High Tension (2005)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

French director Alexandre Aja makes his first horror flick that presents an unlikely story of romance in this French movie entitled "Haute Tension",also known as "High Tension" or "Switchblade Romance".Cecile De France,Maiwenn and Philippe Nahon star in this film that tells the story of best friends Alex and Marie,who are going to visit and stay at the former's family in rural Southern France, to study.As they sleep on their first night,a sudden appearance of a killer which started to put many people to death.As the killer starts to kill more people,the story later reveals that Marie and the killer,portrayed by Philippe Nahon,are actually one and the same.Apparently,Alex is suffering from a split personality.The reason was also revealed in the end as she surprisingly harbor romantic feelings for Alex.No question that the slasher flick was nicely done although it provided excessive violence while the killer or Marie is at "work".A small brother of Alex being shot by a gun,a father having his head cut and the mother being slashed on the throat proves just that.What about a decapitated head being thrown on the road?No question that the entertainment factor is based on how much blood are being poured and how many bodies are being disposed.No question that love to do these kind of movies.Fans of slasher flicks will definitely enjoy it.

As the headline indicates, after a few minutes I announced the plot to the room. Some said I was wrong, most realized I had ruined the "twist." I give it a 2, because, spoiling the big reveal was fun for me. I enjoy horror films. Different styles, even. But I was suspicious towards the hype surrounding this one. I admit my review of it isn't very kind, perhaps not even fair. I do think it's important, especially for those who haven't seen this, to know the "twist" isn't much--if you're paying close attention, the whole plot will be handed to you, in a nutshell, within the first few minutes of this movie.Just thought folks should know. Sorry to be such a sour reviewer.

I just finished watching 'High Tension', and I have to say, I liked it so much that I think I'm going to watch it a second time with my father. It's kind of difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes 'High Tension' so great. After all, it's essentially just another 'Home Invasion' film with a plot that's very similar to 'Ils' and 'The Strangers'. However, Alexandre Aja really knows how to build up suspense-after all, they don't call the movie 'High Tension' for no reason. If you're like me, a person who's become desensitized to most gory or 'scary' films, than I would definitely recommend this one, because unlike so many other movies with similar plots, 'High Tension' is so incredibly suspenseful that I literally could not relax while watching it in my bed.The only drawback of the movie in my opinion is the ending-but once I got used to the little plot twist, and accepted it, I actually felt the movie was better for it.Also, and pardon me for going all over the place about this one, but it's just so god damned good. This movie has your heart pounding right up to the very end. I was so impressed with this movie that I even contemplated watching Aja's remake of 'The Hill Have Eyes', which I saw long ago in theaters and don't recall liking it that much (although I will say I thought the second one was real good).Another thing that I liked about this movie (as opposed to 'Inside') was that it doesn't just rely on gore to creep the viewer out. In a way it was similar to 'Martyrs' in that sense. When the movie does get violent, it's quite graphic, but nothing ever seems like 'gore for gores sake'. When I was a teenager I was all about watching the most graphic horror films available (I was definitely into 'Ichi The Killer' and the first two collections of the 'Guinea Pig' series). Nowadays though, I don't really care for violence without substance (don't get me wrong, I still love 'Ichi', but in retrospect I found the Guinea Pig Series rather boring). After watching some of the most extreme 'torture-porn' titles, I kind of got to the point where that kind of thing didn't have that much effect on me-I honestly found 'Inside' so boring that I turned it off about 3/4 of the way through, because the gratuitous violence seemed so unnecessary, and that's what I love about movies like 'High Tension', 'Kill List' and 'Martyrs'-sure, they truly are quite violent, but I never felt like the three listed films tried to just rely on the gore for shock value or scares. If you're looking for a heart-pounding, truly frightening horror movie, then check out 'High Tension', it's one of those rare horror movies that one comes upon every once in a great while that truly achieves what it sets out to do-scare the living crap out of you.

A very good horror movie in terms of horror movies. It had a decent script and great directing at times, but the plot needed some reworking. The mysterious killer needed more background and set up, they felt one-dimensional at times, even if they gain some explanation around the end. An character who is unknown for half of the film can't be very scary. The way that Marie's character is set up is interesting, but for the sake of the plot it would have made more sense for her to have been a man. The second half of the movie has a lot of influences and some thought provoking points, but related more to a heterosexual couple, especially due to some phallic object shots by the director. I think they thought that the two female characters would bring another dimension to the movie, but it's clear that it was originally thought out with a male and female. My favourite part of the movie was the ending, not to be mean, just the last scene was the most interesting and clear cut part of the movie.All in all, it's a decent movie-movie, and a pretty good horror movie. Don't expect everything to get explained and you should enjoy it.