"Haute Tension" AKA "High Tension" in the US and "Switchblade Romance" in the UK is the horror film that opened my eyes to the foreign horror market. I rented this film after seeing the trailer from some random DVD I don't remember (that is not important though). I was drawn in by what seemed to be a pretty straight forward "slasher" film which I am a huge fan of. There is something about the "Jason's" or the "Freddy's" or the "Michael's" that I always enjoyed watching, even though most of them were very cheesy. I went into "Haute Tension" with the same ideas...fun, campy slasher film that I could easily forget. I also didn't know what to think of its origin. This is a French film...no, that isn't a typo. I really said it is a French film. I guess I had a preconceived notion that the only art that came out of France was romantic in nature. I thought that this was France's attempt to step into create their own slasher villain that would be as campy as the rest. I knew that the French invented the horror film back in 1896 with a 2 minute film called "Le Manoir du Diable (The House of the Devil)." This was an attempt that came off as more amusing than scary to the general public, but it did introduce the first filmed depiction of Satan. I thought "Haute Tension" would go down those same roads...an, was I wrong. This film has helped usher in a new era of extreme French horror which has spawned some of the most intense and disturbing horror films ever made.
"Haute Tension" focuses on two college friends,
Marie (Cécile de France) and Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco). Both are staying at Alex's family's house on either a weekend or a break from college. It doesn't take long after introducing Marie, Alex, and Alex's family that the shit hits the fan.
After everyone goes to bed, a random man comes to their door and rings the door bell. What follows is a whirring mess of senseless killings and gore made my jaw drop. This film was completely raw and uncensored in ways that make most American films seem like they were neutered (which most are/were). Alex's entire family is killed and Alex is taken hostage by the killer. Marie hides from the guy before he can find her. Once the killer leaves, Marie goes on a mission to rescue her kidnapped friend.
That is about as much of a synopsis as I can give you without completely ruining this movie. There are twists and turns throughout that left me stunned and dumbfounded when they were revealed. I honestly never saw them coming.
The fact that this movie took me completely off guard is reason enough for me to write about it. I enjoy films that lead me towards one conclusion and spin me in the opposite direction. I consider myself a pretty big film buff and I have seen and more movies than I can remember. In a lot of circumstances, directors regurgitate ideas and borrow elements from films that were their favorites or inspirations. While Alexandre Aja does borrow a lot of elements from the traditional slasher film model, he added his own unique storytelling style that keeps the watcher enthralled throughout. Aja also set a new standard for which all other slashers should compare themselves to. While campy, predictable horror is nice for a large audience, the true horror fan is on the constant lookout for the next best thing...something to stop them in their tracks and make them ask, "What did I just see?"
With all of that praise, you might be asking, "are there any flaws?" I would be lying if I said there weren't. This is a foreign film which normally forces the viewer to choose between a dubbed soundtrack or the original with subtitles. Personally, I am a purist. I want to see the film with the original actors' voices talking to me. I don't mind reading subtitles. However, I tried setting it up in that fashion, but what I got was a mish-mash of dubbed and subtitled. It was mostly dubbed but periodically switched back over to French with subtitles. Maybe I messed up or perhaps I watched it on a messed up DVD player, but regardless, I couldn't fix it and it got distraction at times.
There are also some plot holes that when the twists are revealed, they contradict what what just seen. However, in all honesty, they are minor compared to the many great elements of this film.
While "Haute Tension" helped create the new wave of French horror, it also helped prepare horror fans for American horror hits, like "Saw" and "Hostel." This is a film that chewed me up and spit me out only for me to come back asking for more. I am a hard person to impress when it comes to horror and this film shocked me like no other.
If you would like to see the trailer, please click on the title to be directed to YouTube. You can also watch the film for free, for a limited time, at Fearnet.com
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