The Human Centipede II

You might be taken aback by my comedic summary regarding my vote to "The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)". I guess it's my way of dealing with this horrifying and utterly bleak film, which must be at least partly related to why black comedy exists; people need to amuse themselves and others to cope when it comes to something like this film. It could easily be why the first one is parodied on "South Park" in the enjoyable episode "HUMANCENTiPAD". In the New York Times interview "A More Perfect Union", writer and director Tom Six himself indicated this film has humour, like maybe when there's thunder and lightning when Martin, the main character, gives an angry facial expression to someone. I admit I kind of laughed at that, but I don't think I laughed at anything else. However, I did say things out loud a few times, like probably "Oh God" in a dismaying manner. More appropriate, I think.

Martin is a demented, obese, and non-speaking man, played very well by newcomer Laurence R. Harvey. Martin works as a security guard in an underground parking garage and has a sexual obsession with the first film. Yup, the first film, which Tom Six also wrote and directed. However, whereas that one has three people sewn together ass to mouth, Martin sets out to have *twelve* for his human centipede. Why? For his own entertainment and sexual pleasure. Talk about an unusual sequel. He violently kidnaps some people in the parking garage. There's not a single bystander around, for whatever reason. I'm not sure if I buy that, but then again, I don't know how much realism Tom Six was going for. Martin keeps his centipede victims in a warehouse and eventually combines ten of them together, which makes my summary even more suitable.

"The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)" is in black and white. If it was in colour, especially with little or even no altering, the film would've still been bleak, of course, but as it is, boy, is it bleak. In a good way, nonetheless. It *sort of* reminds me of "Eraserhead", a David Lynch film I really admire. Both are eerie, weird, in black and white, don't have much dialogue, involve an infant or two, and have each main character living in an apartment. "Eraserhead" is weirder and definitely not as violent, though. If David Lynch saw this film, I wonder what he would think about it.

If I look away when watching a film, it's usually because the film doesn't have me interested and not because there's something way too repulsive happening on the screen for me to even look at. With "The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)", I never looked away, though I almost did because it did get a bit too boring. Nonetheless, it's mostly effective with its unorthodox storytelling, grungy and downbeat look, and the acting. (I had a bit of trouble believing the couple at the beginning, but that's a nitpick.)

There's a lot of human suffering and it largely comes from the victims in the warehouse. Even though they seriously lack characterization, I did care about them, at least somewhat. No sane person wants to go through their ordeal. I should mention I really enjoyed the first film. Even though the victims also lack characterization, they have more going for them and I strangely felt more sorry and supportive for them. It's probably because their pain wasn't overwhelming, they're main characters, and there's more focus on them potentially escaping. Here, the story is told mostly from Martin's perspective. He's definitely not somebody to root for. Why is he twisted? What's wrong with his sexuality? His sexual abuse by his father, whom we don't see in person, probably has something to do with those questions. Probably abuse by his mother, as well, whom he lives with. Yeah, this film hardly explores his past.

How come we never see Martin talk? I don't know. I actually don't consider it a flaw, however. I'm so used to main characters talking in films and with the different way it's done here, I didn't mind. He's implicitly characterized, but at the same time, his behaviour is pretty unsurprising. I don't think main characters necessarily have to be likable as if they're a close friend, but they should be interesting, one way or another. It actually seems like we're suppose to feel sorry for him at times, like when his mother lays blame on him to an angry neighbour over something *she* did. I guess Martin deserves some pity there, but when it comes to the film as a whole, you'd probably be wishing him death or having him locked away in a mental institution. I pick the latter. Maybe it'd be interesting if his past was explored and if he used to normally talk, what his dialogue was like, but as the film is, I'm okay with him *as a character*.

I didn't like or dislike "The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)". It's well shot, even though shots are depressing as hell, especially in black and white. I doubt the film is trying to say anything about someone who's inspired by violence in films to use violence in real life. I don't think the film absolutely should, either. In the aforementioned New York Times interview, Tom Six said that such a person is already insane. He's probably right. In an interesting way, this film ends ambiguously, which I won't spoil how, but the third and final film that's in the works will apparently begin with this film's ending, just like how this one begins with the ending of the first. This trilogy is Mr. Six's film centipede. What the heck is he gonna do with the last one? Maybe it should be a musical.

Human Centipede II (Full Sequence), The (2011)

*** (out of 4)

Martin (Laurence R. Harvey), a deranged man who was sexually abused by his father, lives his life with his abusive mother who blames him for the father being in prison. Martin, a fan of the film THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE, finally reaches his breaking point and begins to pick victims so that he can create his own 12-person centipede. When THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE was released in 2009 it hit with a storm of controversy and it appeared that the film gained a cult following even before it was released. I found the movie to be well-made but found most of the so-called "shock value" to just be hype. I thought the film wasn't nearly as graphic as the filmmakers would like you to believe and the word around the campfire started to build early for this sequel. All sorts of rumors were leaked onto the net about how shocking this film was going to be so does it succeed or was it just more hype? I'd have to say a little bit of both but there's no question that this here is a much better movie than the first. With that said, if you're offended by the subject matter or graphic violence then there's no purpose to see this thing as no matter how well-made it is you're not going to make it through. The first portion of the film is going to remind people of ERASERHEAD as we spend most of the time getting to know this Martin character. On one hand you can't help but feel sorry for the guy due to him being raped by his father and abused by everyone in his life but then again you really can't forgive anything he's going to do on his quest. I really thought the first hour of the movie did a great job at building a sick atmosphere and a very surreal one without having to use any gore or violence. I think the sickening atmosphere created was exceptionally strong and it's do to the visual style and the performance by Harvey. Harvey doesn't get any dialogue so he's just acting his gestures, his eyes and his body movement but he certainly reminded me of Peter Lorre and delivered that same type of creepy performance that you'd expect to see from Lorre. I'm not sure if Fritz Lang's M had any impact on the performance or if the director had it in mind but they are quite similar. The supporting players are fit their parts nicely and that includes Ashlynn Yennie, the actress from the first film who plays herself here. Those wanting the gore and violence won't be disappointed but this here is pretty much saved for the final half hour of the picture. We get some pretty graphic stuff that I won't spoil here but if you're familiar with the original film then it's pretty much the same stuff only much more brutal. I think the smart thing director Tom Six did with this sequel is that he filmed it in B&W. This is the perfect example of why B&W is such a beautiful format and it shows what you can do with it. The shadows, the perfect lighting and just what it adds to the atmosphere. This film would never have worked in color and I'd even say the mostly silent nature of the picture was another very big benefit. THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE II (FULL SEQUENCE) is bound to have many curious viewers checking it out and if your stomach can handle the content then you shouldn't be disappointed.

Lead actor is honestly scarier than the movie itself

An inferior sequel compared to the original, this film is an obvious attempt by director Tom Six to further shock his audience. Even though it is filmed entirely in Black and White and the main Villain has not one actual word of dialog, the film does succeed to shock. It's villain Martin's shocking and grotesque appearance alone is enough to make anyone want to vomit. Throw in the fact that he randomly likes to soil himself and is sexually obsessed with the original "Human Centipede" film and you have an original concept for a sequel that I do not believe has ever been done before. Martin's obsession leads him to create his own 'Human Centipede' this time with not just 3 but 12 segments! The plot takes some absurd twists and turns ignoring the fact that, as a security guard, Martin should be a little more conscientious of all of the security cameras filming his every move and abductions! Logic is thrown completely out of the window in exchange for pure shock value in this one. Consider the fact that, as a security guard who is mentally challenged, it is impossible for Martin to have the medical knowledge required to undergo such a surgical endeavor. Nearly all of the characters in this film are deplorable human beings from the insensitive mother who taunts Martin incessantly throughout the film to their belligerent neighbor who goes on a rampage simply because someone complains about his loud music. Martin even tricks one of the film's original stars, Ashlynn Yennie, into believing that she is auditioning for a Quinten Tarentino film and makes her the head piece of his centipede. Very little is left to the imagination in this one...things that were merely inferred in the original film are shown in graphic detail here and expounded upon grotesquely! DO NOT VIEW THIS FILM WHILE EATING!

Actually I should be grateful to Tom Six… Thanks to him and his demented movie, I finally know where to draw my own personal line when it comes to tolerating cinematic smut! The ideal way to describe this movie is to simply write down as many synonyms for the word "repulsive" you can think of! So here goes: "The Human Centipede II: Full sequence" is revolting, sickening, disgusting, loathsome, degrading, nauseating, appalling, despicable, vile, heinous, nefarious and absolutely positively depraved! The first film already caused quite a bit of commotion and controversy because of its plot and a handful of shocking sequences, but I swear the original looks like a politically correct Disney family flick compared to the totally messed up sequel! Not only does the concept of creating a human centipede gets enlarged and illustrated a lot more graphically, also the characters and sub plots are much more perverted and insane than in "First Sequence". I realize this will sound as a recommendation to all the sick puppies amongst you, but this is truly one of the most repugnant movies ever made. In spite of the emphasis more than obviously lying on gore and shock-factor, I nevertheless have to admit that the film features a number of ingenious story lines and creative twists. The whole basic plot and set up, for example, is surprisingly inventive. The sequel considers the original film in fact as a purely fictional "film" and thus the events and unorthodox medical experiments of Dr. Heiter were never real. However, the protagonist of part two – the obese and mentally handicapped midget named Martin – is addicted to watching this crazy movie and becomes obsessed with the idea of creating his very own (and bigger) human centipede. I can't deny that I find this idea intriguing as a starting point for a sequel. Writer/director Tom Six also generates a suitably grim and disturbing surrounding around pivot character Martin. He lives with his mother but she hates Martin with a passion. Why? Because her husband is in prison as Martin couldn't keep his pedophilic nightly visits secret. Martin works as a concierge in an underground parking lot where he captures his victims, but also bashes people's heads in with a crowbar and masturbates using sandpaper! He brings his centipede victims - all 12 of them, including a very pregnant woman – to a raunchy hangar and accomplishes his dream, which leads to many gross tableaux, I assure you. Multiple images that I can't even begin to describe truly give a whole new meaning to the words tasteless and immoral. When approaching the grand finale, you may expect scenes featuring excrement, rape, miscarriage and gratuitous torture/mutilation. Don't even consider watching "The Human Centipede II" – not even out of curiosity – if you have a bit of virtue left inside yourself. Laurence R. Harvey gives away a peculiar and remarkable performance as Martin. He is so convincingly perverted and deviant that I sincerely doubt if he's even a normal person in real life... I don't want to know him at least, that's for sure. The film is entirely shot in black and white, which perhaps makes the gruesomeness and on screen filth slightly more digestible, but primarily it increases the sober and grim atmosphere of it all. Other elements that contribute to this are the minimal use of dialogs and/or soundtrack and the nihilistic narrative tone. It maybe feels weird to admit, but technically speaking "The Human Centipede II" is actually a competent effort. Apparently there's already a third installment in the making, but I might just spare myself the hideous aftertaste in my mouth and stomach.