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By Josh Brewer, March 10, 2016, at 9:15 a.m. Tweet to: @theJWBrewer
Title: Haute Tension
Director: Alexandre Aja
Writer: Alexandre Aja
Release Date: June 18, 2003
Cast: Cecile de France, Maiwenn, Philippe Nahon
Haute Tension Cliff’s Notes
Two college students decide to study for finals at one of their family’s cabin in the woods. Unsurprisingly, a killer with a huge vicious streak shows up and then it all goes to hell.
Note: This is a review of the uncut, subtitled US release.
Lecture
The first 80 percent of Haute Tension (High Tension, for us folks in the English speaking world) is a horror movie fan’s wet dream. The setup is simple, a pair of friends – Marie and Alex – planning to “study,” head to the middle of nowhere. They get there, hang out a bit, and then some crazy dude shows up and lays slaughter to everyone between him and one of the lasses. The only one who can save her is Marie, who rushes to do so. Various awesome horror set-ups follow, with stalking, violence, and power tools on tap. The title is no lie; there are certain scenes in this puppy that drip tension. My personal favorite is the awesome convenience store bit, but there are so many different parts to choose from that it’s hard to list just one.
The horror in this flick is nothing to laugh at. Aja’s focus on tension mixed with extreme sides of gore and violence is both engaging and terrifying. We’re treated to set pieces that, for the first time in a while, left me with a big horror happy. This puppy doesn’t pull any punches and has literally everyone on the chopping block. It also helps that this flick is beautifully shot. The set-ups drip with tension and the saturated colors make certain scenes just beautiful. It’s all horrific, but beautifully horrific. The same care went into the score and sound design, both of which are top notch.
But wait, all this praise? It seems weird doesn’t it? Especially if you look down and check out the score High Tension is getting (Hint: it’s a B). You see, about 80% for the way through the movie, it pulls a major twist. And not an awesome “wow, that’s fantastic and awesome and the best thing ever!” kind of twist. More of a M. Night Shyamalan aborted this idea when he was thinking of ways to ruin his latest disaster. How bad is it? Well, as the late Roger Ebert said “(It) is not only large enough to drive a truck through, but in fact does have a truck driven right through it.” Not only does the twist weaken the overall narrative, it knocks what was a pretty awesome flick down several notches.
There have been several people who, after watching the film a second time, have noted a more clever set up for said twist. Now, I’m all for watching films more than once, I’ve checked out High Tension more than a few times, but in this case the setup is half-heartedly handled. If you’re aware of the twist, a whole slew of scenes that are out of place and make little to no sense are forced to compete with the few scenes that clarify the ending somewhat. It’s sad, I was really grooving to this film before the twist.
Acting
Cecile de France really owns this flick. She goes to emotional depths that are fantastic and carries High Tension like a champ. Even when the script betrays her, Marie is a fully developed, engaging character. Props! Maiwenn plays the slasher victim well, but doesn’t have as much to do as her co-actor. Philippe Nahon plays creepy very well. Too well. I’m still scared that I might seem him. Oh my god, he’s here…
DirectingHigh Tension a cine-literate horror film. His take no prisoner attitude, combined with a vicious violent streak, allows High Tension to, for the first hour, move at a break-neck pace. Furthermore, his use of slow-mo/speed-up techniques, something I often dislike, gives art house flair to this horror flick. No complaints here!
Script
A ton of complaints here! First and foremost, I’ve already mentioned the twist problem. You know what would be the one thing that could make it worse? If everything before the twist was stolen from another writer. Oh, by the way: everything before the twist was stolen from another writer! That’s right; you want to check out the first two-thirds of this puppy? Go to the library, it’s like a free Barnes and Noble, and check out Intensity by Dean Koontz. Looks familiar, don’t it? It couldn’t get worse could it? You bet your behind it can! You could also check at the DVD section (which they also have at the library [Seriously, that place has everything, who has been hiding this?]). Intensity was made into a TV Movie in 1997 starring the awesome John C. McGinley! It’s already a movie! What about the script itself, you may ask? And you’d be right to do so, because it’s pretty solid. Got to love when part of the hard stuff is done for you…
Effects
Oh my God, the gore is fantastic! Decapitations, stabbings, a slit throat that goes on for days, this is horror movie heaven. And I didn’t even mention the power tools. There are power tools!
Highlights
From the moment where Nahon arrives at the cabin/farmhouse, through the slaughter that happens there, to the escape afterward is pure horror gold. If only what follows could live up to it…
Lowlights
Um… What a twist?
Final Thoughts
If you can get past the blatant plagiarism and terrible twist, High Tension is a great little horror flick. The problem is, that twist really gets in the way.
Grade: B