The Human Centipede First Sequence

I bit the bullet the other day and watched the film that everyone's been talking about. You know, the biologically accurate one with the mad scientist who stitches three people together mouth to anus. The one that makes you cringe at the thought of it being humanly possible and made you check on Wikipedia whether this statement was actually true. The one called The Human Centipede.

   It starts out in the same vein as Hostel; two cliche bubble gum headed girls in a German hotel are getting directions to a night club. They get in their car and drive through a secluded area only to get (surprise!) a flat tire. After being sexually harassed by a fat, foul mouthed pervert the two run through the woods to find safety and shelter. And what safety and shelter it is! They knock upon the door of a mad scientist who, inspired by Josef Mengele, dreams of creating a human centipede.

Warning bells should have been ringing for Lyndsay and Jenny after they asked Dr. Heiter if he had a wife. "No, I don't like people." was his curt reply. Slipping a pill in their drinks he then just had to play the waiting game. The girls wake up in a ward that the doctor has set up in his basement. This is when the film gets messy, both in surgeries and script. The problem with a one idea movie is that once the idea has been shown there is nowhere else for the movie to go.

Unlucky for C.

The doctor showing his monstrous plan on a board to his victims is genuinely disturbing but the build up to his creation is far worse than seeing it. Bandages cover the offending areas of the three victims to prevent too much gross out for the audience and also to save money. The result is slightly disappointing and the paper thin plot does little to carry the rest of the film to it's ending.

  It is an interesting idea to have a Japanese man as the head of the centipede. Dr. Heiter's intense dislike of people is probably why he has someone who can not converse with him at the front, thus allowing him to create a pet for himself. Katsuro's shouting becomes that of a bark, his weeping a whimper. With dehumanisation complete the doctor walks the human centipede around the garden and trains it to fetch his paper. He also gets the siamese trio to eat out of a bowl on the floor and keeps them in cage at night. It is out in the garden when the call of nature becomes too much that the film loses it's edge and becomes sickly humourous. Dr. Heiter is ecstatic at the sight of a Katsuro shitting into the mouth of Lyndsay and yells "Feed her!" and "Eat it bitch!" as the poor man weeps in misery and humiliation.

  The film continues with the sub human creature becoming more miserable and depressed. There is a failed attempt at escaping that ends with the trio getting a good whipping but aside from Jenny becoming extremely ill from eating twice recycled food little else happens until the police knock on the door. Yep, the film had to go somewhere and the easy and contrived answer would be for the police to come along and save the day. Except they don't. Instead their idiocy and complete lack of detective skills gets them both killed in a unresolved, bloody and messy ending that leaves everyone except Lyndsay (the middle of the centipede) alive and alone.

This is apparently the first of two films based on the same concept of a human centipede. The sequel, to blow our minds with its originality, will have more people attached together to create a larger creature. Contrary to the belief of Tom Six I don't think this is necessary. The Human Centipede First Sequence is more than enough arse to mouth action for anyone. It is definitely a film to watch, but hardly a film to enjoy.