Movie Review High Tension

High Tension (2005) 

Directed by Alexandre Aja

Written by Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur

Starring Cecile De France, Maiween, Phillippe Nahon

Release Date June 10th, 2005

Published June 10th, 2005 

I must say I was quite impressed with Lions Gate Films' commitment to High Tension. Often, when a studio acquires a foreign picture, it's treated like a low-budget product--rolled out slowly and oftentimes drops onto video before anyone outside of New York or Los Angeles even knows it exists. So for that, I give LGF credit; they have shown a great deal of courage pushing High Tension as a major release.

However, I must question, why this film? Why did this little French horror pic earn the faith of the studio when superior products have, in the past, languished? (Anyone remember the brilliant May?) The fact is that while LGF has shown great faith in this flick, it's not really worthy of that faith. A B-movie exploitation flick at best, High Tension is of the rare breed of bad foreign films. Rare because, usually, bad foreign films don't even make it to the U.S.

College friends Marie (Cécile De France) and Alex (Maiwenn La Besco) are spending the summer at Alex's parents' newly-purchased French farm, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The place is kind of creepy, surrounded on all sides by cornfields and with no unnatural light anywhere. It's the perfect place for an insane killer to wreak unpoliced havoc.

And wouldn't you know it, there happens to be a nutcase patrolling the area in search of new victims. Phillippe Nahon plays the stalking killer whose method is pretty straightforward: invade a home; and kill, kill, kill. His violence is more brutal than your average American movie killer. Much more blood and gore than we've seen from the recently neutered genre that, in America, has succumbed to the monetary menace of the PG-13 rating.

Marie manages to hide herself away as her friends' family is brutalized and Alex herself is held till last and finally taken prisoner. This is where things begin to get goofy, with one of the all-time most nonsensical twists ever put to film. I have been debating whether or not to delve into spoilers here, as I think they could be quite constructive to reviewing the film. However, I will not, mostly because I just can't figure out what the spoilers are.

The film tips its hand with about forty minutes left, but then persists with scenes that fly in the face of that very twist. When the twist does come, it's predictable but incomprehensible--as if the film were directed two different ways and then combined in a blender.

Director Alexandre Aja has a flair for horrific violence and disturbing imagery. Watch for the killer's introduction, as it's one of the few memorable moments in the film. Aja, unfortunately, doesn't seem as interested in directing a horror film so much as an exploitation film of the Joe Bob Briggs, late-night-theater variety. A good example is Maria's masturbation scene intercut with the violence of the killer's arrival. Good scene for an exploitation film; however, Aja is not fully committed to exploitation either.

The film is bereft of the cheap thrills that make exploitation sickly entertaining. The masturbation scene is fully clothed and there is only a brief bit of nudity. The film was rumored to have been cut extensively to get down to the more audience-friendly R-Rating from the box office kiss-of-death that is NC-17. On the bright side, that could mean a heck of a Director's Cut DVD.

One might wonder if the cutting room floor is the resting place for the footage that helps High Tension make any sense at all. Maybe the scenes that tie together the utterly incomprehensible twist are all so disgustingly lascivious, they had to be cut. Whatever the explanation, High Tension remains a dopey, nonsensical horror film with violent potential unrealized by poor editing and a ludicrous story.