Haute Tension

[LGM]

Well, I just watched the French film that Lions Gate is releasing here in the states on Valentine's Day. I gotta say, it's one of the best slasher films I've seen in a long time... It even surpasses the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", which I thought was highly overrated.

Have any French AGSers seen this movie? Has anyone seen it at all?

I'd like to hear other people's opinions about it, so lemme know.

IMDB Page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338095/

US Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/high_tension/index.html

[[Cameron]]

Hey LGM,
I haven't seen this but judging by the trailer and your reccomendation, it looks like it's gonna be great.
Regards,


Alec

[Evil]

A slasher film on St. Valentines Day? Awesome!

[LGM]

Yes. I hope alot of people see it regardless of the NC-17 rating.. Unless Lions Gate cuts some stuff out to get an R rating.

[c.leksutin]

It seems odd that this film would have an NC-17 rating.  The same thing happened with "The Cook, The Thief, HIs Wife  and Her Lover" but after viewing the movie, there was nothing any more shocking then any other American made R rated horror/Psycho-Thriller.  Then again, the trailer probably doesn't show any of the worst (or best, depending on your view point) parts.  I will definitely be checking this one out, I just hope they dont dub it like they did with "Crimson River" and "The Brotherhood of the Wolf", two othe great French films that were absoluty ruined by a half assed dubbing job (IMO ALL dubbing jobs are half assed! give me subtitles ot give me death I say!)

All in all, a good find lgm!


C.

[lgm unplugged]

Well... There's a subtitled version you can "acquire" if you know your resources. I've watched it with subtitles, and I must say if I watched it dubbed first my impressions would be weakened.

It's a very strong movie, and it deserves a NC-17 rating as:

Spoiler

The bad guy recieves a blow-job from a decapitated head. Not shown, but suggested.

The main girl, Marie, is shown masturbating.. But through her pants, no actual genitalia.

And the violence is very gruesome, but over the top. I.E someone getting decapitated via a desk.

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[Shattered Sponge]

I saw it when it was released over here a couple of months ago (for some odd reason under the title of 'Switchblade Romance').Ã,  Pretty erratic in terms of quality - some brilliant moments, such as:

Spoiler

the death of the mother, with the main character staring right into her eyes as she died, not being able to make a noise because the killer was only a few meters away; brilliant use of the camera and of background music in that scene so as to fully convey the way the main character must have felt

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But also, some pretty silly moments, such as:

Spoiler

The death of the father - and indeed the first death of the film - an utterly shite decapitation; the already mentioned blowjob scene was rather daft, too

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And some utterly awful moments, such as:

Spoiler

Pretty much the entire ending; the twist felt very tacked on and completely inappropriate - as though the screenwriter couldn't think of a satisfying yet logical conclusion to the film - and that very last scene in the hospital served no percieveable purpose and should have been chopped from the film completely - it was only about five seconds long, anyway; who'd have missed it?

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It was entertaining enough overall, however; I'm glad I watched it and I'd certainly recommend any giallo or splatter movie fans who haven't seen it to give it a go (fans of classic giallo should be especially interested as the gore effects were done by Gianetto De Rossi, who worked on a few of Fulci's movies).

[LGM]

I agree "Switchblade Romance" is odd, and was considered for the US release. But they just literally translated it, and it's a much better title.

And I agree with what you that were the downsides.. But the ending, IMO

Spoiler

Is a good one and a bad one. How they handled it was okay. That hospital scene was unneccesary, though it concluded she really was nuts. The final kill was awesome, and seeing her two personalities converge was neat. But, then again, the writer admits the ending was put on rather late in the process, and they very shoddily covered it back up through the rest of the script. But almost all of the apparently gaping plotholes can be explained away with the reasoning that what we see is Marie's conjured-up fantasy she tells herself happened. She very obviously has a multiple personality disorder, and people with that disorder can fabricate elaborate illusions and fantasies that never actually happen to them, and that they swear happened when in fact they were doing something else.. Yep

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