El despertar del miedo

For the first sixty minutes or so, Haute Tension is an uncompromising, brutal, nerve-shredding, edge-of-the-seat thriller—not surprising since virtually every one of those minutes is a blatant steal from Dean Koontz's brilliant, brutal, nerve-shredding, edge of the seat novel Intensity. Unfortunately, after the hour mark, director Alexandre Aja gradually steers his narrative away from Koontz's novel, presumably in a futile effort to disguise his plagiarism, and the film slowly falls apart, culminating in a ridiculous twist ending that makes a mockery of all that we have seen thus far.

For fans of Intensity, it's a particularly frustrating experience: not just because the Koontz receives absolutely no credit for his work, but also because Aja's handling of the author's material is so good. If only Aja had adapted the whole of Koontz's book (preferably with the author's approval), we might have had one of the greatest horror movies of all time; instead, we get an hour of absolutely stonking stuff (the opening home invasion, in particular, is flawlessly handled and amazingly gory), which are followed by twenty more minutes of reasonably solid cat-and-mouse action, and then that bloody awful finale.

For all the excellent stuff 'inspired' by Koontz, a rating of 9/10 seems fair; but for stealing the plot without giving the author credit and then having the nerve to tack on a dumb ending, I deduct three of those points, leaving the film a final score from me of 6/10. Worth a watch (especially for gore-hounds), but impossible to wholeheartedly endorse.

Sometimes, a twist can make a good horror all the better. Films like Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho,' Bong Joon Ho's 'Parasite' and Park Chan-wook's 'Oldboy' each contain unexpected twists in their respective tales that heightens the impact of their narratives. However, tepid efforts like Joseph Ruben's 'The Forgotten,' Sylvian White's 'I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer' and many of M. Night Shyamalan's offerings prove that not every story warrants a last-minute curveball. Sometimes, a predictable but well-executed scare is far better than a forced 'gotcha'.

Alexandre Aja's 'Haute Tension' (known in English as 'High Tension,' or by the far better title 'Switchblade Romance') falls into the latter category. It follows Marie and Alex, two friends on a trip through rural France, who are targeted by a vicious serial killer. What begins as a taut, brutal slasher with genuine suspense ultimately stumbles under the weight of a twist that strains both logic and patience.

Written alongside Grégory Levasseur, Aja's film begins as a relentless, nerve-shredding experience, paying clear homage to the brutal, no-frills exploitation horrors of the 1970's. Thriving on stripped-down simplicity, there's little in the way of excess, just pure, unrelenting suspense. The kills are visceral, bloody and executed with a savage intensity that will satisfy even the most hardened horror fans.

For much of its runtime, the film is a masterclass in sustained dread. However, instead of delivering a knockout blow in the final act, Aja stumbles at the finish line. The film's momentum comes to a screeching halt, derailed by a twist so absurd it retroactively undermines everything that came before it. Instead of elevating the horror, it forces one to re-evaluate the entire story- not with shock or awe, but with frustration and disbelief.

When this twist is finally revealed, it feels not only unnecessary but out of place, turning what had been a tense slasher into a convoluted mess betraying its earlier effectiveness. The carefully crafted atmosphere of dread is shattered, leaving viewers questioning the film's logic and whether the horror was ever truly genuine. What had been a terrifying experience collapses under the weight of its own contrivance, and the emotional stakes feel cheapened.

This is only worsened by the fact that the characters themselves are thinly drawn, lacking the depth needed to make their fate feel truly impactful. With little to latch onto beyond the immediate terror of their predicament, the film struggles to sustain emotional investment once its central conceit begins to unravel.

In the end, despite a strong start, 'High Tension' becomes a cautionary tale about the dangers of forcing a twist into a story when there is no need for one. Having said that, it does contain some bloody brilliant scenes of gory grotesquerie. From its opening moments, the film throttles one with scenes of unrelenting brutality. The kills are savage, designed not just to shock, but to immerse you in a Thomas Hobbesian world where life is nasty, brutish and short.

Additionally, it is visually striking, with Maxime Alexandre's stark cinematography contrasting the serene beauty of the French countryside with claustrophobic, blood-soaked interiors. This juxtaposition heightens the unsettling atmosphere, amplifying the film's tension.

Complementing this is François-Eudes Chanfrault's minimalistic and urgent score, mirroring the narrative's escalating terror. His use of songs by the likes of Muse and Ricchi e poveri also creates an ironic contrast, adding a layer of dark humour that deepens the film's dissonance.

Furthermore, the performances are strong, especially that of Cécile de France as Marie. Her ability to shift between fear, determination and terror adds emotional depth to her character, making Marie a (mostly) relatable and sympathetic figure amidst the brutal violence. Her performance anchors the film, grounding the escalating chaos even as the narrative grows increasingly outlandish. She elevates the material, making the most out of Levasseur and Aja's scant characterisation.

Maïwenn isn't given much to do other than scream and cry in the role of Alex- though she does that quite brilliantly. In addition, Philippe Nahon makes for a most menacing and memorable villain, elevating a criminally (and perhaps purposefully) underwritten part.

Ultimately, Alexandre Aja's 'High Tension' is a missed opportunity- a brutal ride sabotaged by its own twist. It bears comparison to Greg McLean's far superior 'Wolf Creek', both following a similar premise of two women being stalked by a serial killer in a rural location. While 'Wolf Creek' excels in its seedy realism, sustained tension and pitch-black humour, Aja's film falters with an unnecessary, convoluted twist that detracts from its terror. In the end, despite good performances, an evocative score and some creative scenes of bloodshed, it is high tension in name only.

This film seems to me to lack balance between the combination of elements that it blends together: the thriller-suspense factor, the gore, and the "surprise" factor. It is a very irregular film, but it still boasts good style and good manners in atmosphere-building, even if it doesn't really live up to meet the expectations, at least for me.

The story goes about Marie and Alexia, best friends who drive up to Alexia's parents' countryside house, hoping to find some peace for studying. Instead, they'll have to fight a psychopathic killer in a macabre cat-and-mouse game.

The best part, in my opinion, is the mise-en-scene and the introduction of the characters and the storyline. Everything in those first sequences tells us that something horrible is going to happen, not only because we already know that we're watching a horror film. The dusty road, the scorching weather, the big corn fields... the real feel of a horror story scene is there. It increases with the night scenes, the shots of the house, the staircase, the corridors. The gloominess and inherent darkness of the place and the quiet surroundings perfectly do their job of preparing us for what's to come.

The story-telling loses steam after this part. Not being a big fan of gore, I didn't really care for the bloody murder scenes, but I'm sure that they'll be appreciated by many -they're rather truculent and well filmed. The duel between Marie and the killer didn't really work for me; in fact, I found it a little boring. On the whole, I thought the story was unoriginal and predictable, but, contrary to what many say, I don't think it's deceitful -I didn't feel that the director cheats on the audience with the ending. (I won't elaborate on this so as not to spoil the film for those who want to see it).

I have mixed feelings about "High Tension". On the one hand, for me, it is ineffective as a thriller, and flawed as an exercise of story-telling. On the other, however, the murky atmosphere and the darkness of the story and of its subtleties stuck with me for a while after seeing the film. I wouldn't watch it again, but I understand why many like it so much.

"High Tension" is clearly intended as a cheery throwback to those halcyon days circa 1980 when you could see "Driller Killer," "Maniac," and "Nightmare" back-to-back in a center city grindhouse where the house lights never went up, only one seat in the place didn't reek of urine and sweat, and the poor teenage usher and concession stand worker huddled together in the lobby under a bare light bulb to avoid being knifed to death by some crazed street person. Of course, this film, while being just about the most violent film in recent memory, is French, somewhat arty, and extremely well made, certainly at odds with the subject matter of its homage. If a straight-ahead slasher film throwback with no self-reflective winking to the audience is your thing, then this will be your thing too. Otherwise, it just is what it is: well-made exploitation fare, right down to the silly, slap-your-head-and-say-"doh" final twist, just like back in the day.

Oh my god. Without a doubt I have not been affected by a movie this much since watching the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre when I was well under age and the movie was certainly more than dodgy. I couldn't sleep after watching that and was very uneasy, multiplied a gazillion times by the imagination of a kid. This certainly had a similar affect on me, it scared me and horrified me, it even surprised me more than any other movie has of late.

If you have any preconception about foreign cinema being weaker to Hollywood then you have hardly spent enough time watching foreign cinema and too much time engrossed in poor romantic flicks with Clooney et al. You really need to get out and grab some of that Japanese, Spanish and French cinema action. It's easily had and there's a lot to it, far better movies...anyway, I find myself digressing again.

From the outset this movie pitches itself as a hard horror, it isn't going to pull any punches and it's going to show you like it is, harrowing and horrific. That said, the story then turns to a slower pace and you find that it's mixing the suspenseful thriller in with the moments of full on horror, and it's done so well. Too well in fact, and watching the psychotic at work is sometimes shocking.

It rides a fine line between schlock horror and suspense horror, it manages to combine the two without falling into a complete gore flick. It is gory mind you, very gory. I was eating a couple of biscuits during the movie and I stopped until it was finished, even then I wasn't sure.

That's where this movies strength lies, it really pushes the boundaries of between those two types of movies but keeps its feet firmly in the suspense, and tension area. The film is exceedingly tense, and it's raised slowly to begin with, but creeps up at every set piece, and it's not long before the shocking and surprising final set piece is upon you. That in itself is terrifying, and as it unfolded on me I was stunned.

Part of me thinks that this movie could have done much better without all the horror, but I'm not sure that the film would have carried on the tension and suspense alone, it's the very presence of the horror that adds to and heightens the pressure.

A very stylish, tense film, truly a suspense-thriller-horror to be proud of from the French. Please Hollywood, don't remake it.