The Human Centipede

A sleek surgical thriller with disgust-inducing coprophiliac affectations, writer-director Tom Six’s is indeed six of one and half a dozen of the other. Abducted and drugged by the cadaverous Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser), two female American tourists Lindsay (Ashley C Williams) and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie) become part of a deranged medical experiment. Sutured together, mouth to anus, with male Japanese abductee Katsuro (Akihiro Kitamura), they form the mid- and tail segment of the surgeon’s prototype human centipede. Unfortunately, once the ungainly, composite creature has been created, there is nowhere for the film to go. Repeated escape attempts, a visit by two suspicious cops and some creepy, gliding camera movements generate a degree of suspense; but by failing to explore the potential of the Cronenbergian ‘body horror’ elements, Six substitutes cheap thrills and self-conscious sick-making for genuinely disturbing dread. Nevertheless, the slab-faced Laser makes a striking impression as the former separator of Siamese Twins, and although the blood-bath finale seems to preclude a sequel, the film’s success at horror film festivals means that the idea has legs. Part two, Full Sequence, is already being made.