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High Tension By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- Take elements of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Halloween," "In Cold Blood" and "Psycho," mix in a little Euronoir artiness and lesbian pulp, and you get the gist of "High Tension" (Lions Gate), a somewhat stylish but gratuitously violent homage to American slasher movies of the 1970s. Set in rural France, the bloody tale involves two college friends (Cecile de France and Maiwenn Le Besco) whose idyllic weekend studying for exams at a secluded farmhouse becomes a struggle for survival when they are terrorized by a sadistic killer (Philippe Nahon). The film -- trimmed to avoid an NC-17 rating -- was originally shot in French, but was later reworked to accommodate (poorly dubbed) English for the exposition-laden dialogue used to set up the story. (This makes it more marketable to American audiences who don't blink at brutality but wince at subtitles.) Directed by Alexandre Aja and not without moments of suspense, the movie is chock-full of stomach-churning gore, including a gruesome sequence during which one girl's entire family is butchered (in increasingly grisly fashion). As if that weren't reason enough not to see it, the final plot twist is so illogical as to be laughable, if the overall film was not so repellent. Mostly in French with English subtitles. The film contains excessive graphic violence, including decapitations, dismemberment, a bludgeoning and an impaling, homoerotic undertones, perverse sexual situations including necrophilia, a scene of masturbation, a voyeuristic shower sequence with frontal nudity, as well as rough and crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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