I was watching a really important film for the genre. It's
rare to see directors take risks these days, and I feel it should be
mentioned when someone does.
The Human Centipede is definitely not for everyone. I see it being very
polarizing. You're either going to love it, or hate it. It worked for
me, and quenched my thirst for something different. It's hard to imagine
it was written as a trilogy, but I can't wait to see what Tom Six does
in "The Full Sequence" to one-up this film. If you're interested in
broadening your horror horizons, and escaping the drudgery of remake
after remake after remake, see "The Human Centipede."
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