The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009)

Well, where to start? Sat down and watched this after being told you have to see this to believe it. What did they mean? It'll make you sick, it'll make you turn your eyes away. I was very intrigued. I have been watching horror movies since my teens at the cinema and even earlier if I include the Hammer Horrors on late night TV.

So I like to think I know a decent Horror when I see one. I am so used to the hype around these movies. I used to fall for the tag lines 'scariest movie ever' etc etc etc. More often than not deflated and let down at the failure of all the claims made in advertisements. Which means in recent years I have become picky about what horrors to watch.

Did The Human Centipede live up to the hype. As far as I am concerned on many levels it did. I thought I was going to hate it. Once you get over the extremely twisted premise of an evil doctor attaching humans together in a very disgusting way. This is a really good little low budget Horror. There I said it. I liked this. There is nearly no gore, most of the horror is built in the imagination, in the tense build up and a genuine sympathy for the victims of the mad doctor. Oh.... and what a mad doctor he is, scary, sadistic, and as mad as the maddest hatter! This movie achieves a certain sense of foreboding and dark oppressiveness that big budget horrors never manage.

OK, I agree the premise is totally bizarre but it is a horror movie and it makes a great change from the usual slasher movies and supernatural flicks. In a few years this will be regarded as a great example of tense thrilling and yes horrific filmmaking.

Fmovies: It is very difficult to review a movie called The Human Centipede (First Sequence). There is little chance one will be lured to a viewing under false pretences so if a movie delivers what you expect, is it not then an undisputable success? Yes and no as the film is a struggle between concept, execution and nausea but what is admirable, in addition to its fearless boundary pushing, is its restraint. Yes you read that correctly, restraint. Contrary to so many of the torture porn films that try to punch up the shock value through sadism The Human Centipede has almost no blood and lets your imagination fill in the horrific blanks.

If you know nothing about this movie, allow me to enlighten you. The film revolves around a deranged surgeon who propels the old hallmark of a 'mad doctor' to delirious extremes. He kidnaps people and sews them together mouth to anus (yes you also read that correctly). Through that procedure which involves removal of the teeth and stitching together the skin of the forward and rear victim, the gastric system is thereby connected. This combined with slicing ligaments in the knees to prevent erect walking and you got yourself one human centipede.

Likely, your mind is already made up on if you want to see this movie; you are either intrigued or repulsed (likely both). What elevates The Human Centipede from its high concept is the tension, the elements of pitch black humour, the subtle skewering of horror conventions and finally the performance of the main villain. The good Doctor Heiter is played by German Dieter Laser (or as I like to pronounce in a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, 'Deeder Lazer') and he is truly terrifying; icy, ruthless and completely unsympathetic towards his captives. He has no motives behind his motives. His drive to create this abomination stems from the death of his '3-dog', which I'm sure you can fathom what that entails, but his desire to attempt anything in this realm to being with is never explored.

The Human Centipede is directed by Tom Six and the man knows how to terrify and disgust in unison. The movie does lose some of its momentum around the ¾ mark but bursts back to life at the finale. The final scene is perhaps the most powerful and affecting in the entire movie and stayed with me far after the initial shock had faded. The slogan for this movie reads '100% medically accurate' and while I'm unsure of the validity of that statement it really stands as a moot point; plausible or preposterous, The Human Centipede does its job the best since the original Saw.

Tom Six is already planning a sequel entitled The Human Centipede (Full Sequence). The dark cloud that looms over this project will be the tendency of directors to try an one-up their originals, usually through increased gore, instead of expanding upon the elements that worked, such as the tension and the allowed space for the viewers mind to go wild. Necessity of a follow-up aside, this is one of the single most brazen and memorable works of horror in many years; see it if you dare.

Read my review of the sequel: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1530509/reviews-106

Wow, what a pointless and redundant film.

It would seem word of mouth has spread into the anus of the internet and shat out this crap film.

Despite the hype, the Human Centipede does nothing interesting with its premise or characters - its almost as if Six thinks the *concept* can do most of the leg work for him.

And apparently those taken by the original concept require little else from a film - like working through the implications of its own premise or delivering an experience that can stand on its own feet.

Take away the striking *image* of three people turned into a human centipede, and you are left with an indistinct film with few thrills.

The mad scientist trope barely transcends hackneyed cliché, and the film completely squanders a great opportunity for subtext: what (for example) is the meaning of a male Asian as the head of the centipede and/or what does two American women following him mean?

The plot is threadbare and takes the path of least resistance - the pointless film leads from point A to point B. Despite the 'logical' (linear) approach of the 'narrative', the characters motivations generally defy logic and rational explanation.

Unlike great horror movies, this film literally has nothing to say about modern culture, gender roles, human fears or scientific hubris.

Even worse, the cheap thrills are standard fare. The only thing that can be said in its favor is that some of the images (creep in the car, the centipede itself) are perversely funny.

The film fails to suspend disbelief or encourages identification with its own protagonists either. Instead of (say) feeling sorry for the two female characters in the film, you pity the two female *actresses* playing bare breasted women on all fours and eating crap in the form of Six's 'script'.

Dieter was typically creepy as the mad scientist, but he can do this stuff in his sleep. Anyone familiar with his work on Lexx knows how remarkable he can be - his Mantrid is amongst the great scifi villains. And the image of Mantrid's floating head on a jar remains much more incisive than anything on display here.

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) fmovies. I finally got around to seeing this film and frankly I was not shocked; probably because I had read about its grossness far in advance. What I wasn't prepared for was the fact that a large part of the grossness was not actually shown, but rather spoken of and indirectly seen through bandage attachments. At some points it was very Hithcockian in the fear was instilled indirectly. Graphs showed how the surgery would be accomplished; only bits of the surgery were actually shown; the graphic defecation scene was verbalized and intimated. Very Hitchcock were the master of suspense a tad more mad. However, the scariest part of the film was Dieter Laser's performance. I can't recall ever seeing a mad scientist on film that projected madness and insanity as deeply as Mr. LaserÂ…Â…..Every time he was on screen you could feel your skin crawl with fear. Brilliant performance, mainly because it went to the edge of "over the top" but never actually got over the top. I've also read reviews which damned the actresses for not being "good actresses". A bunch of hooey for sure from those observers. I'd like to see them top the girls "tongue in cheek" performances. I never for a moment didn't see fear in their eyes, which btw is also another means of showing more fear than the actually surgery which was done while the cast was under anesthetics. In the beginning of the film you could feel the chemistry of the girls as they giggled about in their hotel room. A definite chemistry; one which would be needed as they got closer to each other at the Dr.'s house. Hats off to this film for sever reasons; suspense, fear and scare without an overload of blood and gore as in other films. Think of the Akitamura's job of convincing us that he was frightened, angry and scared in his native Japanese tongue, while again having tongue in cheek fears to contend with of his own character. Bottom line: An original, at the edge, horror film. Where does on go after thatÂ…..kudos to the cast for braving out a fully developed and overly imaginative filmÂ…Â…Â…..and to Mr. Six for following through. Can you imagine the sales pitch he had to prepare? Besides, our news media shows more graphic crap than this on their 24/7 newscasts (eg. There was more gore with Kadhafi killing, etc.)

This movie is trash. It's a sick fetish-fueler for some weird cult to get off to. The plot is non-existent. If you want to know what this movie is about in a nutshell, here are some key plot points - mouth sewn to anuses, swallowing feces, and humans turned into slaves without dignity. People will say it's an original idea, but OF COURSE IT IS. It's never been done before because NO ONE HAS THOUGHT OF SOMETHING AS SICK AS THIS YET. After watching, I felt like I needed counseling, or something to make me forget the entire concept. On top of that, there is pathetic dialogue, acting, and directing. The movie literally ends without anything resolved and you just think "What was the point of this?" There's no greater idea, or hidden metaphors. The movie is about swallowing feces. DO NOT WATCH IT.

This is a disturbingly twisted, absurd yet original movie ... and it is the first of three! Made on a miniscule budget, The Human Centipede gives its audience some truly horrid moments. Two young (and annoying) American girls are in Europe and headed to a club when their rental car blows a tire in the middle of nowhere after dark (in these types of horror films -- surprise, surprise!). Needing assistance, they seek out the nearest shelter ... which just happens to be inhabited by Dr. Crazy-Psycho-Sick-Brained-Bastard. Offering the girls water while he "calls" for help, he has secretly drugged them to get them where he wants them (them along with another unfortunate third).

From the VERY literal and non-misleading title of the movie ... one can pretty much assume what he wants them to become. This is one of the sickest movies I have probably ever come across, and yet ... it is watchable -- highly watchable (as one continually asks themselves WHAT is coming next?!).

German actor Dieter Laser plays the mad doctor (who was world-renowned for separating Siamese twins) very well as he is most-convincing as a warped genius (who has LOST it). He may play for some slight camp ... but in this movie its allowed to work. There are many, many, many plot holes (or craters) here and there throughout the movie, but they can be overlooked because something with a title-like-this is given some liberties.

While this film was titled specifically for the curious-minded, it is not for the feint of heart or queasy. Disturbingly twisted and absurd, The Human Centipede is not a film that one will quickly forget.