Tell me a story

Viewed on January 3, 2013 on Netflix Streaming

Could have used a little more violence. That is something no one will ever say about The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) unless they find sarcasm the height of hilarity or maybe if they’re a sociopath. This movie is brutal! There aren’t many horror films that can make me turn away in actual horror, but this movie did just that. So kudos to you writer/director Tom Six.

If you haven’t seen The Human Centipede (First Sequence), here’s the skinny: Two girls get lost in the woods, they come upon a strange surgeon’s house, he drugs them and then makes them part of a human centipede. What is a human centipede? It’s a chain of people on all fours with the second one’s mouth sewn onto the first one’s anus, and so on and so forth. Why would anyone want to do that to people? I can’t remember the doctor’s reason and it’s not important. These movies exist to gross you out and expose you to a new horror born of the human mind.

In this sequel it turns out that the first film was actually just a movie. What a relief, right? Not so fast. It seems that the movie has found an avid fan in a little man named Marvin (played by Laurence R. Harvey). He’s a short, big-bellied, mentally-challenged, silent psychopath, with a mother who despises him, a father that sexually abused him, a less than honorable therapist, and a pet centipede of his own. So it’s really not a surprise that he decides to make a real life human centipede. But not with three people.  Three people is lame. It’s unambitious. He’s going for twelve.

The movie follows him as he attacks and kidnaps the people he needs for his centipede. The first two-thirds of the movie is actually kind of funny because it’s just ridiculous. Marvin is a security guard and just about everyone he kidnaps he finds in the garage of the building where he works, and there’s not a single repercussion for his actions. No one ever looks into the disappearances of a dozen people. He lives with his mother, and when he’s at home he walks around in his briefs with his enormous belly hanging out while his mother verbally abuses him. There’s an auditory flashback where Marvin hears his father, and it’s so sick and sudden and ridiculous that I laughed out loud.

Then you get to the last third, and it moves into the real horror. Maybe you can stomach it, maybe you can’t. Tom Six is definitely trying to push you past the point of comfort. I read an interview with him by Indiewire.com, and he comes across as a guy who really wants surprise audiences with things they haven’t seen before. Of the Human Centipede films he says, “ I would never make a film about ghosts because there are so many of them. I think this film has been so successful because it has a new idea, something that sparks people’s minds. A horror film about ghosts? You’ve seen it already.”

You can’t say he’s wrong about that. What makes these movies interesting is how sick and original they are. They’re not great films, but they’re entertaining and amusing and they make you pay attention. Plus there is something about Laurence R. Harvey in this sequel that is so much fun to watch. So give it a shot, if you can.

My Rating

The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)
Writer/Director: Tom Six (Gay in Amsterdam, Honeyz, The Human Centipede (First Sequence))

Sources: Indiewire.com — INTERVIEW | Tom Six on”The Human Centipede” Franchise: Next Stop, America