High Tension (2005)

Magnum's review-

The US version of "Haute Tension". A French thriller/slasher picture. One which I would really like to see the unrated French version with subtitles. This version was a mix of dubbing and subtitles that got under my skin. The US release was apparently edited down to get the all important "R" rating even though it was still a very brutally violent and gory film.

This movie really mind-fuck handcuffed me, and the more I spend time analyzing it, the more it plummets in my ratings. First of all, I'm getting sick of the twist endings, it's all the rave now and it's not being done right, this coming from me who's last movie had a twist ending of its own, so I know. Especially this twist that just makes you groan when it happens. It feels like a cop out and actually ruined the mood of the film instead of helping it. Up to that point, the film was a very tense, brutal French slasher film that blended a nice touch of homage to the American slasher film. Nothing very deep, just simple gore and scares, which is fine, but instead of sticking with it until the end, Director Alexandre Aja veers us off into the higher brow thriller genre for no reason whatsoever. The twist reveals huge gaps in the plot and requires vast lapses in reality and also limits the movie to a one watch flick wonder. Watching it a second time won't reveal any new clues, just more confusion.

Now the positive aspects of the film, namely technical, although the performance by Cecile De France as Marie was brilliantly done. The cinematography and sound design were very stellar for basically a slasher flick. The shot selection was very thorough and well planned. The framing was tight, the angles very interesting, the lighting was always top notch with nice color tone. Although this one damn shot bugged the hell out of me. Marie is walking around outside the farmhouse smoking, she walks towards an old swing that is lit by an overhead spotlight. It's a cool looking shot, but there is no motivation for the lighting and is just laughably out of place.

*WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW*

Here are my concerns that arose once the twist is thrown upon us. Where did the van come from? Is everything with Marie really just delusions and part of her imagination? There is no reasoning or payoff for any of this. If Aja didn't care that a lot of the plot wouldn't make sense, then why even put the twist in there? It was really frustrating to know that most of the tense moments involving Marie never really happened, just cheap scares?

Here's my ending that I would have done rather than the twist: Marie had already mentioned in the car about her dream in the woods and the masturbating scene before the carnage starts would have been a great bookend for the bloodbath. She puts on her headphones and slips into her sexual bliss, what ensues in the film is part of her dream that she uses to get off. When the carnage is done, we cut back to the bed where she is coming down from her climax. She rolls over towards the camera with a wicked and satisfied grin on her face as we hang for a while before cutting to black and rolling end credits. But that's just me.

Magnum's grade: C (76)