Human Centipede: First Sequence (2010)

The most safe version I could find. Full of lul.

Oh the anticipation. Me, anticipating this movie, you anticipating a blog update and my opinion of this little gem. So what did I think?

Go with me here. Though it isn’t my favorite, and it isn’t the best, this is the perfect horror film. I watched this movie in the same manner I watch a lot of movies. In the few hours before anyone really shows up to my work, I’ll pop in a disk and have some quiet time. Usually, I’ll get a little bored and mess around on my phone, or read, or… work, but this movie had me glued to the screen and I almost had to shut it off (that may be a bit hyperbolic).

The Plot

Two friends, Lindsay and Jenny, are hanging out in Europe for the summer. When we meet them they are in Germany, just being friends, and looking for clubs to party in. They get a tip on a real “happening” club and decide to go looking for it. They end up lost, in their rental car, in a rural area, and it starts to rain. They run and argue and run and find a very nice looking house with someone inside. Dr. Heiter opens the door and lets them in. He asks them questions about their relation to one another, their blood type, you know, the basics. He pretends to call the rental company to come pick them up, and drugs the girls.

When the girls awaken, the are in a room on separate OR tables next to a man (a dude Dr. Heiter tranq-shoots at the beginning of the movie). The good doctor apologizes to the man, explaining that his blood type does not match the girls’, and kills him quite humanly with some IV liquid.

A little while later the doctor brings in an unconscious Japanese man (who only speaks Japanese), and through an overhead projector and rudimentary drawings, explains what he plans on doing.

And this is where I will end my plot synopsis. It’s a pretty formulaic plot structure to start, but the acting and the journey it goes on force it to veer way off the course into some uncharted territory.

Tone: This is one of the areas where this film was absolutely the most successful. If you have seen a preview for this movie, or heard about this movie, or even read the title of the box, chances are that you come to a screening with preconceived notions about where it’s going, and what it’s doing. Most of the time when a movie is as highly discussed as this one, it can only let the viewer down. In this case it really adds to the weight of the picture. This movie drowns you in darkness, and allows you to come up for air with a few well-placed subtle laughs. They never feel cheap or hokey, instead they are welcomed. A titter to let out some of the anxiety.

Dialogue: The American girls are portrayed well. They aren’t really the dumb-horror-busty-blond stereotype. Their interactions are believable. The Japanese man, played by Akihiro Kitamura, was a key piece to the tension in this movie. We, the viewers, were the only people who could understand (via subtitles) what he was saying. For that reason, he was the “head” of the centipede, which added many more problems to the plight of the women and himself. The true star of this movie, though, is Dieter Laser, Dr. Heiter. His performance is mind-bogglingly amazing. He is intense, angry, and possesses one of the most telling faces seen in cinema. Since the later half of the movie is essentially a monologue, it was important to get someone who could be convincing, believable, charismatic, and utterly detestable.

Violence, Gore, and Effects: Another strong category in this film. This is what really MADE this movie, because you see almost nothing.

That’s right.

The only real gore is external to the centipede. Bullet wounds and a stabbing or two, but we are shown almost nothing of this horrific surgery. Instead, through the use of bandages, our minds are reeling, and our stomachs churn at what is essentially three adults in a line on their hands and knees. And it totally works.

Ending: Though it was a total downer, this movie could not have possibly ended any better. It was perfect, and sad and the culmination of a dark film. Had I seen this in a theater I would have applauded (and I am sure I would have been the only one to do so).

Final Thoughts: Back to the beginning. I meant what I said when I suggested this was the perfect horror film. The psychological torment that the actors, their characters, and the film’s audience are put through are the very definition of the word “horror.” This film was withholding and minimal when it needed to be, it is beautifully shot, the acting was phenomenal, and though it didn’t scare me, per se, it disgusted me. And that alone says something.

Grade: A+ and a high five to Tom Six. That is literally the highest grade I could ever give a movie. Watch, enjoy, vomit.