Chris reviews... High Tension (2004)

DIRECTOR: Alexandre Aja
WRITER: Alexandre Aja, Grégory Levasseur
STARRING: Cécile de France, Maïwenn Le Besco, Philippe Nahon


If you're old enough of a fart to remember that far back, do you recall the mid-to-late '70s? If you do, and you're reading this review voluntarily, then that means that you're at least familiar with the films The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead, The Last House on the Left, Halloween, and The Hills Have Eyes. Furthermore, if you do indeed know of these films, then you are also privy to the fact that they just don't make horror films like they used to. That is, until Alex Aja came along. Aja's quickly becoming a household name in the world of horror movie-making; he may have just cemented his status as a horror icon with the relatively well-praised remake of the aforementioned Eyes, but it's the aptly-titled High Tension that gave him his well-deserved breakthrough and gave us one of the first of this generation's worthy "1970s Horror" descendents.

High Tension – or, as it is known elsewhere (by the equally appropriate title), Switchblade Romance – is the story of Marie (De France) and Alex (Le Besco), two college girls who decide to take a trip to Alex's family's home for a weekend of interruption-free studying in the secluded country. The trip quickly turns sour, as an unknown killer (Nahon) bursts into the house and kills off Alex's entire family one-by-one, soon leaving Alex all to herself (or so she thinks). Although the thrills are enough to keep you in your seat until the end, stay tuned long enough to catch the plot's major twist; you won't see it coming. Of course, this is coming from the guy who couldn't figure out that the "Continuum Transfunctioner" was the Rubik's Cube in Dude, Where's My Car?, so take the previous sentence with a grain of salt.

Being the horror buff that I am, it took me quite a while to finally pony up the dough to view this flick. This is indicative of the sad state of affairs that the horror genre has been in the past few years; although movies like 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, and The Ring have worked as hard as they can to pull horror flicks out of their rut, fans have still come to expect work along the lines of House of the Dead, House of Wax... hell, any movie with the word "House" in it (with the exception of House of 1000 Corpses, which really doesn't deserve such an awful, pigeonholing title). With the arrival of the aforementioned films, as well as the remake of Dawn of the Dead, High Tension, and the influx of great foreign horror we've been receiving for a few years now, I think my faith may be renewed. If I could just get a hit out on Uwe Boll, all would be right with the world. But that's another rant.

The two best things about High Tension are what I alluded to earlier: the extreme amount of anxiety wrought by the goings-on, and the twist(ed) ending. Aja spends about ten minutes or so dragging you into the proceedings, and you spend the next hour-and-a-half trying like hell to claw your way back out, but not really. It's like one of those twisted fetish donkey porn videos you accidentally run across when browsing Bratz.com (or what have you): you want to look away, but you just can't.

If there is one thing about the film that keeps you glued to the screen aside from your sense of dread, it is the unrelenting gore that Aja constantly dishes out. Throats are slit, heads are dismembered, and chests are more than once the target of impromptu open-heart surgery. Take my word for it: if you would fail to qualify to ride a roller coaster based on the warnings written on the sign at the beginning of the ride's line, you certainly flunk the High Tension viewing exam.

As far as the finale goes, let me just say this: if M. Night Shyamalan ever watched High Tension, he's probably still beating himself up for not coming up with a denouement as delightfully unexpected as Aja's. Although the tricks employed by the killer throughout the film were completely predictable (c'mon, what killer wouldn't think of using the old hang-the-flashlight-up-and-make-the-victim-think-you're-stalking-them-while-sneaking-up-on-them-from-behind gag?), the film's penultimate thrill-sequence took me completely by surprise. It takes a lot to catch me off-guard, so for me to utter "What the fuck?!" in shock and awe is a rare thing indeed – hats off to Alex for that one.

If you haven't taken the hint yet, get out to your local (preferably independently owned) video store and pick up High Tension as soon as possible. You won't be disappointed, unless you're some wussy with heart trouble. In that case, I disavow all knowledge of ever recommending this flick to you.