| Product: |
Switchblade Romance (DVD) |
| Date: |
09/04/07 (101 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: A genuinely scary, tense, gory and well-made horror
Disadvantages: Has a mindblowingly dreadful twist which ruins it
With more and more Hollywood horror films becoming either lame remakes or utter ****, it seems it’s up to the rest of the world to begin making quality horror once again. Japan and South Korea seem to have taken up this challenge the most successfully, what with creepy psychological horrors such as The Ring, The Grudge and A Tale Of Two Sisters. Hell, even the UK has made a few good films (if you count Shaun of the Dead and Severence as horrors rather than comedies). But of all the places in the world, who’d have thought that France would be the country to produce one of the goriest, scariest and most tense horror films of recent years. The country that gave us Audrey Tautou and the laughing cow also gives world cinema the spectacle that is Haute Tension (called in the UK, for some bizarre reason, Switchblade Romance).
It tells the story of two friends, Marie (Cécile de France) and Alex (played by somebody just called Maiwenn!), who are on the way to stay with Alex’s parents at their countryside farm. However, what starts off as just a regular evening soon takes a turn for the horrifying, as a strange old man (Philippe Nahon) turns up in the truck out of Jeepers Creepers (seriously, I think it is the same truck). This guy, referred to in the credits simply as “Le Tuer” (the killer), has a twisted plan to murder Alex’s family and kidnap the poor girl. However, he reckons without the intervention of their guest for the night, and this leads Marie into one terrifying, action-packed night, where she must play a game of cat and mouse with a ruthless monster.
I’ll cut the plot summary there, because Haute Tension is so thin on plot that to say any more would give away some of the best parts of the film. When I say “thin on plot”, I don’t mean that as an insult – this film is a real back-to-basics, stripped down to the bare essentials kind of horror. It’s a throwback to 70s slasher films such as The Hills Have Eyes (funnily enough, the director of this film, Alexandre Aja, is the guy who directed the remake of that film! Funny the links that crop up in a film review, isn’t it! I hear The Hills Have Eyes remake was really gruesome and scary, which isn’t surprising after seeing this film. Apparently Wes Craven asked specifically for Alexandre Aja to direct the remake of his original classic, because he was so impressed by Haute Tension!)
Wait, which film am I reviewing again?
Haute Tension is a completely average slasher story, but whereas most modern films rely on cheap shocks and jolts to scare the audience, this is a master class in the build-up of tension and fear – especially in the almost unbearably tense first half hour as the killer prowls around Alex’s house. The sound effects I found were especially effective – for example, there is often a buzzing sound in the background, and there’s quite a bit of electronic noise, just to set you on edge. It’s also very dark and gritty, which is very much in keeping with its 70s influence, and it relies on the power of anticipation rather than sudden jumps.
Saying that, there are moments of absolutely disgusting gory violence that would satisfy even the most demanding modern horror fan. I won’t tell you when or how it happens, but there’s a nasty decapitation; a bit of the old neck-slicing, complete with copious blood spray; and I think I’ve been put off using a power saw for life. Some may complain that this is totally unnecessary, and even detracts from the tense, creepy atmosphere the director created, and I can see where they’re coming from. But personally, I didn’t find it gratuitous – I thought it fitted in with the grimy, dirty look of the film and it was done in a realistic way which made the whole film scarier (unlike the Final Destination films which are so implausible that they cease being scary).
The film takes place in a sort of real time over the course of just one night, and is very sparing in its use of locations – there are only about 4 different set-pieces, and it’s quite a short film (around 90 minutes). However, because it just goes from one tense situation to another, there is absolutely no let-up, no dark comedy or light relief of any kind. It’s just a straightforward nasty slasher horror, with tension all the way through, right up until the (extremely violent) final scene.
However, there is one huge make or break aspect of this film: it has a twist which will either leave you amazed, or leave you wanting to smash your telly in disgust. Which was I? Well, let’s just say that this is the only time I’ve gone from a 5 star rating to a 3 star within the space of a minute.
I have never been so annoyed and frustrated with a film in all my life – for 80 minutes this was a genuinely frightening and dark horror film, albeit one heading for an early finish. However, just when you think it’s all over, the movie adds one final twist which completely undoes all the excellent work that’s gone before and makes you want to scream “sacre-bleu”. It’s one of those twists that literally do turn all that’s gone before on its head. Fight Club, The Sixth Sense – in these cases it works, but in Haute Tension, the twist makes very little sense. Even if you think about it carefully and realise that it does in fact kind of make sense, it’s still utterly pointless. It tries far too hard to transform the film into some kind of psychological thriller, which it’s not.
I think it’s fair to say I wasn’t left with a good impression. But if this ridiculous twist hadn’t utterly ruined it for me, Haute Tension would have been one of my favourite horror movies of the last, say, five years. It’s horror at its purest and most frightening – there’s not even any need to bother telling us why anything is happening, or to give us any kind of character history. This is simply not needed; it’s all about one heroine and her desperate attempts for survival.
I would definitely recommend Haute Tension/ Switchblade Romance to any horror fans who like the old-fashioned slasher genre, provided they have strong stomachs! Just, maybe, leave before the end or something.
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Haute Tension is available to buy from www.amazon.co.uk for £5.97. This should be in French with subtitles, although I think some editions (maybe just the American ones) are dubbed quite badly, from what I hear. Stick to subtitles is my motto!
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Starring:
Cecile de France … Marie
Maiwenn … Alex
Philippe Nahon … The Killer
Running time: 89 minutes
Classification: 18 (strong graphic violence, and a bit of sexual content)
Production year: 2003
Pre-twist rating: 5 stars
Overall rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fantastic French horror, as long as you leave before the awful twist
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