High Tension

Warning -  spoilers ahead… (You can read the first three paragraphs).  

What better way to spend a five + hour flight, than watching Alexandre Aja’s 2003 french slasher film, High Tension?  Great idea for me - bad idea for everyone else.  I took the risk of freaking out fellow passengers, considering the French are experts at creating transgressive horror flicks.  Just don’t let the poor audio dubbing ruin this one for you.  Seriously though, I turned the DVD player on and off numerous times thinking it would fix the sound.  It didn’t.  

Marie (Cécile De France) and Alex (Maïwenn) are two young students and best friends.  They are traveling to Alex’s parent’s house with the sole intention of studying.  It’s acknowledged that Marie may be interested in being more than just friends with her colleague.  On their first night in the house, Marie is awoken to a knock on the front door.  Unwittingly, Alex’s father goes downstairs and grants a serial killer (Philippe Nahon) entrance into his family’s home.  An obvious maniac with seemingly no motives, proceeds to brutally kill off Alex’s father, mother and younger brother.  Watch out for the decapitation by book shelf… primo death here!  Seeing this all happen - Marie evades  the psychopath.  She finds her romantic interest chained up and moved to a disgusting old cargo van - it’s destination, no one really knows.  Marie uses her undiscovered presence to her advantage and decides to rescue her best friend on her own.   

I was totally digging the first half of this movie… I’m not really sure it was great as a whole though.  As mentioned before, the audio has some issues.  But overall, the deaths were pretty creative and there were several brilliant horror movie set ups here.  The reveal on the big twist ending was very clever, but the twist itself left a LOT of plot holes in the story.  So many plot holes, that the inconsistencies of the film were what I took with me the most from this viewing.  Alright.  If you haven’t watched this movie yet - this is the portion of the blog where you should stop reading...

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When the store clerk (Franck Khalfoun) at the local gas station is murdered by our psycho serial killer - the police are brought in.  They watch the security video to see what happened, and it’s revealed that our girl Marie is the actual murderer.  Apparently she has been mad nuts the whole time and “Le tueur” is really just a figment of her imagination.  Clever… very clever.  Except for a few things.  The entire build up and everything that we have seen from Philippe Nahon’s character would prove otherwise.  

*  The very first time we see the villain in High Tension, he is sitting in his nasty vehicle, being fellated by a severed head.  Once finished, said head is dropped on the ground outside as the truck pulls away.  I found this scene pretty humorous - in fact this was one of the first moments that drew me into the movie.  But it just doesn’t make any sense.  Being intercut with scenes of Alex and Marie’s road trip, it is implied that both acts are happening at the same time.  Marie obviously cannot be two places at once… which means that the unfortunate decapitated victim’s scene never actually happened.  So… what was the point?

*  “Le tueur” first comes to the family’s house at nighttime while everyone is sleeping.  Everyone but Marie that is… she is upstairs in the guest room masturbating.  Alex’s father answers the front door, just to be murdered in his own house.  If Marie is up in her room, how could she ring the doorbell downstairs?  

*  Once Marie has realized that they are all in danger, she desperately tries to pull a large piece of furniture to block the door to her bedroom.  She tries and tries but is just not strong enough.  In fact, she comes back a second time, and can still not even manage to budge the heavy piece.  If our girl is such a weakling - how did she manage to decapitate Alex’s father by pushing a bookshelf that was just as large and heavy?   

*  If Marie is meant to have been the murderer all along - why were the several murders that she wasn’t even in the same room for?  For example - Alex’s younger brother is executed by gunshot in the backyard corn field.  Marie is physically inside the house with Alex when this happens, and watches through the window.  

*  After Jimmy, the store clerk, is hacked to death with an axe, Marie chases after “Le tueur” and Alex in the deceased’s car.  She is definitely driving his car, because at one point she has a terrible accident and crashes.  Despite the crash, Marie catches up to the van.  You know, cause she can drive two cars at the same time and all.  

I understand that when it comes to movies, anything goes.  The writers can really write anything they want to, because in the end, it’s not real.  I’m all for a twist ending.  But this particular twist was not handled as smart as say, The Sixth Sense... which is a puzzle for you to put together yourself. I still catch something new everytime I watch it.  So touche High Tension.  You got me.  You got me good.  But you do not win, you cheater!  

#34 - High Tension. You can a digital rental of this movie on Amazon Video, Google Play, Vudu and Youtube.