THE BLACK SHEEP is an ongoing column featuring different takes on films that either the writer HATED, but that the majority of film fans LOVED, or that the writer LOVED, but that most others LOATH. We’re hoping this column will promote constructive and geek fueled discussion. Dig in!
The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009)
Directed by Tom Six
“The Human Centipede really only has a single element going for it…the human centipede, the concept…”
Ah, cult movies. They are something, aren’t they? Movies not made for the masses but instead for a small fan base. I don’t think all movies that end up in cult status aim for a small base, but for one reason or another, it happens. It’s an amazing thing really on which movies get into the club and what don’t. We fans can be a selective bunch. Some movies get popular and develop long last acclaim while others just fade away after a shit load of hype.
The Human Centipede has somehow steamed rolled itself into cult status. Or at least infamous status. Usually, it takes movies a while to build proper momentum to enter into this zone, but Human Centipede seemed to launch into the conscience of fans almost immediately after release. Now I’ve waited a while to finally catch this thing. I’ve heard bits and pieces about it and even met the cast at the Austin Comic-Con, but it wasn’t until this weekend that I sat down to figure out the hype.
So does it deserve to belong among the ranks of great cult films? Does it live up to the hype of the most disgusting pieces of cinema ever created? Eh. Overrated. A disappointment. This movie had been billed as the sickest, nastiest concept ever created, but I don’t buy it. Beyond a few key sequences, this movie doesn’t have a lot going for it. Ok, sure, the whole thing about sewing three people together ass to mouth is f*cked up. I mean really. It’s a disgusting idea. But that’s all that is here. Hell, the movie leaves so many things unexplained that it all just becomes ridiculous. I understand something some things are better left to the imagination, but the movie sets itself up to fail.
Example: The Centipede is shown throughout the house and outside the house but we’re never shown how the evil doctor gets his creation outside or even downstairs. However, as the Centipede makes its predictable escape toward the end, it becomes confronted with the concept of stairs for the first time? Really? How the hell did they manage to get upstairs in the first place? It’s just now an issue? And I don’t know about you, but if my face was stitched to someone’s ass, I think I’d go to some extremes to get my face out of that ass. The Saw franchise has already demonstrated that folks will do some crazy stuff if placed in a terrible situation. It was hard to bite.
At its core, The Human Centipede wants to be Frankenstein. The evil Dr. Heiter (played very effectively by Dieter Laser) wants to create life where there should be none. And that’s cool…but writer/director Tom Six needed to give Dr. Heiter what Dr. Frankenstein had: motive. Throughout the flick, we see what Heiter wants. We see he’ll do anything to finish the creation, but we don’t really understand why, which creates nothing more than a scary looking dude, which is quite different from a scary character. He’s a joke that even his victims have a hard time taking seriously. It’s not enough that he wants to create. We need to know why. Just like Frankenstein.
The Human Centipede really only has a single element going for it…the human centipede, the concept. It’s great idea that is disturbing initially, but where can the movie really go after the people get all sewed up? I wanted to dig this movie. I did. I enjoyed it for about the first half until it stopped thinking. Horror doesn’t always have to be smart, it doesn’t even have to make sense, but if the movie wants us to be scared like this one did, then it needs to be a more aware of itself.
Disagree? Get the DVD and discover for yourself.