by pinback » Sun Oct 31, 2010 12:20 pm
Okay, I have now watched it, so we can commence with spoilers! Here is my review:
THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE: Actually, better than I was expecting. Surprisingly, though the premise is among the most grotesque and nauseating ever conceived, the movie is, can we say, a relatively reserved depiction of such a premise, if there ever could be such reservation.
As soon as you hear the premise, one word comes to your mind: POO. So, talk about reserved, though POO is referenced once or twice (once to appropriately nausea-inducing effect), not one speck of the brown stuff stains a single frame of this movie! It's true, most of the gross-out factor is in your mind, and probably has already taken place if you already know what it's about, regardless of whether you saw it or not.
The other thing to recommend the film is DIETER LASER, the mad scientist, who has the best real-life name ever, AND is either a great actor who nails the "mad scientist" part, or is SUCH a bad actor that he wraps around the acting scale and accidentally nails the "mad scientist" part. And believe me, this is a great, great mad scientist. Emphasis on the "mad". There's no pretext that he's some great thinker who's methods have just become unsound. It's clear from minute one that this dude is just 150%, totally, completely, batshit fucking lunatic. I like that in a mad scientist.
Anyhow, it was better than I thought it would be, but as I thought it was going to be the worst movie ever, it accomplishes this mainly by not having any particularly self-destructive missteps. It does what it says. Great film? No. An occasional redeeming quality? Yes. Totally fucking bizarre? You bet!
TWO (**) AND A HALF (1/2) STARS.
Okay, I have now watched it, so we can commence with spoilers! Here is my review:
THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE: Actually, better than I was expecting. Surprisingly, though the premise is among the most grotesque and nauseating ever conceived, the movie is, can we say, a relatively [i]reserved[/i] depiction of such a premise, if there ever could be such reservation.
As soon as you hear the premise, one word comes to your mind: POO. So, talk about reserved, though POO is referenced once or twice (once to appropriately nausea-inducing effect), not one speck of the brown stuff stains a single frame of this movie! It's true, most of the gross-out factor is in your mind, and probably has already taken place if you already know what it's about, regardless of whether you saw it or not.
The other thing to recommend the film is DIETER LASER, the mad scientist, who has the best real-life name ever, AND is either a great actor who nails the "mad scientist" part, or is SUCH a bad actor that he wraps around the acting scale and [i]accidentally[/i] nails the "mad scientist" part. And believe me, this is a great, great mad scientist. Emphasis on the "mad". There's no pretext that he's some great thinker who's methods have just become unsound. It's clear from minute one that this dude is just 150%, totally, completely, batshit fucking lunatic. I like that in a mad scientist.
Anyhow, it was better than I thought it would be, but as I thought it was going to be the worst movie ever, it accomplishes this mainly by not having any particularly self-destructive missteps. It does what it says. Great film? No. An occasional redeeming quality? Yes. Totally fucking bizarre? You bet!
TWO (**) AND A HALF (1/2) STARS.