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"... a thundering example of style over substance."
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“...a delightful tribute to nostalgia and romance.”
The Illusionist
“...a film that generally brings warm smiles rather than belly laughs...”
Treasure Guards
"A willing suspension of disbelief should get most viewers across the line."
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The Human Centipede (DVD)
Year: 2009
Rating: R
Director: Tom Six
Cast: Akihiro Kitamura , Dieter Laser, Ashley C. Williams, Ashlynn Yennie
Release Date: October 06, 2010
Distributor: Beyond
The Film: 3.5
The Disc: 3.5
FILMINK rates DVDs and Blu-rays out of 5Fans anticipating the release of this controversial film on DVD will be excited to hear it comes with a slew of special features.
The Human Centipede is not a 1950s creature feature, as its name might suggest, but an exploration of the ultimate bodily violation. Set in Germany, it follows the efforts of deranged surgeon Dr. Heiter to create a "human centipede" - a series of humans attached anus to mouth, sharing a single digestive tract. Taken at face value this seems a ridiculous conceit, but part of the film's power is the way in which it absorbs the viewer so completely into its nightmarish scenario.
German character actor Dieter Laser is transfixing as the surgeon, whom he plays with menacing (and later rabid) intensity. His marvellously alien features are used to great effect. Also contributing to the atmosphere is the film's pared down sensibility and cleverly unsettling soundtrack, which uses heightened ambient noise.
Writer/director Tom Six is notable for helping to kick off the original Big Brother reality TV series in his native Netherlands. It comes as a relief, then, that in spite of the extreme subject matter, The Human Centipede does not exploit its young leads. At the outset the two female characters (played by Ashley C. Williams and Ashlynn Yennie) appear as almost comical horror stereotypes. Like those party girls who adorn every American slasher flick they are attractive, ditzy and out of their element. But the film takes a less conventional turn, and the viewer is soon forced into a position of extreme empathy with them, as well as with their male counterpart (Akihiro Kitamura).
This is a film about the integrity of the human body, and raises an interesting question. What remains of humanity when the body has undergone a devastating transformation?
It's not an easy film to watch, and probably one for horror buffs only. They, however, should make an attempt to see it.
For those up for it, the DVD's special features include a deleted scene, a making-of, featurettes on the foley and the casting in the film, a director's commentary, Tom Six interviews and a Q&A with the director and leading man Dieter Laser.
