THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE) Post Release - Page 2

There's a difference between just doing something gross and placing something gross into some believable situation. For example Machine Girl is excessive violence in a cartoonish way, this is told like a it-could-really-happen way. It may be completely absurd, but it wants to be taken seriously.

What an incredibly effective movie. I agree with all sentiments that it is not the "gross-out" that you'd expect from the premise, although it gives more shudders of revulsion and sympathy than all of the modern torture porn films combined. This film delivers instead a lot of pathos for the characters in its short run time.

A, B, and C, are incredibly sympathetic characters and I am glad that Six avoided using overly broad cliches for the two female leads. This would have lessened the impact of their situation and removed all emotional heft that the film provides. Especially in those final frames.

No, this is a film lover's horror flick. Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted most of the time. And while this is a film that isn't meant to play broad, modern horror filmmakers should take note in ways to engage its audience.

Wonderfully twisted film.

I'm not sure I ever rooted against a character more than I did with Dieter Laser's mad scientist.

And for that, I give him a ton of praise. That mirror scene alone is fucking epically frightening.

The hilarious part is that in every interview I've been reading with Dieter Laser, he comes off as a total sweetheart who thanks the interviewer for asking such interesting questions.

I am not, of course, surprised that an actor is — gasp — different in real life from the character he plays. I'm just saying.

Caught this at the NuArt on Friday at midnight (thanks, Devin!) and thought it as such a cruel, fucked-up, weird and awesome little movie. It's one of the stranger things I've ever had the pleasure of watching with a crowd and I loved it.

It's just completely fucked up, but totally not in the way that I was expecting. That is, I was expecting a whole lot of gross-out, vile, shit-eating (literally) imagery. While the film delivers plenty of that, I think the film gets off as much more fucked on the actually horrifying nature and cruel coldness of the doctor and his fucked up experiment.

I loved this, and I feel very conflicted about typing that.

Movie isn't pushing the envelope (see Burroughs, Cronenberg, Screaming Mad George, transgressive, extreme Japanese body horror, etcetc) but it's great stuff. Really well made with a nicely demented conceit, and an AMAZING central performance. More darkly comic than horror I think (the centipede is a fairly goofy abomination), but definitely some strong tense scenes in there. Loved the headstone for "my sweet three-dog". Loved "You will be... THE MIDDLE!". Loved the tears of joy/mirror scene.

In its own way I think the movie is also a bit like one of those heart-warming, inspirational one-man-chases-his-dream-no-matter-what flicks, but with 100% more intestinal consolidation. Sort of The AssGastronome Farmer.

Also, I wonder if this movie would have been more horrifying if the doctor hadn't replaced his original "head" with that Japanese guy. Years of being stuck in a truck with bad food, taking desperate roadside shits, you know fattie had hemorrhoids

I am truly at a loss as to why this movie is receiving such high praise.

First of all, it’s not nearly as disturbing as the buzz makes it out to be. Sure, the concept is off-the-charts insane, but its realization is tepid at best. There’s not much in the movie that is any worse than what you see in the trailers.

Secondly, and most egregiously, it plays like a tutorial on every single retarded horror movie cliché in film history. Car breaks down in the middle of nowhere? Check. No cell reception? Check. Two idiot girls wandering aimlessly through the woods in the middle of the night? Check. Two idiot girls happen upon the house of one alarmingly creepy bastard and decide to go in? Check. Completely half-assed escape attempts? Check. Failing to kill the villain when the opportunity presents itself? Check. The two dumbest cops in the history of law enforcement? Check.

I’d be willing to give the movie a pass on the “not very disturbing” criticism (although they should dial down that rhetoric in the marketing so as not to make it feel as much like false advertising) if it didn’t go out of its way to insult my intelligence with pretty much every single decision the characters make.

I hear it's a crowd movie, the only place that's playing it is in New York though (couple thousand miles). Is it worth torrenting if you're just gonna be watching it alone anyway?

I doubt you're going to get anyone recommending you torrent it on these boards.

It was probably beyond the budget of the film, but I was kinda hoping we'd get to see the "precious three dog" eventually, if only in flashback. How to achieve that in a way that didn't border on animal cruelty would be tough.

Fair enough, just checking. Thanks for the heads up at any rate

I thought we did, although via a photograph?

Only pic I noticed was of three rotties standing in a line in the most orderly butt sniffing session ever. Obviously one of the doctor's prep pics.

I'm glad they didn't show the 3-dog, I think the headstone was enough, and the mental image of something like that will always be worse than anything the movie could show you.

holy shit, just got back from a packed midnight showing - this is definitely a crowd movie. there were actually two instances of people vomiting (once during the operation, and once during the climactic spiral staircase climb). surprising, since, as people mentioned, the gore is used pretty sparingly - i love the way six rides on the twisted concept alone (and a fucking brilliant central performance).

but what a great little horror flick. the scene with heider and the mirror, unveiling his creation; the first feeding of the middle segment; that race up the stairs at the end; its all so delightfully fucked up.

I really appreciate Devin's effort to highlight this film... it may not be the best, but it's a truly original, off-the-rails horror film. Given how films are playing things safer and safer nowadays, subversive features like these deserve a standing ovation for simply being made.

Sure it follows a formula, as do all horror films, but "The Human Centipede" succeeds by making that formula exciting... it's so easy to get caught up in the performances here. Easily one of the best group cinema experiences I've had in ages...since the Blade Runner Brain Trust screening, probably. There weren't too many people in the theater, but every one of them responded physically, myself included.

Also, am I the only one who was pleased that they managed to make a non-exploitative exploitation film? In its moderate execution of such seedy concepts, the film seems to effortlessly float above any criticism of gratuitous nudity or violence.

The videogame- http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/537029

Great movie tie-in videogame, or the greatest movie tie-in videogame?

I agree, it's fantastic, but maybe not the greatest movie tie-in. I'd give that honor to the kill bill flash game: http://flashgamesite.com/play490game.html

This just made my day.

This movie is the greatest thing ever.

I was surprised by the turn out at the theater, it wasn't packed but there were more people there than I thought would be. And they all seemed to love the shit out of it too.

Once upon a time, certain things were considered unbelievable perversions.
See the "what's wrong with the germans?!" line in the South Park movie...

Now some dude wakes up one morning, decides to put his own sick fantasies on film, (wisely) keeps away from the most graphically explicit representations and sells the result as "art".
And, what do you know?! Everyone buys it.
I must be the weird guy here...

Let's wait for the next sick idea to be put on film and praised for its boldness on the dozens of related Chud articles.

Wet blanket!

Or you could go watch Shrek 4!!

I'd much rather watch a horror movie that has actual concept of HORROR in it, than another Friday/Freddy/Halloween film where the whole point is to watch them come up with new and outlandish ways to kill people.

Frankly, I'm glad there are writers here and elsewhere willing to praise films such as "The Human Centipede" for their boldness. Regardless of whether these films are any good, I think it's important that creative work not be censored by commerce or taste.

No need for censorship of course.
Let's just remember where a film like this comes from: a disturbing concept, and the plain old "hey nobody has ever done it (except for sick porn)! They'll HAVE to talk about me!!"

The cinematic environment should be open to all stripes of films... regardless, I think "The Human Centipede" makes a strong enough argument for its existence. The fact that it succeeds in proposing such disturbing notions through suggestion rather than explicitness is a testament to the craft involved. Consider the nudity, for instance: this film could've been completely gratuitous, but despite the fact that the main characters were naked for much of the film, the actors never seemed to be exploited... I genuinely empathized with the characters (at least, once they stopped talking), and thought any actual moments of nudity were only used to underline vulnerability. While the overall theme of the film may have been lost on me, I could tell there was some directorial intelligence involved.

What's your point? It's a disturbing concept? Good, it's a horror movie. It's something nobody has really done before? Good, you want to be original. He wants people to talk? Understandable, since attention means people see your film and you get more work. Better yet, lots of buzz means people are actually responding to it on some level, which is what every filmmaker wants.

The movie is well made, succeeds at what it sets out to do, and succeeds at what a good horror movie should do. Other than the fact that it's apparently too much for you to handle, do you actually have a problem with it?

I can handle it, I just don't see the point of sitting through something like that.

But, hey, whatever.
To each his own I guess..

Have you seen it? I'm sure you'll find it far more humorous than you're anticipating.

The point, as with most other films in the genre, is to experience horror. That the premise is more extreme than most doesn't negate that.

I can't help but feel you're making assumptions about what "something like that" actually is in this case. It's not like Tom Six tricked us all into watching 2 Girls 1 Cup with a budget. Arguably the most shocking thing to me while watching the film was how restrained it is, given the concept. It's not nearly as graphic as you might expect, and the horror is largely psychological. I would be slightly more sympathetic to your attitude if the film was artless sleaze, but it's really not.

The concept of sewing someone's face to another person's asshole is in itself exploitative. The director wasn't offering some kind of profound subtextual commentary. He wasn't offering commentary at all. He was just making a movie about a crazy guy who like sewing faces to assholes. When I'm presented with such an outlandish premise, I expect some fucking exploitation. I want tits and gore, not restraint.

And any argument for "craft" and "directorial intelligence" goes right out the window after about the third idiotic character decision.

So then all your left with is a non-gratuitous horror movie with a cliched and contrived plot.

Yawn.

Man, this movie just can't win

Exploitation is all about presentation, not the content of the plot. I think a great quality of the film lies in its ability to portray a reprehensible act within the confines of decency.

Also, I was pretty in awe of the Dieter Laser's performance as the doctor. He was digging into some pretty disturbed and unhinged terrain there. If for no other reason, his work makes the film worth seeing. That mirror scene is spectacular.

Which would apply to movies dealing with serious, controversial issues like rape or child abuse. It doesn’t really apply to a movie about a guy getting off on forcing people to shit in other people’s mouths. There’s absolutely nothing about the concept of this movie that deserves to be taken seriously, so when it gets executed “within the confines of decency”, it begs the question: What’s the fucking point?

And what’s worse, while the movie was trying to rise above the usual exploitative nature of trashy horror movies, it decided to adhere to every single mindless trashy horror movie cliché. If you’re going to be thoughtful and high-minded in the presentation of your completely bonkers premise, then you should be equally thoughtful and high-minded in the scripting of your story.

Laser’s performance was good. But it was a good performance in a dreadfully written movie.

I guess that's what I thought was interesting. Because it *is* obvious that the director put some degree of thoughtfulness into the way the story was visually depicted and the way it was acted, it does provoke questions like "what's the fucking point"?

I think the point of the film might be to illustrate the bottomless depths that we're willing to go to continue to be satisfied, in an increasingly amoral world* ... that once we reach a new extreme it becomes normal, and so we must sink further into depravity. In this vein, I imagine that the Doctor's life was initially guided by a sense of right and wrong, but perhaps in his success his ego grew so large, that his surgeries no longer provided the feelings of satisfaction he had grown accustomed to?

At this point, the symbolism of the creature that eats its own shit becomes pretty apparent. At what point will we realize that in our quest for more progressive satisfactions, stimulations and entertainments we've become consumers of shit? Are our egos so bloated that we'll end up ruining ourselves and possibly others just to get that kind of fix?

The fact that the film eschews most of the grotesqueries of the modern horror or "torture porn" genre indicates that it might be trying to comment upon it, rather than entirely partake in it.

EDIT: * One might say that these are the dangers of societies based on science, technology, and consumerism, as opposed to those founded in faith.

I saw this in Chicago at the Music Box and I forgot how much I detest the usual midnight crowd at the music box. People just hooping and hollering and just generally acting like a bunch of freaking retards while I was trying to actually watch the damn movie! It's not like Rocky Horror where everyone has seen it a gazillion times and can just join along...it was my first time seeing the film and I was barely able to concentrate or even hear the damn movie.

Anyway, with that being said...I generally enjoyed the movie. The acting, dialogue and directing was just beyond fucking awful in the first 20-30 minutes.
Honestly...all of the scenes and dialogue b4 the girls got into the house we're just the worst of the worst. It was like a really badly done student film.
But once the girls got into the house the movie really took off and I was able to enjoy it as much as I could despite the fact that most of the audience seemed to be operating on nothing more than their brain stems.

I was pretty disturbing (though not nearly as much as people make it out to be), kinda funny and Deiter as the scientist was pretty damn amazing.

I recommend it and I'll be getting it when it comes out on video.

Just had a stupid "invent your own cocktail" night at my house tonight - vodka, lime, baileys and JD plus 3 jelly babies gives you THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE SHOOTER:

And yes, it tastes as grim as it looks. Bear in mind my friend came up with "beef lightning" - an alcoholic beef drink. Tonight was a painful night all round.

Didn't go over the moon for this, but it was definitely well-crafted and had some good tense sequences. I had to chuckle at his "Now you've spoiled my appetite!" moment with the steak. This is like the restrained twin brother of Inside, Keystone Cops and all.

I found out some news that made pretty happy tonight. The theater that I went that's showing Human Centipede was was only suppose to show it for 2 nights, it's going into its sixth week, and possibly more since people keep coming to see it. So hooray! for original horror.

Caught this Friiday night with a 3/4 house at the local indie theatre. Film was shite and the audience experience was ruined by the entire theatre laughing uproariously throughout the entire film.

I don't think even without the cackling hipster douchebags it would have been worth it.

Just watched this tonight. I think I loved it far more than the other two guys I watched it with. I guess I just give out a lot of points for originality (too many, some would say), but when you've seen thousands of films, and something truly new comes along, you're likely to flip for it and forgive a few flaws.

The one thing that bothered me (minor point though it may be) is that, while the concept of linking them with a single digestive tract seems sound, he didn't actually do that. Having them shit in each other's mouths doesn't constitute a single digestive tract. There's no way anyone but the lead segment would get enough nutrition to survive.

Still, that's a detail I suppose.

Laser's performance is extraordinary, the art design of the Doctor's home is fantastic, and it manages to be constantly disturbing without resorting to excessive gore.

We did wind up having a huge argument about the suicide finale. I still defend it.

Loved it.

One thing confused me though. The Doctor operated on them in his basement, right? Then how the fuck did he get them upstairs? Was there a lift or something that I simply don't remember?

With a super secret elevator they never showed. Either that, or the Doctor is actually a superhero with Captain America serum flowing through him - which would also explain his resurrection for the sequel.

I thought the movie was well-made and original, and the Laser's performance was amazing (making him an instant horror icon), but there were just a wee too many issues with plot holes and character stupidity to call it great. I'm glad I saw it, but it's not a movie I would rush to own in my collection any time soon.

Most horror movie villains just end up killing their victims after torturing them, but sometimes it's quick. The Mad Dr. Heiter doesn't want to kill his victims-- he wants them to live as some sick sub-human medical experiment. And yet throughout the film he shows sociopathic disregard for human life, meaning the only reason he wants his victims to live is for his own scientific glory. This has got to make Heiter one of the most contemptible villains in recent film history. He's horrible in ways most movie villains can't even fathom being. I was literally cheering when he got a slug in the brain.

People have asked why he put the guy who didn't speak English or German in the front, rather than someone he could communicate with. This is why. He doesn't want to see them as human beings that he can communicate with. They're no more than an experimental dog. If he could understand them, it would crash his worldview.

Well..... Not sure what to make of this. The lead performance was an astounding display of cinematic mad science villainy. With his hollow face and insect eyes, he reminded me of a silent film villain. His evil was apparent at a glance, and it made his grusome ghastly plot seem even more demented (if that's possible)

As stated his nefarious plan is pretty disturbing, and fairly sickening too. The film is well shot and well acted by the other humanpedes, and so I'm not sure why I didn't like it more. I 'appreciated' how effective the film was, but for whatever reason, it felt kind of calculated, and less than the sum of it's parts.

Maybe it was just overhyped, not sure, but I didn't really get much from the movie. It was worth a view just for the villain's performance, but I can't imagine I'll be revisiting it any time soon. IMHO, there isn't much depth to the movie (even though yes I can see the themes it deals with, it just feels too calculated, watching the movie feels like being presented with very cerebral torture porn)

PS I was aggravated by stupid character decisions throughout the film:

1) The Human-Centipede idea is inherently flawed, the person on the back end would get infections most likely, and even if they didn't, they still would not get enough nutrients to survive.

2) B should have just run away and abandoned her friend (for the time being) and then returned with help. It was the smartest move and the best chance for both their survival

It's got way too many "dumb" horror movie moments to qualify as great (Japanese dude not going for the security stab with the scalpel in particular), but it does so many other things with a sure hand, with almost a bare minimum of direct gore or fecal matter that it far outweighs those problems. And damn that's just a truly horrific place to wrap up.

I also assumed not being able to verbally communicate with the back end would make an organized, effective escape difficult if impossible.