CORPORATE LINE: Marie and Alexia are schoolmates and best friends. Hoping to prepare for their college exams in peace and quiet, they decide to spend a weekend in the country at Alexia’s parents’ secluded farmhouse. But in the dead of night, a stranger knocks on the front door. And with the first swing of his knife, the girls’ idyllic weekend turns into an endless night of terror…
THE MOVIE: High Tension tries to take from Texas Chain Saw Massacre without any of the terrifyingly good results. Massacre worked because it overwhelmed you with insanity. Tension doesn’t strike fear or engulf you with the same sheer madness.
The opening scenes are disturbing in a 1970s low-budget sort of way. The maniac kills Alex’s entire film with blood squirting terror. He carries the obligatory knife but actually manages to kill someone with a dresser. There are moments where you think “this could be a classic.”
After the opening sequence of carnage there is a inability to continue with pace. Fans of horror films may or may not enjoy High Tension. I love a great horror flick as much as the next guy but this isn’t a keeper. High Tension isn’t even a film you’ll remember in a week let alone a lifetime like Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
High Tension is sold as a story of two girls’ battle for survival at the hands of a sadistic psychopath and a return to the intensity of 1970s horror classics. Everyone from the studio to the director oversell High Tension—not unusual. It looks and feels like a horror film from the ‘70s—but even poorly constructed horror films from that era scared the life out of you. You’d be afraid to go to the bathroom at night. I’ve not lost a moment of sleep because of High Tension and that might be the ultimate test.
THE EXTRAS:
The commentary with writer/director Alexandre Aja and screenwriter/art director Gregory Levasseur give some interesting behind-the-scenes stories.
“Haute Horror: Making of High Tension” – a featurette with the cast and crew. It’s short but fun look at what happened offscreen. “Building Tension” expands on “Haute Horror” with a more technical background.
“Giannetto de Rossi: The Truth, The Madness, and The Magic” – An extremely short look into the makeup.
Also included are scenes that include commentary with the director and the film’s star Cecile de France.
FRANKLY: Not unlike Cabin Fever, High Tension is short and brutal—this usually spells success but not here. It’s not entirely obvious why Lion’s Gate decided to bring this to the states—especially with its cheesy voice acting. Even the ‘surprise’ ending isn’t much of a surprise. Even if it were a surprise it would hardly matter. When you make a movie called High Tension it should at least cause some tension. It wasn’t even successful with that.
+ Charlie Craine
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