There aren’t many movies in the modern horror canon that I would consider genuine video nasties – but the Human Centipede series might just make the cut.
The first Human Centipede movie, from Dutch director Tom Six, was released in 2009, and almost instantly earned a scatalogically infamous reputation. Six, who had started his pop culture career working on the Dutch version of Big Brother, brought together his sense for reality TV scandal and a passing joke made to a friend about an appropriate punishment for sex offenders, and bore the basis for one of the most memorable movies of the decade.
For those not in the know, I shall put this as delicately as possible: The Human Centipede revolves around a sadistic doctor (Dieter Laser) who attaches three victims together via their digestive tracts, and that is the most I shall say about it: if you’re reading this article, I’ll go ahead and take a guess that you probably know what I mean. The movie revolves around the creation of this human centipede, the attempts of the victims to escape, and the doctor’s eventual undoing.
Before The Human Centipede hit cinemas, Six was doing the rounds to stir up discussion around his seminal horror classic: claiming audiences were vomiting in the aisles of initial viewings, that it had been called “the most horrific film ever made”, and, famously, that it was “100% medically accurate”, I think credit has to be given to this publicity campaign to lay the groundwork for the movie’s eventual release. The film received a controversial reception, to say the least – while it scooped various awards at horror festivals, it became something of a cinematic cause celebre, with some reviewers referring to it as torture porn and an outrageously disgusting example of how far the horror genre would go in a post-Hostel era. Reviews were mixed; Roger Ebert famously refused to even give the movie a star rating, while other reviewers praised the shocking premise and gruesome execution.
And, for me, The Human Centipede is the only movie in this trilogy that I’ll even remotely defend in terms of quality. I don’t think it’s a brilliant film, but I do think Dieter Laser is really excellent as the monstrous doctor, and, as a piece of unique and utterly horrible body horror, yes, I think it does work. I wouldn’t put it on the same level as other movies that earned a reputation for sheer nastiness like, say, Martyrs, but what Tom Six set out to create here, I feel, he pulled off.
And that’s the last time you’re going to catch me saying anything good about these movies in this article, because now, we have to move on to The Human Centipede II: Full Sequence.
Like many people, I first became aware of the 2011 sequel when it was banned in several countries prior to it’s release, most notably the UK, where I was at the time. Though Six protested the censorship of his movie, there’s no doubt that this reaction from the BBFC served to strengthen the film’s cult classic status; much like the video nasties of old, Full Sequence became a much sought-after flick just for it’s now-transgressive nature, though it did eventually receive a release in the UK after nearly three minutes’ worth of cut footage.
There’s a case to be made, I suppose, that Full Sequence serves as a commentary on the horror genre as a whole, and of critics of The Human Centipede specifically – if you thought that was bad, wait till you get a load of this. Six proudly taglined his sequel with “100% Politically Incorrect”, though what he failed to mention was that it is also 100% fucking awful, as is the third part of the trilogy that follows.
I’m going to comment on Full Sequence and the third Human Centipede movie, Final Sequence, together, because they suffer from basically the same problems as each other. Both employ a meta-narrative that has the first Human Centipede film influence the actions of the antagonists in this one, both depict extreme sexual violence and assault, both are strikingly artless in conception and execution. And both, crucially, feel like a cynical attempt by Six to push as many buttons and overstep as many boundaries as possible, as opposed to telling a decent or impactful horror story.
And that’s where this series really loses me. I have a soft spot for transgressive cinema, especially when it reaches the infamous heights that Human Centipede has reached since 2009 (and I give a huge amount of credit to Tom Six for his dedicated and clearly effective campaign to promote this series – such a violent, disturbing movie making it into even the outskirts of the mainstream is proof of how well it worked). But to transgress for the sake of it, to create movies that are essentially just wall-to-wall intended to disgust, undoes that impact. I can feel Tom Six behind both of these sequels going “Look! Look! I bet you never thought anyone would do that in a movie!”. To which the answer is: well, yeah, I never thought anyone would, but now you have, does it matter?
Even now, The Human Centipede movies have a reputation as one of the nastiest pieces of schlock ever to make it out of the horror genre – the censorship and controversy surrounding them has earned them a place amongst the video nasties of yore, and I love knowing that horror still has the ability to shock and confront people the way these movies did. But, if the movies you’re making just aren’t very good, does it matter how much they disgust their audiences and how much moral hand-wringing they bring in from the culture around them?
To me, the answer is no. Your answer may differ, and if it does, I’d love to hear about it. Let me know your opinions on the series below, and on the Human Centipede’s reputation as a whole – I’m genuinely curious to find out what other cinema fans, horror lovers or otherwise, made of this franchise.
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By Lou MacGregor
(header image via Vulture)
No But Listen 