Yep, “Human Centipede 2″ Is Crazy … But How Crazy?
Last night, at Fantastic Fest ("the world's largest genre film festival") in Austin, director Tom Six showed his sequel, "The Human Centipede (Full Sequence)," to an audience for the first time. We've expressed our exhaustion with the "Human Centipede" phenomenon (and Six, in particular) before around these parts, but we cannot deny that we were still a little curious as to how the movie played. So: How did it play?
Well, we're gonna go ahead and let Matt Singer, the super smart fellow (who used to host a much-lamented podcast with Alison Willmore) over at IFC, be the tackling dummy on this one. He saw it, and, well, the man still seems a bit shaken by the experience.
How crazy is this movie? Pretty freaking crazy. Like the first film, the carnage takes a while to get going, but once the humans start centipeding, watch out. Buyer beware: we're talking graphic depictions of teeth being knocked out, tongues being sliced, faces being stapled to butts, and more. At times, the violence is so extreme it borders on absurd comedy. At other times, the sadistic acts depicted onscreen are so transgressive they border on unwatchable. You can say a lot of things about "The Human Centipede II," but one thing is inarguable: Six did not hold back. And if he did, I don't think I could stand to watch what it looks like when he doesn't. I guess shooting the movie in black and white instead of color could be considered a concession to good taste. I would prefer to think of it as an act of mercy.
It sort of goes on from there. We've been thinking a lot about grossout cinema, and "Human Centipede," and all that goes along with it, so we've decided: We're gonna take the Coke-Pepsi challenge. For all the talk of the disgust of the "Human Centipede" movies, the one pinnacle of grossout cinema is supposedly "A Serbian Tale," which features, if the EXTREMELY NOT SAFE FOR EARTH trailer (along with the constant vomiting by everyone who has seen it) can be trusted, is the most disgusting movie ever made by a factor of several googol.
So here's the deal: When "Human Centipede (Full Sequence)" hits theaters October 7, we will not only see it, we will also watch "A Serbian Film." (We have a copy. We are not proud.) And we'll decide which is grosser, which is better, which is more depraved. You think you're so tough, Tom Six? Bring it.
(Sweet Heavens, what have we just done?)
