Tom Six has a problem. The writer/director behind The Human Centipede series has set himself up for a career as a horror provocateur. He promises that each successive film will make the previous film look like a toy or children’s program. The problem is, to deliver that level of depravity, the level of structure and story in the film has to drop dramatically just to get in all the gore.
The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) is technically very well made. The black and white cinematography (only briefly punctuated with spots of color in the last few minutes) is clear and haunting. The use of light and sound to tell the story of a uncommunicative protagonist–the mentally unstable sexually depraved replacement for the first film’s world-renowned surgeon–is strong. Even the special effects are as gruesome and realistic as I’ve seen in a horror film in quite some time.
Therein lies the problem. For all the technical wizardry and clever editing, the film exists only as a vehicle of shock. The story–mentally unstable sexually depraved man kidnaps twelve people, locks them in a warehouse, and attaches them together with a staple gun and duct tape because he gets off on The Human Centipede (First Sequence)–has no nuance. There are impressive visuals to try and mask this fact, but this film is defined by a logline and gore, not a plot.
The characters are not defined beyond their immediate circumstances. The main character is defined by childhood sexual abuse, his stature, and an obsession with a horror film. A pregnant woman is defined by her pregnancy. A violent man is defined by his violence. A psychiatrist is defined by his treatments. Ashlynn Yennie, the middle part of the first film’s centipede, is defined by being an actress called Ashlynn Yennie who appeared in the first film.
I know what some people will say about this. Did I actually expect more from the sequel to The Human Centipede (First Sequence)? The answer is yes. The first film, past the idiotic first fifteen minutes, managed to be a rather effective suspense film. All of the surgery was implied with clever editing, allowing the mind to fill in the blanks. The story of training a trio of people surgically grafted together to cooperate as one living monstrosity hit tones of Frankenstein and scientific papers about feral children. Any visual gore–blood or medical condition–was justified by the narrative. Some narrative elements existed just because Six felt like it would be a cool visual–story be damned. But overall, the film delivered a lot more than it had any right to based on content alone.
In The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence), the situation is reversed. The gore substitutes for plot. Instead of building suspense, the film builds a rote pattern of violence. The dialog that does exist is more awkward and unbelievable than anything that happened in the first film. The screenplay is simply a mess of structure and content. By the time you reach one of the only scenes that functions even remotely like a well-plotted film, there is no way to care about what’s happening anymore. You’re numb to the point of not caring about a scene that, taken in isolation, was the deciding factor between banning the film in the UK and allowing edited screenings.
Any interesting commentary on the genre is thrown out in favor of a rather dated view of the role of horror films in society. Have we really not gotten past the point of believing that anyone who watches a horror film is subject to act out what they see? That the typical horror fan cannot tell the difference between reality and fiction and needs to be safe guarded against the entire genre? This film, if it would ever be seen by the anti-horror alarmists, falls into every stereotype they imagine. Is the man who envisioned such a disgusting surgical procedure really advocating against the creation and distribution of horror films? I doubt it. That is, unfortunately, the only greater message that exists in the film.
Tom Six’s problem is that he is a much better filmmaker than The Human Centipede series will allow him to be. Until that third film is released and buried in the DVD graveyard, we will not get to see what he can actually do. Visually, we know he can make a stylish picture. He has a knack for casting actors who are willing to give everything to a project and has even been praised for a great on-set demeanor. Narratively, he needs someone to give him a screenplay that deserves such attention to detail.
I can only hope he challenges himself after the third film rather than just delivering more mindless gore. Horror is a visually-driven genre and Six could be the next great horror stylist. For right now, he’s going down the rabbit hole of senseless violence to see when the world tells him to stop.
