WARNING WARNING:Reviews may contain minor or even major spoilers. You're warned and thats that...
Haute Tension {AKA Switchblade Romance} (2003)
Directed by Alexandre Aja
Cast:
Cécile De France: Marie
Maïwenn Le Besco: Alex
Philippe Nahon: Le Tueur
Story
2 college girls,Marie and Alex,travel to Alex's parents farmland home in order to do some studying. Just when they arrive and get seattled in for the night,a strange delivery man arrives,slaughters the entire family,and kidnaps Alex. Its up to Marie to engage in a constint cat and mouse game with the killer to rescue her friend
Comments
*puts his open hand to his ear
You hear that? Thats the sound of the movies on my top 10 favorites shifting upward (knocking what was at #10 off the list completely) to make room to place this bad boy on the list where it truely belongs
Just like with Battle Royale,I had heard this movie being praised the world over and just like Battle Royale,this film not only achieved the rare task of meeting all my expectations,but knocking me flat on my ass in the process
The film's name translates to "High Tension" in english,and thats a VERY appropriate title. You throw in the storyline elements of Dean Koonz's Intensity,the on the road cat and mouse game/way more action than dialogue style of the great cult classic known as The Hitcher (one of my all time favorite movies btw. I'd even go so far as to say that The Hitcher was one of the movie's main influences),the constint exploitive intensity of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original of course),and the over the top gore and violence of films like The Evil Dead or Dead ALive...mix all those together in a blender,and you've got yourself the highly potent bastard of a drink known as Haute Tension
Speaking of,GODDAMN this is one of the most violent and gory films I've seen in a LONG while. This film has the set of balls that alot of American horror films WISH they had and takes creative violence to a whole new level. Who knew that something this visceral and raw would come out of France,the country we all love to hate.
Not only is it violent but the killer,Le Tueur,is one of the most intelligent and sadistic slasher film killers I've ever seen...not to mention VERY creative. That decapatation that served as the movie's first kill is one of the most unique,original,and creative decapatations I have ever seen captured on film. Not only that,but this guy spares NO ONE (you'll see what I'm talking about when you see it). You'll see how intelligent I'm talkin about in the car chase scene and the stalking scene in the woods
So I'm watching this beatifully crafted piece of celluloid violence and exploitation,thinking that this is the new standard in horror films...then all the sudden towards the end...BAM!! Theres a HUGE twist thrown in there that actually changes the film into a mind fuck movie! However,as cool and original as that was,it turned out to be the movie's downfall because it opened up a WHOLE SLEW of plot holes...however,these are not the type of plot holes that nessasarally ruin,but rather,the type of plot holes that make you think about just what the hell was going on...but unfortunatly,at the same time,kinda make what happened before it rather meaningless
And because of that,unfortunatly,it just misses the perfection that the film had going for it all throughout. I'm told that the ending DOES actually make sense if you have seen and understood David Lynch's Mulholland Drive,but unfortunatly I haven't. Despite of that,it is STILL one of the best horror movies I have ever seen in a LONG LONG time...
Final Tidbits
The little bits of score it did have were absolutly great. Beautiful sounding,but utterly creepy all at the same time. And the tension sound effects were magnificant. One of the better scores in awhile
I'm warning you right now,this movie ain't for the faint of heart AT ALL. Not only is it gory as fuck,but the violence is done on such a personal and disturbing level that it will get to you. Let see we have that sickening and creative decapatation I told you about that you have to see to believe,an absolutly brutal and messy baber's razor murder,a messy as fuck buzz saw kill that I guarantee will go down in the record books,and even more!
Not only do we see Alex fully naked in a shower,but we also see Marie masturbating (but unfortunatly,its with her cloths on). Nicely done
This is Alexandre Aja's first film?! SURELY you jest! There is NO WAY this can be his first film. The man has the art of creating a creepy atmosphere and constint tension down to an exact science! I predict big things for this guy,and he deserves a bottle of Jack Daniels and a slew of Asian hookers for the bang-up job he did with this
Well,normally I DISPISE remakes...however,the remake for The Hills Have Eyes is Alexandre Aja's next film (he's writting AND directing)! After seeing this,I HAVE to see what he comes up with for Hills
Final Comments
Forget movies like Freddy vs. Jason or Cabin Fever or House of 1000 Corpses that claim to be the second coming of horror films. Haute Tension on the otherhand IS IN FACT the real deal. Amazing gore,fantastic score (HA that rhymes!),pretty disturbing and personal violence,unseattling atmosphere and constint edge of your seat tension. This film would be absolute perfection had it not been for its twist at the end that ruined alot of it,but even THAT had some payoffs with it.
But don't take my word for how great this movie is...because this movie is apparently so great that its gonna get a special treatment that foreign films RARELY get...that special treatment is an actual US theatrical release...
Thats right. Lions Gate Films was so impressed with Haute Tension (which was shown during certain film festivals) that not only did they obtain the rights to release this film theatrically in the US,but are also making the rather ballsy move of claiming that its gore and violence won't be touched,giving it an NC-17 rating (a rating usually reserved for high amounts of graphic nudity or adult themes...this movie got the rating for its violence and gore. Do the math)! Show them they made the right decision when it is released in the states (under the name "High Tension")
All hail Haute Tension!
Kefka's Final Rating:
****1/2 out of 5
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"The Cheat Commandoes will NEVER find our desert headquarters...since we relocated to my nanna's backyard!"
-Blue Lazer from Homestar Runner-
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