Haute Tension (2005)

The horror genre is full of good ideas brought down by poor execution. This sad but true generalization fits French splatter flick Haute Tension all too well. The initial concept is interesting but it is executed in such a way that makes the film not only illogical but impossible as well.

Alex is bringing her college friend Marie home with her for a weekend. Marie meets Alex’s parents and kid brother and everyone is getting along great. Then, in the middle of the night, a large, shadowy man in bloodstained coveralls enters the house and begins murdering the family one by one. The man previously appeared at the beginning of the film in a notably evil way, by pleasuring himself in the seat of his evil-looking truck with a severed head. There’s no question about his evilness and in a matter of minutes, no question about his brutality as well.

The systematic execution of Marie’s family gets points for being some of the most realistic gore I have ever seen in a movie. Haute Tension loses points, however, for going overboard on the gratuitous depiction of frighteningly chunky gore. Gore for the sake of gore is never a good idea in a horror film. Director Alexandre Aja gives in to the ‘torture porn’ method of shocking audiences by testing their ability to watch what is on the screen.

On the other hand, some of the violence, gore and situations in this film are patently absurd. A man decapitated by a bookcase? Hardly. Furthermore, why? When the killer has an array of sharp objects capable of doing the deed, why choose something so messy and inventive? The only answer is because it is supposedly creative and plays into the cravings of torture porn junkies.

Haute Tension also does two things that few horror films are willing to do- kill animals and children. A dog is killed when the madman first enters the house. Then he follows Alex’s little brother out into a field and shoots him as he tries to escape. This is shocking, which is good for a horror film. The problem is that we then see the little boy slumped in the field later on. It’s one thing to know that a child has been killed but to see it happen or to see the remains of the child crosses a line of decency.

After Alex’s mom, dad and brother are dispatched, the killer abducts her, leaving Marie on her own. Rather than do the smart thing and get help, Marie climbs into the killer’s truck in a foolish attempt to free her friend, who she also happens to have a crush on. That’s right, Marie is a lesbian. There is nothing wrong with this fact but this does raise certain questions once the film reaches its conclusion. Marie escapes the truck as the killer stops for gas at a local mini-market. She tells Alex that she will save her but the killer offs the mini-market employees and drives off into the night. Marie continues to make one bad decision after another and chases off after the man in the shopkeeper’s car. She does at least call the police.

The third and final act culminates in a showdown between Maria and the killer that doesn’t make any sense once you get to the big reveal that Marie has actually been the killer/abductor all along. This of course makes little sense based on all of the simultaneous action we saw during the first two thirds of the film involving Marie and the killer in separate locations, let alone different vehicles. Perhaps this was a last-ditch effort to make the film unique. The endgame mindbender of false perception backfires in this case though.

Haute Tension’s twist really only forces you to watch the film a second time in order to make sense of it all. If you can even stomach it, a second viewing only exposes the plot holes even further though. Most of the acting is pretty good. Everyone involved depicts sheer terror quite well. The characters and their logic processes, however, leave something to be desired. Marie’s homicidal tendencies, for instance, are never explained. What exactly is her motivation for killing the loved ones of a girl she is in love with? Are we to assume that her unrealizable sexual yearnings for Alex create a passive-aggressive psychosis that puts her over the edge? If so, that is just silly.

Another surprising fact about Haute Tension is how scary it isn’t. The pace of the film is fast but it still finds ways to drag things out. The killing of three people and a dog takes almost 20 minutes to play out. Most of that time is spent knee-deep in blood and guts. Standard musical crescendos all but give away most of the scares and there are several horror clichés located throughout the 89-minute runtime. You’ve got knives that make noise as they are pulled out of slots and draws, ominously swaying empty swings, bad judgment, cat-and-mouse games, and plenty of moody lighting. All of these things have become the laughable qualities of horror films, yet Haute Tension (and countless other slasher flicks) embraces them.

I still like the general premise of Haute Tension. The psychological twist could be improved with a few more rewrites and trimming out some of the clichés and excesses would help tighten up this troubled film. Until then, the flaws overwhelm this export that will only be remembered for its gore, if even that.

RATING: 2 out of 5