"HIGH TENSION" (2003)

Starring: Cécile De France
Written by Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur
Directed by Alexandre Aja

Polly Staffle Rating: ****

Enough with remakes already. Most suck. I also fear in the long run they are going to hurt the horror genre. Instead of remaking a film, just rip off ideas from it and add them into the mix of your own script. That's what Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur did with "High Tension" and it works.
The duo even admits to paying homage to a slew of films on the DVD commentary. Obviously there are the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Hills Have Eyes" tributes here, but there are also nods to "Jeepers Creepers," "Last House on the Left," "The Hitcher," "Maniac," "Halloween," "The Shining" and the "Alien Quadrilogy." There's also a scene Aja says is based off one from "True Romance," which was written by the master of film referencing, Quentin Tarantino.

All that aside, "High Tension" is one hell of a horror movie. There is so much I like about this movie. It is a very intense motion picture experience that is perfectly titled. It is also very brutal and raw much like the films it emulates. It's perhaps the most brutal film I have seen in a theater. There are slow moving suspenseful scenes and fast-paced action sequences. There's great acting here, excellent cinematography and a superb soundtrack with a score by François Eudes and a song from Muse. There's also lots of blood and a love story.

The film is about as simple as it gets, taking place over a few locations and a 12 hour period or so. The cast is no more than ten people with Cécile De France getting most of the screen time as Marie. The story starts off with two female college friends heading to the country for a weekend of studying for upcoming exams. A killer shortly appears and all hell breaks loose. We get lots of blood, stylistic violence and enough terror to give the faint a heart attack.

Then there is a plot twist in the final twenty minutes of the film that many have a problem with. Roger Ebert said the ending had a plot hole big enough to drive a truck through. Endings are extremely important. "The Sixth Sense" had such a wonderful finale it fooled everyone into thinking they actually just sat through a good movie. But a second viewing of it was boring in my opinion. "Saw" is a perfect example of an ending saving a film and "28 Days Later" shows how a bad closing can help destroy an otherwise solid effort.
I will admit the first time I saw "High Tension" I was scratching my head, thinking to myself, "what the hell?" But sitting down and watching the film a second time knowing what the twist is, I think I actually appreciate the film more. Does it all make sense? I'll just say perspective is the key. The "restroom stalking" and "killer in the house" scenes tell different stories the second go-round. Is the twist needed? Not really. Without it, you have a 70's throwback survival horror film that rivals the best of them. With it, there is a psychological aspect that works as well. Regardless, the end of the movie features a great foot chase scene and a gore fest that includes blood splashing right onto the camera.

I was extremely happy with the treatment Lions Gate gave this movie on DVD. Not only does it feature the directors cut, the film is letterboxed and can be watched in its original French language with subtitles or the way it was released theatrically. All foreign films should get this kind of treatment. I'm a huge fan of Bruce Lee and wish his films were available in their original languages and not the bad dubbing. Sometimes the dubbing can add a bit of charm and it is nice to have if you are feeling lazy and don't want to read, but I wish we always had the option.

A film like "High Tension" shows you can pay tribute to your favorite films and still make an original and exciting movie. So what is up next for Aja and Levasseur? A remake of "The Hills Have Eyes." Will the madness ever end? Why do we need a remake of this classic? Wes Craven supposedly hand picked the 26-year-old Aja to direct it after seeing "High Tension." Craven doesn't usually have much to do with remakes and has shown he understands the beauty of inspiration. "Last House on the Left" was based off "The Virgin Spring" and "The Hills Have Eyes" was inspired by a real life Scotland family of cannibals in the 15th century. The remakes that do end up working like "Dawn of the Dead" are extremely rare. If Craven wanted to produce a film in vein of "Hills," he could have put up the money, told Aja what he wanted and I'm sure the results would be good. But instead of another "High Tension" we will probably end up with another crummy remake.

On a side note, what will Hollywood do once they run out of good horror movies to remake? Do they then start remaking movies like "Chopping Mall," "Xtro," "Ice Cream Man," "Redneck Zombies," "Surf Nazis Must Die" and "Uncle Sam." The sad part is those would probably make better remakes than a classic film because they have so much room for improvement.

- CCF, January 2006