Controversial gossip about upcoming films can either make or break a new release. More often than not, any talk – good or bad – is better for a new release than none. As you have all probably heard by now, Tom Six’s new shock-horror movie The Human Centipede has had tongues wagging for awhile – but a flick about a mad doctor who kidnaps, imprisons and then stitches his victims together from ass to mouth, in homage of the elongated metameric structure of the creepy crawly, is guaranteed to do that…
From a perspective grounded in genre, horror is supposed to be a culmination of shock, gore and thought-provoking fear. From a humanist view, every single one of us would undoubtedly be disturbed by the thought of finding oneself in the predicament of Dr.Heier’s victims. In this respect, The Human Centipede should be a horror film success or at least, a cult classic. This film appears eager to push the boundaries of what is acceptable – even for a horror film – and is unapologetic about it. The campy emphasis on the dynamic of a crazy German Surgeon and his one Japanese and two American victims is a poke at a WWII subtext, but that’s as deep as this story goes – the whole purpose lies in taking gross-out to a whole new level.
Questionable mental stability, of filmmaker and antagonist Dr. Heier aside, talk surrounding the movie has reached a new level of late with respected movie critic Roger Ebert refusing to bestow a star-rating for the film. Instead of giving the film zero stars out of four, the critic argued this film was undeserving entirely because the very nature of the film “occupies a world where the stars don’t shine”. WTF
Now in Question…Is Ebert right in snubbing The Human Centipede with a turn of his cheek? Or does this film deserve a star rating just like many controversial films before it?
