Trivia for
Haute tension (2003) More at IMDbPro »

• Cécile De France trained with a Thai boxer to get in shape for her physically demanding role.
  
  
• The overalls that the killer is wearing the whole time say "Aja & Freres" on the back. The director's name is Alexandre Aja.
  
  
• Director Cameo: [Alexandre Aja] Alex's Father's legs.
  
  
• The headphones of Marie's personal stereo are Bang & Olufsen A8 headphones.
  
  
• According to director Alexandre Aja four different locations were used for Alexia's house, but the set dressing and editing was clever enough to make it appear to be one location.
  
  
• Tom's death was originally suppose to be on-screen, but it was deemed too graphic so it was never shot.
  
  
• Shot in 36 days.
  
  
• The only studio filming done was shooting the scenes between Marie and Alexia inside the killer's truck. The studio itself was merely a garage.
  
  
• Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur are childhood friends and made this film as a homage to the old-school horror films of the 70's and 80's that the two would watch together growing up.
  
  
• Cécile De France did most of the stunt driving during the car chase through the woods.
  
  
• The shot where the fake blood splatters the camera lens during the murder of the driver was actually an accident, but the shot impressed director Alexandre Aja so it was left in the film. The graphic shot was cut from the theatrical release though, but was restored for the DVD release.
  
  
• The camera used during the car-attack scene got so much fake blood on it during shooting that when it was being used on another film later on fake blood oozed from it during the focusing of a shot.
  
  
• According to 'Alexander Aja' the scene where Marie hides from the killer in the gas station restroom was a homage to a similar scene in the movie Maniac (1980).
  
  
• The scenes in the woods were particularly rough for stars Cécile De France and Maïwenn Le Besco as both were suppose to be bare footed and the weather was quite cold.
  
  
• Though the film is set in southern France the film had to be shot in Romania for budgetary matters.
  
  
• The location used for the exteriors of Alexia's house was actually a dilapidated mill that the production cleaned up and dressed for the film.
  
  
• Director Alexandre Aja discovered star Maïwenn Le Besco at a stand up comedy show in France.
  
  
• When translated, the title actually means High Voltage.
  
  

• SPOILER: According to the director, the screenplay version of the film had the entire movie from Marie's version of events. You didn't find out she was the killer until the end of the film after Marie defeats the killer and rescues Alex, when it would cut back to the Hospital Room and you see Marie in handcuffs. A police officer would roll in a TV and show Marie the video of her killing the gas station attendant and ask if she wanted to change her story. The real version of events was meant to be another movie entirely. However, when the writers presented the script to Luc Besson, he convinced them to change the ending to include the last reel of the film revealing Marie as the killer, instead of the last five minutes.
  
  
• SPOILER: The original concept for the film was for it to take place entirely at Alexia's house over the course of the night. Aja and Levasseur decided that the story needed more locations, but wanted to keep the idea of it taking place all in one evening.
  
  
• SPOILER: The rifle that is later used to shoot Tom can be seen hanging over the fireplace in the shot where we see Alexia's father through the study window and Marie walks by outside. It's a subtle but startling clue to the films climatic revelation.
  
  
• SPOILER: The scene of Marie searching for Alexia in the cornfield originally ended with Marie catching a glimpse of the killer's rusty truck in the center of the field, but the shot was cut to keep the film a bit more ambiguous.
  
  
• SPOILER: According to Alexandre Aja the brutal death of Jimmy was modeled after the infamous axe murder in The Shining (1980).
  
  

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