HAUTE TENSION
(USA: High Tension /UK: Switchblade Romance)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Sound formats: Dolby Digital Surround EX / DTS
After witnessing the massacre of an entire family at their isolated country home, a young student (Cécile de France) goes in pursuit of a depraved psychopath (Philippe Nahon) who has taken her friend (Maïwenn Le Besco) hostage.
The real deal. A return to the bleak intensity of 1970's/80's horror by a director (Alexandre Aja) clearly in love with the genre. As such, it's no surprise to find Italian makeup maestro Giannetto de Rossi (ZOMBI 2, THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, etc.) credited in the opening titles, and his work - allied to Aja's ultra-realistic approach to the material - is among the best of de Rossi's career. One of the most frightening movies to emerge from Europe - or anywhere else, for that matter - in recent memory, HAUTE TENSION pits a terrified heroine (de France, giving an unrestrained, highly physical performance) against an unstoppable force of nature (Nahon) who proceeds to steal her innocence clean away. Set amongst the splendors of rural France, Aja's film uses the wide open spaces to generate foreboding from the outset (beautiful cinematography by Maxime Alexandre), and his use of music and ambient sound is masterful. Once the violence erupts in earnest - about twenty minutes into the picture - Aja cuts dialogue down to an absolute minimum and strikes a level of intensity that few horror films have achieved in recent years, and the pace remains frantic throughout. De Rossi's gore effects are explicit and plentiful, but the director balances these outrageous visuals with a series of poignant brushstrokes (eg. a dying victim pleading not for help, but for an explanation of the tragedy which has befallen her), adding small touches of human warmth to an otherwise fierce brew.
Some people have complained about a climactic 'turnaround' which appears to come out of left-field, but their protests are groundless. In fact, this jaw-dropping sleight-of-hand is entirely in keeping with the director's off-kilter intentions, and most viewers will relish an opportunity to dissect the narrative on second viewing, where various 'contrivances' and 'lapses in logic' are revealed as nothing of the kind. Aja and co-scriptwriter Grégory Levasseur aren't interested in mollycoddling the audience or leavening the material with wisecracks and 'post-modern' references to genre movies past and present; they simply want to scare the hell out of you, and in that, they have succeeded magnificently. HAUTE TENSION is an instant classic, deserving of every accolade. An uncredited Luc Besson (THE BIG BLUE, LEON, etc.) acted as co-producer on the film.
(French dialogue)
(USA: High Tension /UK: Switchblade Romance)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Sound formats: Dolby Digital Surround EX / DTS
After witnessing the massacre of an entire family at their isolated country home, a young student (Cécile de France) goes in pursuit of a depraved psychopath (Philippe Nahon) who has taken her friend (Maïwenn Le Besco) hostage.
The real deal. A return to the bleak intensity of 1970's/80's horror by a director (Alexandre Aja) clearly in love with the genre. As such, it's no surprise to find Italian makeup maestro Giannetto de Rossi (ZOMBI 2, THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, etc.) credited in the opening titles, and his work - allied to Aja's ultra-realistic approach to the material - is among the best of de Rossi's career. One of the most frightening movies to emerge from Europe - or anywhere else, for that matter - in recent memory, HAUTE TENSION pits a terrified heroine (de France, giving an unrestrained, highly physical performance) against an unstoppable force of nature (Nahon) who proceeds to steal her innocence clean away. Set amongst the splendors of rural France, Aja's film uses the wide open spaces to generate foreboding from the outset (beautiful cinematography by Maxime Alexandre), and his use of music and ambient sound is masterful. Once the violence erupts in earnest - about twenty minutes into the picture - Aja cuts dialogue down to an absolute minimum and strikes a level of intensity that few horror films have achieved in recent years, and the pace remains frantic throughout. De Rossi's gore effects are explicit and plentiful, but the director balances these outrageous visuals with a series of poignant brushstrokes (eg. a dying victim pleading not for help, but for an explanation of the tragedy which has befallen her), adding small touches of human warmth to an otherwise fierce brew.
Some people have complained about a climactic 'turnaround' which appears to come out of left-field, but their protests are groundless. In fact, this jaw-dropping sleight-of-hand is entirely in keeping with the director's off-kilter intentions, and most viewers will relish an opportunity to dissect the narrative on second viewing, where various 'contrivances' and 'lapses in logic' are revealed as nothing of the kind. Aja and co-scriptwriter Grégory Levasseur aren't interested in mollycoddling the audience or leavening the material with wisecracks and 'post-modern' references to genre movies past and present; they simply want to scare the hell out of you, and in that, they have succeeded magnificently. HAUTE TENSION is an instant classic, deserving of every accolade. An uncredited Luc Besson (THE BIG BLUE, LEON, etc.) acted as co-producer on the film.
(French dialogue)