Customer Reviews

High Tension Unrated

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

High tension is a new and interesting horror film recently released. Ive never seen anything like it before. They dont call it High Tension for nothing, thats for sure. The whole movie will have you on the edge of your seat and there is more than the fair share of shocks and suprises throughout the film. The overall atmosphere has a lonesome creepy feeling about it, full of cornfields, seclusion and quietness. Gorehounds will love this, there is tons of gore and the ending will suprise the hell out of you. There are very few horror films that can shock you in such a way where you literally jump out of your seat but this one has its moments.

The setting is France.-The story surrounds Alex and Marie, 2 college students who retreat to Alex's parents isolated farm house looking to study for their college exams for the weekend. While everyone in the house settles in for the night, Marie is in bed when she starts to hear sounds and sees a truck pull up. Soon enough a homicidal maniac breaks in the home and from there its a non-stop rollercoaster ride of terror. And then the twist at the end..

This is a movie that shouldnt be missed by fans of the horror genre. It revels in its gore and has a smart edge to it.
High Tension is partially dubbed into english but for a lot of the movie you dont need subtitles. Noone says a word and the actions say it all.

Unrated version DVD Features-
16:9 Widescreen
5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital
U.S Unrated Version
DVD Introduction with Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur
Haute Horror- Making of High Tension
Building Tension
Giannetto De Rossi: The Truth, The Madness and The Magic
Selected Scenes commentary with Alexandre Aja and Cecile de France
Original French language Director's Cut
U.S. English language dubbed version
Optional English subtitles, Optional Spanish Subtitles and Trailers

Overall Highly recomended, try to get the unrated version.

Terrific horror flick. Well done all around--but I must say this: I hated the damn twist ending so much that I am tempted to reveal it! But I won't.

Aja and his partner Levasseur are going places in this genre, no doubt about it. Only let us hope and pray that they stay clear of annoying twist endings in the future.

Get the widescreen UNRATED VERSION if you can. Gore effects, by the way, are top notch. This is one suspenseful horror flick that will have you on the edge of your seat--that is, up until around the twist--and then you'll go: What? No way!
(And you'll say a few other things that I can't print here.)

I suppose mainstream audiances may not be bothered by it as much, although the true horror fan will be ticked off plenty. Still worth getting.

This is one of those movies that most people will either love it or hate it. For one, this movie is very dark and grainy. This is not a bad thing in my opinion, but some people may not like it. Next there is not much of an explanation as to what is happening or why. You are basically just dumped into the lives of these two woman and along for the ride. This may also bother some people while others its just fine. Then there is the ending. Love it or hate it. You will, with out a doubt, fall into one of the two catagorizes. I happened to love it.

So love it or hate, but go rent it and decide for yourself. I'm glad I did.

OK, I'm pretty easy going when it comes to this type of film. I never expect too much--I don't expect redeeming value, I don't expect character development, I don't expect great acting. Heck, most of the time--I don't even expect much of a story. Having caught Alexandre Aja's effective remake of "The Hills Have Eyes," I was more than willing to give this French (but poorly dubbed) entry in the slasher genre a chance. Well, now, I'm not really sure if it was worth it.

The film has a pretty standard setup. Some have already noticed its similarity to Dean Koontz's "Intensity," which is apt--but that, too, already followed pretty conventional guidelines. As two girls are staying in a desolate family home of one of them, a rural madman comes a knocking. Jumping right into a brutality and unpleasantness, various members of the family are dispatched and/or attacked. One girl manages to elude the madman while the other is taken captive. The film has plenty of effectively tense moments during the "house" sequence. It sets itself up as a nasty bit of brutality, but nothing particularly original.

Intent on helping her friend, the free girl rides with and/or chases the kidnapper's van for the remainder of the picture. Things get a bit sillier, but it is what it is. You know you're just biding time until the final confrontation. Again, I know there is an audience for this--but as our heroine never displayed much ingenuity, she wasn't really someone I cared about. Mainly the film is "Hide and Seek" followed by "Hide and Seek" with more "Hide and Seek" after that--Not a lot of diversity, I guess I'm saying.

Now, then, in the last 15 minutes--the surprise twist is unveiled. I have seen this device used in countless other movies, and it can be a tremendous revelation. But not here. Had it been done with any sort of logic, it might have enhanced the film. I don't want to give anything away, so let's just say that a perfectly detailed film is needed to pull it off. A film where this device is used must be a thing of precision. "High Tension" just isn't that movie. The twist here makes sense in the context of the picture, however it is not logically supported by what has transpired. For anyone who thinks it is ingenious, I'd like to sit down, have a cup of coffee, and list the dozens and dozens of inconsistencies that just don't work. That said, it irritated me more than anything. What was going to be a 3 star review for derivative unpleasantness with some chills turned into about 1 1/2 stars for being nonsensical. KGHarris, 01/07.

Americans enjoy insulting the French, either for cowering to England in several wars over several centuries or for the most humiliating surrender in all of history, perhaps for making disgusting artery-clogging cuisine, or perhaps simply because they don't like us either. Which is why I was surprised by this terrifying, despicable gorefest with a great twist ending. Sure there are a few flaws in the plot, which I won't reveal as it would ruin the ending. But this is top-notch horror, able to hold its own in sheer gore and terror with the likes of Dario Argento or Takashi Miiki, maybe even George Romero. Perhaps the director wanted vengeance for the widespread stereotype of cowardly Frenchmen and, with this film, it is achieved. The director shies from nothing, shies not from killing women, children or entire families; everything is permitted in this shocker. If you claim to be a die-hard horror fan, capable of withstanding any vulgarity, this one's made especially for you. If not, stay far away from "High Tension".

This movie is crazy, sick, and definately twisted. Loved it because of all the gore and it is a great movie for horror fans everywhere but geese it was so just pervertedly sick and grotesque. You have to watch it for yourself to see what I'm talking about. This movie is just amazing but so screwed up all at the same time. I love it. It's one of those movies that has an amazing twist ending that makes you want to go no freakin way and watch the movie over just to check that everything still flows right. I personally was just awed and speachless at the end.

Sometimes you just have to admit it's your own fault for renting a movie. You probably know it's going to be terrible because of word of mouth or reviews but you just try anyway, in hopes that it could pull a rabbit out and surprise you. After being uber-disappointed in the Saw sequels, the Hills Have Eyes remake and the too-awful-for-words tragedy that is Hostel, I know now how recent horror movies are so if it sucks, I've no one to blame but myself. Before he made the Hills Have Eyes remake, Alexandre Aja made this with more than a couple ideas from other films but it ultimately doesn't lead to a satisfying whole, just bit parts.

Marie and Alex are 2 friends driving to the countryside to stay at Alex's old house with her parents and brother. Things are fine until a truck driver pulls up to the house and brutally kills everyone, stalks the rooms looking for Marie and tying up Alex. Marie decides to save the day and help her friend but the killer isn't some run-of-the-mill moron either.

Now, unlike the film's I mentioned where they seemed like endurance tests and how long would it take before I switched the movie off, I had to admit this film did have me for awhile. The first section of it, taking place in the house is creepy with plenty of atmosphere, heightened sound effects and a foreboding feel in the air. Sure there's some gore but it was excusable since they didn't go full tilt with it. But then goes nuts and has some gore, including a big act involving a circular saw and it just feels too much. Whereas before it was more of a thriller/horror, here they overdo it and it becomes just another slasher movie.

Now it comes down to the "twist" which I won't reveal but it feels slightly gimmicky like they saw the Usual Suspects, Memento, the Sixth Sense and Fight Club in a row and thought twist endings were cool so they wrote one of their own. It would be fine if the twist fit but instead it brings just an out of the blue shift that it just doesn't feel right. Then there's the writing where you can notice clues along the way. Some twists work because it's only on second viewing you notice whereas here certain things just look too obvious. Example? A hand carrying bullets. I'll say no more.

If you like Hostel, Hills Have Eyes or Wolf Creek, you'll like this too. If you prefer the Shining or the Exorcist, you might want to look elsewhere.

Ok I must be the only one who missed teh 1st 15 min of the movie which may have been an advantage.

I turned it on around the time marie was in her room hearing the truck pull up and the guy walk to the front door.

After that its one big gore rollercoaster. I had no idea why or what or who! But even still I couldn't stop watching it!

Its so dreary and gorey the acting and screaming was decent. Mostly noone talks they just scream. All the sneaking around hiding from the killer is very tense, esp the scene in the gas station bathroom.

Then comes the end. I was sorta confused, with the twist. At 1st I had a very small feeling what it was gonna be, then boom, I was right. I didn't know from the beginning. Hence miss the 1st 15 min.

So yes I fell for it. Was I happy? Eh, kinda, I mean I was like NO WAY! Then I got confused and was trying to figure out what I was seeing!

I think this movie is as good as SAW, SAW 2, Hostel, Wolf Creek, Hills Have Eyes and yes reminds me of Texas Chainsaw Massacre,

If you love Horror and have an open mind, you wont be dissapointed!!!!
Even though some said the ending sucked.. To me I couldn't figure how else it could end that would be better!

SO YES A MUST SEE!!!!

=)

A couple of college girls, Marie and Alex, go to the country home of Alex's family in an attempt to study in peace, but their quiet time is short-lived when a truck driver shows up, slaughters the girl's entire family and kidnaps Alex. Now it's up to Marie to rescue her, if she can survive long enough herself.

For most of High Tension's running time it's a bloody-good, merciless, visceral, cat-and-mouse thriller. Those are rare. But then something happens that negates nearly all we've seen up to that point, re-writing the logic of the whole movie, not to mention physics itself. Why? Did High Tension really need a "mind-blowing" twist like that? NO! What we had was a rip-snorter of a ride, turned, unfortunetly, into a groan-inducing mess, leaving the viewer to scratch their head and wonder why. It's hard to get beyond that twist when looking back at High Tension. I think Roger Ebert said it best: "The movie's plot has a hole that is not only large enough to drive a truck through, but in fact does have a truck driven right through it." It's too bad, really. We get 3/4 of a good movie, at least. Oh, and you gotta love that "severed-head-fellatio" sequence. Oh, man. Those whacky Frenchmen.

While there aren't many original horror films made now adays, "High Tension" brings something new to the genre.
Appropriately titled, the movie, is full of twists, turns, shocks and plenty of gore.

It's an amazing flick that any fan of the genre will enjoy.
Worth the price! Pick it up today!