The first Human Centipede was a success, probably for the same reason that "2 Girls 1 Cup" could be considered a success. You make a movie that's about nothing but a guy sewing people's lips to anuses, and curious thrill-seekers will come, if only to see what it's all about. I was one of those thrill-seekers, and what it's all about turned out to be not all that much.
Now that we're on the verge of being subjected to a sequel, The Human Centipede Part 2 (Full Sequence), the British Board of Film Classification has offered what has turned out to be a de facto publicity boost to the film: they've banned it from release in the UK. An interview in last Sunday's New York Times reveals that the film's director, Tom Six, is only passively upset at the board's rejection. "My God, this is brilliant for the marketing," he says.
The Human Centipede 2 would be far from the first film to trumpet its censorship in other countries to boost ticket sales. It was 33 years ago that I Spit On Your Grave, a sadistic and artless rape-revenge dud, played the same card. Movie critics like Roger Ebert trashed it for being the cold, manipulative piece of waste that it was, and played right into its hand. It gained a cult following and even spawned a slick Hollywood remake last year.
The Human Centipede appears to be going for the same sadistic, gut-wrenching reaction, but the problem isn't that it's too sadistic, or too artless, or even too fetishistic. The problem is that it's its own Hollywood remake. Far from being a grainy, bargain-basement snuff film lite, The Human Centipede is beautifully shot, artfully created and designed, and boring. Though Ebert awarded the film zero stars, the same rating he gave to I Spit, he backhandedly praises Six's effort in making a proud midnight movie that avoids being purely an exploitation film.
The trailer for Part 2, though it occupies a different universe and a different style, looks to be just as Hollywood. The gorgeous black-and-white photography recalls an old Universal monster movie. Its new antihero--a stocky introvert played by Laurence R. Harvey--reminds us of Peter Lorre in M. This is far from a mere exploitation film; it looks as if Six is trying to elevate his crude premise into a real film.
And there's the problem. There's no room in the mouth-to-anus business for a real film. Just as the first Human Centipede spent too much time lingering on the existential pain and suffering of the six-legged creature at its center, Part 2 appears to be more a harrowing exploration into the mind of a tortured madman than a celebration of bodily invasion.
But reports do say that the film is much more disgusting than its predecessor. Though I do take issue with the notion of any film being banned by a country's government, the British Film Board is dead right in their description of the first film, which was given the OK for ages 18 and up: though "undoubtedly tasteless and disgusting, it was a relatively traditional and conventional horror film." The second, they say, is much more disgusting and may even put audiences at risk. At risk of what, I am not sure, other than flushing a hard-earned $10 down the toilet.
The idea of a film causing actual harm to a person watching it actually plays right into Six's hand as well. His sequel takes the meta route and sets itself in a world where The Human Centipede is a successful cult film, and inspires a sociopathic copycat to give the experiment a try. I had enough trouble believing that a sick Nazi doctor would be so dumb as to think an experiment like this would be worth anything. I, like the film board, was not too worried about it inspiring any copycats.
By going meta, Six takes a big risk. Audiences have not typically responded well to movies that turn mirrors on themselves and say, "Wow, aren't we great?" An audience is far more likely to take to a sequel that stays within its own universe. Look at how much money people have spent on the Saw series, or on Final Destination, or Friday the 13th.
And then look at how much money they spent on Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. That was an uncommonly intelligent sequel which took an entirely different approach from its wildly successful original. The Blair Witch Project was a monumental hit with a revolutionary marketing strategy, and a sequel was immediately called for. But rather than continue with their found-footage, lost-in-the-woods, documentary-like motif, the filmmakers hired Joe Berlinger, the documentarian behind Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, to make a traditional horror film set outside the realm of the original, in which Blair Witch was a cultural phenomenon and has inspired copycats to venture into the woods themselves.
Berlinger also raised questions about the idea of documentary footage itself. What happens when documented footage disagrees with real life? Does video lie? How can we ever know the truth? Interesting stuff. The movie tanked at the box office and killed the Blair Witch franchise.
It looks like Six is doing something along the same lines here. In doing so, he's giving himself far too much credit. Though The Human Centipede caused quite a stir upon its release, I can't say I've known anyone who's liked it, or even thought it sick and twisted enough to inspire a cult phenomenon. With its surprising lack of gore and artful treatment of its central creature, The Human Centipede just isn't strong enough to inspire a madman either. Of course, if the cultural and psychological subtext doesn't work, the sequel could simply fall back on the increase in blood, gore, and bodily terror. Will The Human Centipede 2 be disgusting and exploitative enough to redeem itself from his secretly highbrow intentions?
My vote would be no. Though Six appears to take glee in making audiences squirm, it looks to me like he's a closeted reputable filmmaker. He may be loath to admit it, but I think Six is probably going to make an actual good film someday. One where mouths and anuses can remain blissfully separate.
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