'High Tension' (2003)

 High Tension (2003)

7.5/10

"Alexia travels with her friend Marie to spend a couple of days with her family at their farm in the country. Later that night after arriving, a sick, sadistic killer breaks into the farmhouse, slaughters Alexia's entire family, and kidnaps Alexia. Marie hides from the criminal and tries to help the terrified & hysterical Alexia. Chasing the maniac while he is leaving a bloodbath everywhere he goes, Alexia is ready to take him on and free her friend... and disclose his mysterious identity in the end."

I hadn't watched this film in years, but the wife & I have decided to revisit a decent amount of movies that many would consider controversial & difficult to watch...so this was our first stop on that journey. I remember seeing this in 2003 and it completely knocked my socks off. It was insanely gory, violent, sexual, and disobeyed so many movie 'rules.' In my opinion, this film kicked off the whole 'torture porn' style of films that reigned supreme in horror for a few years...soon after its release we'd get the 'Hostel' and 'Saw' movies in the U.S., 'Wolf Creek' in Australia...and director Alexandre Aja himself would go on to direct more brutally violent films from this era like the 'Hills Have Eyes' remake and 'Piranha' remake. These films did away with the bright/fake looking blood/special effects and went for a very realistic look. I always felt that the French horror films coming out at this time were some of the most extremely brutal, violent films to ever be released...and they still make me wince a bit to this day, no matter how many times I've seen them. This ushered in so many brutal films from France over the coming years, like 'Inside' & 'Martyrs' which to me are even more disturbingly violent than this.
This film still holds up for me. It opens up with us meeting the two main girls driving to the family farmhouse to get some insight into their friendship and a feel for each of them. It then immediately cuts to a man in a truck (that really reminds me of the Creeper's truck in 'Jeepers Creepers') giving himself a blowjob with a severed head; who we learn will be the film's villain haha talk about a jump in tone! Upon arriving at the farmhouse late, we begin meeting Alexia's family...who all seem to be a loving bunch. Marie goes into the spare room to sleep and almost immediately begins masturbating haha it is here that we learn that Marie is not only Alexia's friend, but is also in love with her. This 'blissful' moment is soon cut short as the killer in the truck has arrived knocking at the door in the middle of the night. Alexia's father answers the door and is quickly sliced up and has his head lopped off by a heavy dresser after having it jammed in the bannister. It is insane and brutal! Blood sprays everywhere and we see it all. The killer then makes simple work of the family dog...I know, it sucks seeing dogs die more than humans. Marie is now in hiding while running around the upstairs of the house looking for a phone. Soon the killer travels up the stairs and begins slicing up the mother...she has her throat viciously slashed open as Marie watches from behind a closet door. Alexia's little brother (no older than 10) begins running away at this point, but not even he is safe...the killer blows him away with a shotgun in the family cornfield. Like I said, this movie is fucking brutal and it is so wildly realistic looking. The killer now chains up Alexia and throws her in the back of his truck, but he doesn't realize that Marie has hopped in to try and save her friend.
After stopping at a gas station, the killer dispatches the lowly employee behind the counter with an ax, but in his dying moment, the employee looked at Marie hiding in the store, giving away that she is there. Now the killer is hunting for her throughout the store/bathrooms, but to no avail. Aja has said that this scene was an homage to 'Maniac' (1980), which is lovely as it's a classic to me. He soon starts driving away, while Marie attempts to call the police, but the police do not believe her tall tale. Marie scrambles to find the employee's car keys to give chase. Of course it's a fucking American muscle car with a confederate flag license plate haha! She chases him down, but not before he notices her and after a brief chase, Marie crashes the car in a fiery wreck. The killer begins stalking a now bloodied/injured Marie through a small row of greenhouses. Within the greenhouse, the killer disgustingly sticks his fingers in Marie's mouth while talking about how much he is lusting for Alexia while saying to her "Just like you seem to be!" It is fucking gross. The two tussle in a bloody/violent fight...Marie is strangled and suffocated with a plastic bag before viciously beating the killer with a barbed wire wrapped plank of wood. We think he is dead...but it is here that we get the movie's big twist/reveal: the killer has been Marie the whole time! The killer is merely a projection of what she has been doing. Alexia, already knowing this, is freed by Marie and is utterly confused but ready to kill Marie for what she has done. A chase now ensues with Marie wielding a giant rotating saw while the viewer sees Marie's likeness changing between her and the killer we've been watching slaughter everyone all film. Alexia flags down a car and hops in, but Marie cuts the car to bits and saws the driver into a bloody mess. Now hobbled, Alexia drags along the ground pleading with Marie...who soon reveals her love to Alexia, vowing to never let her go.
The final scene is in a mental asylum where Alexia is watching Marie in a padded room. She is told Marie cannot see her, but the final shot is her blankly staring into Alexia's face. Truly chilling.
I enjoyed revisiting this. It's so hyper violent and gory that it is just captivating. It's acted well enough that you truly root for our two 'heroines' to survive. In Marie’s case you’re rooting for her until she’s revealed to be an absolute nutcase. However, even after the fact, she plays the confused nutcase fairly well haha. Even the killer is well acted in a stoic fashion with very little to say, which only makes him more terrifying. The kills are all fairly original, especially the father's head being ripped off by a piece of furniture haha also, when will you ever see a man getting a blowjob from a severed head again? Insane! Killing the family pet and little brother is just overkill that is difficult to watch. It feels almost disturbing just for the sake of being disturbing, however killing kids and animals is very faux pas, so I kinda dug it. The film also has a way of just making you feel dirty...everyone is covered in dirt, grime, and blood while also running through the muddy country/forests. It's also shot pretty well considering it's just essentially a slasher film. Although it takes place in France, the film was shot entirely in Romania for budgetary reasons. The landscape they chose to shoot in is super beautiful to look upon on film, which allows for some pretty stellar shots/chase scenes through the woods. It has the green/yellow-ish hue that a lot of horror films had around this time period. 'High Tension,' I'm sure being one of the first to start the trend. The main thing that turns me off of this film is the twist of Marie being the killer. UGH! I would honestly rate the film MUCH higher if this did not happen. This type of trope is so overdone. Here it is only made worse because it doesn't make sense...how could she be driving two different cars and doing all these things simultaneously? Then they show you all the kills from her perspective...It's just dumb/lazy and an easy way out in my opinion. I would have rather the killer just be a nut who doesn't have a motive...much scarier I think. It's not too egregious for me to hate the film because it is just insanely fun to see the wildly violent bloodbath unfold. This really opened my eyes to a lot of pseudo-exploitation style ultra-violent films, so I'll always hold it in a slightly high regard. I recommend checking it out if you have a strong stomach or just like seeing ultra-violent movies i.e. 'Hostel,' 'Saw,' 'Wolf Creek.' Man, it is just so pleasing to see so much fake blood in a film as a horror fan, in my opinion of course haha It is also certainly nice to see a female killer for once...even if we don't see her as the killer until the very end, right? Happy watching!

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