Director:Alexandre Aja
Writers:Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur
Cast:Cecile de France.Maiwenn,Phillpe Nahon
Acting:A
Entertainment:A
Rewatchabilty:B+
Overall:A
High Tension also know as Haute Tension and Switchblade Romance is the movie in which now well known horror -genre writers Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur made names for themselves.
Think the Texas Chainsaw Massacre,the Hills have Eyes,Halloween and even Maniac,High Tension clearly models itself after films like this where the tension builds up to unbearable levels and gets the audience really unsettled and uncomfortable before finally hitting us square between the eyes with a knockout blow.The tension and suspense at play here seems to be missing from many horror films of present day.
The Plot:College friends Alex and Marie travel to Alex's families farm in the country for some peaceful study time.The peaceful time soon turns into a nightmare as a sadistic killer enters the house and slaughters Alex's family and kidnaps Alex in his old beat up pick-up truck.Marie however sneaks aboard and tries to save Alex from this insane killer.The action shifts from the truck to an isolated gas station to finally the woods.Can Marie save Alex??
High Tension as I mentioned earlier is a film where tension keeps building and building and building.The music and cinematography which really helps add to this as well.We the viewer are constantly on edge as our nerves are tested.There are a couple of scenes where we are left wondering if they will ever end as the killer carefully searches and stalks around endlessly for hidden prey.Aja pays tribute to Maniac's subway bathroom scene here as well which was Clearly one of the most suspenseful scenes ever seen in the horror genre.The pacing Aja uses here in which the killer knocks of Alex's family are methodical as if they are in slow motion thus leaving us even more disturbed and scared.
The scene in the gas station is also one of my favorite scenes as here Aja pays tribute to another of my favorite movies,the shining as the killer plunges an ax into the attendants chest.
Aja ratchets up the gore as well as some graphic images.We see the killer getting head from a severed head..yes,that is correct.We almost see a child shot and we see a decapitation by the way of a cabinet.The gore and special effects are phenomenal as well
The acting is impressive here too,Cecile de France is quite likable and Phillipe Nahon as the killer is scary and intimidating.
Aja doesn't stop there as he pulls one big twist on us at the end that some of us may or may not have seen coming.I for one did not see it coming and felt it was really well done and made the film that much more interesting.For many horror fans though it seems they either love it or hated it.
Spoilers!--------------------------------------
Most horror fans have seen this and so here is my take on the twist
I have heard some people say that certain scenes don't make sense and couldn't happen if Marie was the killer.However we have to remember that Marie is insane,crazy,psychotic and this is her story and her version of what happened so of course everything isn't going to add up.
And some people told me they saw it coming from the get-go,I did not.I did clearly see that Marie had a thing for Alex but I wouldn't have ever guessed she was this obsessed with her.
Closing:High Tension is downright scary and tension filled flick with some truly disturbing scenes and an interesting plot twist.Aja mixes tension,scares and gore here with great success.
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