(2015)** 1/2
Sociopath Bill Boss is a prison warden determined to keep his prisoners in line by bringing back medieval torture methods. His pudgy accountant Dwight is obsessed with the first two Human Centipede films and pushes the warden to recreate the titular centipede with all the prisoners as a deterrent for future crime. After much resistance and even a visit to the prison by Tim Six, the director of the Human Centipede films, the warden agrees to make the centipede.
I really struggled with my rating of this film. If I was going to rate it on a torture-porn, queasy, disturbing level it would receive a 4 or 5. However on an enjoyment level I couldn’t bring myself to give it more than a 2.5. The first Human Centipede film was loads of fun because of the outrageous concept and because of Dieter Laser’s scene stealing Dr. Heiter, an instantly iconic B-movie mad scientist. In Part 2 Laurence R Harvey’s delightfully disturbing “Martin” character is even more disturbing as a character who desperately wishes to emulate Dr. Heiter with methods that are far messier and more barbaric. In both installments the characters are fun to watch despite their psychopathic motivations and gross-out results. The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence) disappoints on a number of levels. Although it was fun to see Laser and Harvey assuming new roles, Laser not only chews the scenery he screams it, yelling every line to the point of incomprehensibility. Initially I found him funny but I quickly grew weary of his shrieking. We are not supposed to like this character but I couldn’t stand him. Harvey’s Dwight fares a little better as the nerdy assistant with a surprisingly high pitched voice although he is portrayed as a kind-ish man who inexplicably accepts the warden’s angry barbs while ignoring his sadistic violence. It is never clear why the warden’s siren secretary would want to remain in her job given the warden’s verbally and sexually abusive behavior. Don’t get me wrong gore aficionados, there is plenty of graphic, stomach-churning violence, but after three installments it kind of gets stale.
All that aside my chief complaint of this Human Centipede installment is that the ‘centipede’ barely makes an appearance! Most of the film involves Dwight trying to convince the warden to make the centipede and by time he finally agrees the film is almost over. Don’t expect to see more than an aerial shot of the centipede and certainly don’t expect to see it ever move. Finally, in the first two films we had some sympathy for the innocent characters who found themselves shanghaied and forced to suffer the terrible centipede. In the latest installment the prisoners are a loathsome bunch and I couldn’t care less that they were being abused. The Human Centipede 3 ends up being a nihilistic exercise without any fun.
6 comments:
I struggled with a rating too but once I resigned myself and accepted it for what it was I enjoyed it at a different level (like TCM2).
Also I can't believe you're complaining that there isn't enough human centipede! That has been covered in the previous films, what more do you want?
All in all I'd say Part 2 is by far the best, followed by 1 (which I still dislike because of my biggest horror movie pet peeve) followed by 3. I think you need to let this one marinate for a little bit.
I agree, it's a tough one to rate. I mean, it delivers the goods in terms of upping the gore quota but I just didn't find myself enjoying it as much as the others. I agree that part 2 is the best one. I still can't believe how high-pitched "Martin's" voice is!
"Also I can't believe you're complaining that there isn't enough human centipede! That has been covered in the previous films, what more do you want?"
The title of the movie is The Human Centipede so I want to see a 50 person centipede walking, damnit!
Sidestepping the ratings question (duke it out, bros!), what is your pet peeve, Johnny Sweatpants? Or is it too spoily to say here?
*** Spoiler Alert for Part 1 ***
My biggest pet peeve in torture movies is when one of the victims escapes but then gets recaptured. It drives me absolutely mental.
I fully agree in the order of greatness 2, 1, 3 and I do agree with JPX on the annoyance of Bill Boss who really hit my raw nerve after awhile. I would have given this one a solid 3 stars because it is so difficult to rate.
By the way Martin does not normally have a high pitched voice, when I met him at Rock n Shock he spoke in a normal tone with a proper English accent.
Cat facts! That's cool that you know that.
Somehow between reading JSP and Crystal's review a few minutes ago and this one just now, I'm looking forward to watching all of these movies back to back, just to add that perspective to the mix.
Nice breakdown, JPX. You hit on a lot of the things I care about.
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