Reel Review Roundup

The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)

Rated: Banned in Australia

Directed by: Tom Six

Starring: Laurence R. Harvey, Ashlynn Yennie, Bill Hutchens

Three stars

Review by: Julian Wright

While always on the lookout for films that are willing to push the boundaries to terrify or explore the dark side of human nature, The Human Centipede appeared to be the perfect candidate to fulfill my twisted curiosities. A nutty surgeon who fulfills his acts out his dream experiment of  joining three people, mouth to … well, you know. While I admired its originality and audacity, I could not get past the snail’s pace of the proceedings.

Sure it was sick and twisted and rivaled the entire Saw series in its ability to gross out its audience, but once it established that Dr Heiter (Dieter Laser) was a nutcase (which it did fairly early on) and the horrendous concept explained, it was little more than three poor souls grotesquely stitched together. Bit of a yawner, ultimately.

Creator Tom Six does the unimaginable by not only putting the unimaginable on the screen for us to witness (some of the visuals are real humdingers), but to build on the original concept and take the story further with a little post-modern twist. Rather than just a cheap and quick rehash of the first film (or bringing the surgeon back to life, like some absurd soapie cliffhanger rug pull), Six introduces us to another sick individual, one who is obsessed with the original film.

Martin (Laurence R Harvey) is an overweight, abused, ridiculed and disturbed car park security guard. His dungeon-like workplace mirrors his dungeon-like home where he lives with his hateful mother. His only escape (and disturbingly, only inspiration) is the controversial film The Human Centipede which he has on DVD and watches often.

Martin’s sick fascination with the movie leads him to emulate the movie. But he wants to not only copy, but one-up his favourite film by joining 12 individuals instead of just three. Including a heavily pregnant woman. Unfortunately, Martin doesn’t have the tools or the know-how that the fictional Dr Heiter had, so this is more like a down and dirty DIY version.

The Human Centipede films are by no means masterpieces of artistic film making and Six has never intended them to be. Some dismiss them as pointless, envelope pushing trash. Others see them as satirical. They are, however, explorations of obsession – with very extreme examples.

But what is more astounding than the content of this sequel, is the audience reactions at a recent Perth screening – ear shattering applause in some of the most grizzly moments. Maybe instead of debating the content, maybe we should be analysing the reaction. And any movie that prompts intellectual discussion should not be easily dismissed.

Having said that, this was one of the most memorable cinema going experiences I have had. The moans, groans, yelps, cringes and uproarious belly laughs – what a hoot. The movie went so far over the top it became comical, the audience recognised this and were able to have one hell of a ghoulish time. Too bad no one else will have the opportunity to have that experience with this film.

This entry was posted on November 29, 2011 at 8:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.