Hola all. Massawyrm here.
The other night, my wife walked in to find me watching a screener of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE) and she smirked. “Oh, is this that Catapiller movie?” she asked. “Yup.” I answered, fully engrossed in the opening few minutes. She stood there watching it with me for a moment. “This doesn’t look so bad,” she said “I heard it was pretty messed up.” I stopped the film. “Look, baby. I don’t mind if you sit down and watch this with me, but do you know what it’s about?” “I know it was one of the more offensive movies at Fantastic Fest and it creeped every one out.” “If you’re going to stay, I have to tell you what this is about; I don’t want you seeing it before you hear about it.” “Fine, what is it?”
30 seconds later my wife walked out of the room, no longer wanting to talk to me. From across the house she yelled “Why the hell did you have to tell me that?!? I was in a perfectly good mood!” How disturbing is the idea behind THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE)? It put me in the doghouse just for sharing the premise with my wife. And this is a woman who has sat beside me for almost every fucked up thing I’ve ever watched, short of SALO and TAXADERMIA. It is exactly the kind of messed up some people believe has no reason for existing. When people discuss films that are offensive for the sake of being offensive and the devolution of film, they are discussing films like this.
But unlike something like Harmony Korine’s work - which aims to offend and disgust while being relatively inaccessible as a narrative – this attempts that same level of revolting absurdity while structured firmly in the very familiar framework of torture porn. It is the story of two girls who’s car breaks down in the middle of a German back road and, looking for a phone to call for help, stumble upon the wrong house – that of a mad doctor (played incredibly by the man with the greatest name in the cinema world, Dieter Laser) intent on performing a most bizarre and disturbing experiment. If it sounds goofy, know that it is – but only conceptually.
The execution of this film is fantastic. Its shot structure, pacing, dialog and performances are all top shelf – especially considering the bomb dropped at Minute 30. When the mad doctor laid out his diabolical plan, though I had steeled myself against it, my stomach still turned a bit while it was explained. There was something about the quality of the performances, the production value of even the cheapest and easiest shots – I bought into this world knowing full well what I was walking into only to find myself affected exactly the way I was supposed to be. This could have easily been played for camp and been another WAY OVER THE TOP horror/comedy concept that lets you laugh at the absurdity to release tension; instead it is a dark, sinister work of macabre fiction that will burrow into your skull and leave images and ideas there to fester.
That’s not to say that the film is in any way perfect. It is the very definition of torture porn – and while all the nudity and abuse in this is non-sexualized, that doesn’t stop it from being a film that wants to affect you viscerally without wrestling with any higher ideas. Though masterfully assembled, it never tries to say anything with its filthy, repulsive concepts and ends up being a film that is very much it appears to be on the surface. You get what you pay for – nothing more, nothing less. It is a cinematic freak show that is brief enough to never wear out its welcome, but never cheats you of what you are owed as an audience. But any criticism of this being shock-for-the-sake-of-shock are wholly accurate; I just happen to think that it is well made shock-for-the-sake-of-shock, and worth the look by those who delight in experiencing such things.
THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE) is available ON DEMAND and theatrically in select cities beginning April 30th.
Until next time friends,
Massawyrm
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