In High Tension, two girls go out to a farmhouse to study for the weekend. When a psychotic killer shows up on the doorstep and starts ripping his way through all the inhabitants, it's up to one of the girls to survive and try to free her friend from the killer's clutches. What follows is a graphically violent survival horror movie that is positively relentless. This movie is like Texas Chainsaw Massacre on crack. What I really liked about it was that the heroine made good choices throughout the movie. This is not the typical horror movie bimbo that screams and trips over nothing when she's running away from the bad guy. By the end of the movie, this girl has turned into a bit of a maniac herself. At one point, she reminded me of Patricia Arquette's character in TRUE ROMANCE, when she kills James Gandolfini. Bottom line is, this girl has got brains, and she's got guts. Points go to the French director for creating a female protagonist that defies expectations and conventions. The filmmakers also get points for good cinematography, writing and editing. All in all, this is a glossy and polished production. However, there is one flaw that keeps it from being a perfect horror movie.
If you plan on seeing this movie, and you want to be surprised by the twist, stop reading now.
The one and only problem with Haute/High Tension is that it uses a twist that has recently become my biggest pet peeve. This is the latest in a long line of movies where the main character is actually the killer but doesn't know it. Like HIDE AND SEEK, SECRET WINDOW or THE MACHINIST, the whole movie is a build up to the big reveal that the person we thought was the hero of the movie turns out to be the bad guy. In general, I think this is an incredibly cheap way to end a movie. To me, it ranks right up there with having the whole story turn out to be a dream. These are Twilight Zone endings that worked for Rod Serling back in the 50's or whatever, but they're completely telegraphed and transparent these days. The other problem that springs from this ending is that it calls into question some of the things that happened earlier in the movie. The story doesn't hold up to the scrutiny unfortunately. For example, there's a sequence where the killer is chasing our heroine in a car. She's driving a sports car and he's driving a truck. It makes you wonder, if she's really the killer, who's driving the car? There are quite a few holes like this that don't hold up afterward.
Still, despite this hokey and contrived ending, High Tension is an effective and creepy thriller. It's definitely worth a rent, and you might even consider adding it to your collection after you know the twist because it's crafted so well.
If you plan on seeing this movie, and you want to be surprised by the twist, stop reading now.
The one and only problem with Haute/High Tension is that it uses a twist that has recently become my biggest pet peeve. This is the latest in a long line of movies where the main character is actually the killer but doesn't know it. Like HIDE AND SEEK, SECRET WINDOW or THE MACHINIST, the whole movie is a build up to the big reveal that the person we thought was the hero of the movie turns out to be the bad guy. In general, I think this is an incredibly cheap way to end a movie. To me, it ranks right up there with having the whole story turn out to be a dream. These are Twilight Zone endings that worked for Rod Serling back in the 50's or whatever, but they're completely telegraphed and transparent these days. The other problem that springs from this ending is that it calls into question some of the things that happened earlier in the movie. The story doesn't hold up to the scrutiny unfortunately. For example, there's a sequence where the killer is chasing our heroine in a car. She's driving a sports car and he's driving a truck. It makes you wonder, if she's really the killer, who's driving the car? There are quite a few holes like this that don't hold up afterward.
Still, despite this hokey and contrived ending, High Tension is an effective and creepy thriller. It's definitely worth a rent, and you might even consider adding it to your collection after you know the twist because it's crafted so well.