I can't really pin point why, but High Tension is one of the most disturbing slasher films I've seen in quite some time. The uncut version has quite a few brutal scenes that aren't for the squeamish. I felt weird for about a week afterwards to tell you the truth. Was it the scene involving some sicko giving himself oral pleasure by means of decapitated head? Was it the brutal killing of 'Dad'? The almost unheard of child death? I'd say it's all of the above.
Slasher film are meant to create a public reaction. Alexandre Aja certainly accomplished what he set out to do. An American family have moved to France, still getting use to all the little differences. Alexia has befriended Marie and decides to have her stay the week-end at her family's house.
By this point, the movie has almost a psycho-perverted feel to it already. During the opening scene, a man in a dirty old truck pleasures himself with a severed head. He's mumbling something in French the whole time, simply throwing the head out the window when he's finished. Needless to say this is a very powerful scene. This, to me, set the mood for the entire film. There was always this hidden perverted undertone all the way throughout that made me feel uneasy.
Just as everyone goes to sleep, Marie decides to put on her head-set and have herself a little masturbation session. Marie fingers to the groove and is probably thinking about her friend Alexia. (Earlier, she spied on her while she was taking a shower.) Just as she climaxes, the same killer we see at the beginning of the film hurries up the driveway in his old rusty truck. He knocks on the door. Dad wonders who the hell it is and answers the door. Psycho-perv slices Dad's throat and violently crushes his head with a large chest.
He violently kills mom and Alexia's son via shotgun, but decides to spare Alexia by gagging her and tying her up. Marie stealthily maneuveres around the house undetected, trying not to make a noise. Finally, the killer carries Alexia outside and throws her in the back of rhe truck. Somehow, Marie ends up in the back with her friend as the killer drives her to some unknown destination.
Hight Tension is just that. It maintains a constant level of tension. You're always wondering what's going to happen next. Who's going to get beheaded or have their face bludgeoned violently? What perverted things is this psycho-perv going to do to these innocent girls?
As I mentioned earlier, this film has a number of perverted undertones but never really shows us anything we haven't seen before. (Although, the severed head giving head scene made me cringe. I haven't did that in a long time) It's funny how that one scene opened up the door for things to seem more sexually charged than they really are.
Anyway, you can't really say too much more about it without giving away the ending. Some people absolutely despise the ending. Me, personally? I love it. I think it capped it off really well pending the subject matter anyway. I think it was a brave wraparound if you ask me. To be honest, I'm not real sure if the ending was originially in the script, or if it was tacked on by the producers. Either way, I think it works. Some people see it as a copout, I see it as a venue to a whole box of unanswered questions. This is one of those rare occasions where some things are better left unsaid. I think it's more fitting for the viewer to actually try and grasp what they've seen, but keep an open mind. We delve deep into a mind that becomes more corrupt as sex makes its way into the picture. This being evident, it's hard to deny the very risky subject matter and feel a little tarnished by it. Think New York Ripper. Fulci gave us gore, death, and sex all in one basket. It's almost too much to handle at once. The same can be said for High Tension, except on a lower scale.
The score captures the foreign aspect which I thought worked really well. It made things seem almost exotic and even more hopeless. Sometimes the foreign feel to an over seas production hinders things, but in this case, it enhances the mood of the story. Let me just say without giving everything away that the filmmakers (or whomever) didn't give us a conventional reveal. They gave us so many welcomed cliche's throughout the film, but totally side stepped what they were doing and lead us into a brick wall.
Should you watch High Tension? If you're a fan of the old school slasher film, I don't see how you could possibly go wrong in watching it. The ending may or may not be your cup of tea, but there's no denying it's affect.
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