PLOT: A German doctor kidnaps three tourists and subjects them to a bizarre medical experiment to join them via their gastric systems.
And there you have it: another 31 Days of Horror in the books, and for the final film this year, I chose to go with an infamous film that I have sort of been avoiding. The Human Centipede is a grotesque film, but its reputation is greatly exaggerated.
I don’t really have to go into the plot more than I did above. Suffice it to say, that’s all you really need to know. Most of the runtime is the doctor being really shitty to his ungodly creation, and his creation wincing in pain through every moment of its existence, all the while letting out muffled screams.
I never need to see The Human Centipede again. I got what I’ll ever need to get out of it. Essentially, I watched it because it has been a movie that has become part of horror lexicon at this point. Hell, even South Park made an episode parodying it. It’s not a bad movie and it’s not anything different than the Saw or Hostel films when you really think about it, but it’s unpleasant, and in that way, it is effective.
There’s some blood and a guy cuts his own throat, but most of the gore comes from the surgery aftermath. While we don’t really see anything, it’s implied and the implication is quite gross.
Gore Rating: 3.5 out of 5
If you’ve ever worried about German doctors or having an Asian guy defecate in your mouth, you’ll probably want to steer clear. It’s a pretty unsettling movie, though, so that works for it.
Scare Rating: 2.5 out of 5
You get some nudity from the two girls that are part of the centipede, but it feels pretty incidental and not very titillating. Plus, they’re in horrible agony, so…
Sex/Nudity Rating: 1.5 out of 5
OVERALL
If you’re a fan of the horror genre, I feel like you will eventually need to see The Human Centipede (First Sequence). As I said, it’s not a bad film, but I wouldn’t be putting this on my yearly rotation of horror films in the month of October. Director Tom Six set out to make a film that would shock people and I’m sure he’s accomplished that with this film. As a film, though, it sags around the midpoint as, let’s face it, the concept is really quite thin. Once the surgery is done, it’s basically just waiting around for the film to end.
The Main Damie 