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[Blu-ray Review] ‘The Human Centipede Part 2: Full Sequence’
Original Review From Fantastic Fest ‘11
Despite being shown in theatres, it’s hard to actually classify The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence as a film. Like Faces of Death, it’s a collection of increasingly gross ideas strung together, specifically designed to push buttons and offend with the added bonus of having something that barely passes as a narrative woven between them. When viewed in that light, it’s admirable how committed director Tom Six is to his vision and how uncompromised it feels, but as he explained during a post-screening Q&A, it’s basically a bunch of leftover ideas that he couldn’t fit in the first time around. The explanation makes sense, but it certainly doesn’t setup the context for why these events are occurring or what Six is attempting to comment on with his grotesque display of medical inaccuracies. With the original presented as a meta-element, the sequel explores the deranged mind of Martin (Laurence R. Harvey), a mentally challenged loner who has a Human Centipede fetish that eventually drives him to connect twelve people ass-to-mouth. Six’s script gives the sweaty, disgusting lead next to no character development, but Harvey – one of the two saving graces of this scatological debacle – gives a performance that defines the word “pervert,” never uttering a word during the ninety minute runtime but squealing and grunting enough to capture the essence of a slimy sexual deviant with a distorted perception of reality. The black and white aesthetic seemingly plays to that idea, capturing the contrast of realities between the two entries in an almost Wizard of Oz-like fashion but, to be blunt, that seems a little too complex for something like Full Sequence. Considering how juvenile and baseless the whole thing feels, its inclusion seems to have the sole purpose of being a punch line in a third act poop joke.
So much focus was given to conceptualizing gags that could potentially be looked upon as the sickest/grossest/most disturbing ideas ever captured on film that things within the universe – one which is supposed to be a more realistic approach to something that’s absolutely impossible – don’t add up. When Martin, who works as a security guard that spends night after night staring at recording camera feeds, begins murdering and kidnapping people that are trying to leave his parking garage (which is, for some reason, limited to one carful per night), an investigative third party never rears its head which leads to the conclusion that the victims don’t have family members that worry about them – or jobs – and London apparently has no police force, giving Martin absolutely no opposition.
The meta-approach is a great idea in concept, but Six drops the ball with Full Sequence. In an attempt to prime us for what will most likely be a crime against cinema when he takes the concept into God knows what direction the next time around, it offers up plenty of empty sequences involving feces eating, masturbating with various uncomfortably textured objects and unsanitary surgical procedures but can’t even be considered art. There’s no feeling, thought or emotion coursing through its veins; it’s just Six’s attempt to deliver on the hyperbole and accusations of grossness the first film promised but didn’t deliver. Now that he got that out of his system, he should go make a real movie.
A/V
IFC’s 1080p monochromatic transfer is quite strong, with high levels of detail – I still haven’t decided if that’s a good thing or not – and no noticeable DNR. Since it was originally shot in color, it’s not going to look the same as, say, the Casablanca Blu-ray – also, it’s not seventy years old or a significantly important film that a studio would dump a lot of money into – but the black-and-white look gives off a wide array of shades and shadows. And, boy, does that brown pop. Every bead of sweat of Martin’s sweat can be easily spotted, and even when things get super nasty, the transfer still manages to not make the special effects look too fake. The film plays more off of noises than dialogue, and the DTS-HD 5.1 track conveys that, with extra squishy noises and the like. The sound of Martin’s pet centipede is sure to creep a few people out, and, with the proper setup, you’ll feel like you’re right in the middle of the warehouse. In other words, the A/V treatment of the film is far better than it deserves.
Special Features
Commentary – A track featuring director Tom Six and Martin himself, Laurence Harvey. Even though I don’t like the movie at all, they’re a blast to listen to. I interviewed both of them at Fantastic Fest last year and it was my favorite one that I did, just because they’re so open and candid – Laurence raped a chair during his audition – and you really get a sense of that during the track. It’s a good mix of what sort of black comedy and psychological bits they were going for, and technical stuff.
Interview With Tom Six (12:35) – With a camera shoved right in his face (EXTREME CLOSEUP!), director Tom Six talks about why he chose to make an untraditional sequel, presenting the film in black and white, the rape scene, the sense of humor he was trying to convey, and what we can expect from Human Centipede: Final Sequence.
Set Tour Of Warehouse (09:17) – Actress Ashlynn Yennie gives a brief tour around the warehouse where all the nasty stuff goes down, and then it’s mostly behind-the-scenes footage of prosthetics being applied, the setup for the baby scene, and, of course, the centipede assembly. I would recommend it to FX buffs, except there’s barely any talking in it and at no point do they even introduce any of the crew or actors verbally or with name cards.
Foley Sound Effects (03:07) – Geez, the crew really doesn’t want anyone to know who they are, do they? No names again. A bunch of guys recording exaggerated noises with the help of meat and soap for the warehouse scenes.
Making The Poster (02:18) – At least we get two first names here: Jeremy and, um, Jeremy. A look at the poster shoot, which was basically just a bunch of tied of naked people writhing around on the floor. In other words, it’s like a typical party at Tex Massacre’s house…
Deleted Scene (00:25) – Martin barking at a dog for twenty-five seconds.
Film: 1/5
Blu-ray: 3.5/5
Home Video
‘Herencia Diabólica’ – 1993’s “Mexican Child’s Play” Finally Has a Blu-ray Release [Review]
Did you know that there is a Child’s Play-inspired film from Mexico? If you didn’t, you can thank Vinegar Syndrome’s new label Degausser Video for making 1993’s Herencia Diabólica available for the masses to watch. Or at least for the VS hardcore fanbase, Chucky completists and anyone else who needs something like this in their lives.
Director Alfredo Salazar, known for his writing connection to the 70s Santo film series, also serves as the writer here to bring us a film seemingly inspired from the Child’s Play franchise. While it has been recently labeled as the “Mexican Child’s Play” (there’s a special feature on the disc with that very title), the killer doll concept is where the comparison should start and end. Despite having some seeds planted by that franchise, Salazar delivers a story that blossoms into something unique.
Tony (Roberto Guinar) receives a letter informing him that his aunt has died, and he has inherited her estate in Mexico. He quits his job and uproots his life in New York with his wife Annie (Holda Ramírez) to relocate south of the border and move into his new crib. Now I know what you’re thinking, what person just quits their job and drags their wife to another country without having reliable monetary income? Tony does, everyone, Tony does.
And what’s the first thing they do once they arrive in Mexico and check out the estate? They hit the bedroom, naturally. We are treated to a sex scene with an erotica song that feels like a knockoff of “Sadness” by Enigma (remember them?). Sounds fun and all, but the scene takes place completely in the dark and we see absolutely nothing. Maybe that’s why the sexy-time tune was pumping, so we could know what was exactly going down.
While Tony goes on a job interview, Annie explores the estate’s grounds in a tedious chore to experience, going room by room, plodding along. But it does lead us to her discovery of our antagonist—the evil clown doll, Payasito! Of all the things in the house, she decides to bring this monstrosity down to show Tony when he gets home. What an exciting way to celebrate (sic)! Then out of nowhere, she spouts off some exposition about rumors that Tony’s aunt dabbled in the dark arts and now we know where our title Diabolical Inheritance (the English translation for Herencia Diabólica) originates. For those of you who keep score for things like that.
Before proceeding with this review, you really need to visualize what Payasito looks like to truly embrace the rest of the film’s shenanigans. While Chucky resembles a cute ginger child, Payasito resembles a small clown that is much larger in stature than Chucky. That’s because Payasito is performed by an actor (Margarito Esparaza) in clown cosplay whenever he’s on the move (like Mannequin 2), and makes some really horrible facial expressions. Chucky dresses in “Good Guys” overalls and a striped shirt, but Payasito wears a new wave Santa hat while sporting a Sgt. Pepper jacket and Peter Pan tights. As you can now tell, he is quite beautiful.
Back to our story, Payasito begins to spook Annie cerebrally until she becomes unnerved to the point of having a complete mental break down, making her easy prey to eliminate. She dies but the unborn child survives, with Tony believing that her death was caused by her mental instability. Fast forward some years later and the couple’s surviving spawn has grown into child Roy (Alan Fernando), who at this point has already bonded with Payasito to help him over the loss of his mother. Dun-dun-duuunnn!
Meanwhile wealthy Tony remains single, still grieving his late wife, until his blonde assistant Doris encourages him to move on with his life and start seeing other people. And by other people, she naturally means herself. As the old Kanye West song lyric goes, “I ain’t saying she’s a gold digger…”, and it seems that she might be until we learn more about her character. Doris is played by the stunning Lorena Hererra who has an extremely extensive resume in Mexico, and she carries most of the film quite well during the feature’s second half. The singer and former Playboy centerfold for their Mexico edition is by far the most recognizable face in the cast.
Doris and Tony do indeed hookup and she moves into La casa de Herencia, where she does her best to impress Roy and lessen his obsession with the doll. There is a scene where they go to a nearby park without Payasito that is filled with famous fairytale figures, such as Pinocchio, Cinderella and King Kong! What, you didn’t know King Kong is a fairytale? Me neither. But Roy continues to be obsessed with Payasito after their trip, much to Doris’ chagrin.
Her actions to separate him from Roy gets Payasito angry, setting up the film’s most memorable scene. We already know that Payasito is a devil doll like Chucky, but now we learn he also has the power to invade people’s dreams like Freddy Krueger! Does Payasito enter the dream world and concoct a creative way to kill Doris in her sleep? No, he harnesses his power to sexually assault her instead. Yes that actually happens. After she awakens, Doris grabs the doll and tosses him into a lake, only to find him waiting for her by the time she gets back to the house. So now we know he also maintains the ability to “transport” like Jason Voorhees too. This doll is the total package!
More insanity happens before we close out the film with the longest victim chase sequence ever. It makes the previously mentioned painful house search scene seem like an eyeblink. It feels like it’s the film’s entire third act, filled with so much padding that you could soundproof an entire three-story house.
So how’s the transfer? Considering it was created using a mix of VHS and film source elements from 1993, they did one heck of a job! The work they put into it is especially noticeable in the dream invasion sequence, with the pulsing multi-colored psychedelic visuals. Super trippy stuff. Even the film’s score provides a pretty chill vibe, during the times when Payasito isn’t on the prowl.
If anything you read has piqued your interest in the very least, you should give it a shot. But if not, it is best to leave this doll on the shelf.
Herencia Diabólica is now available to purchase at VinegarSyndrome.com.
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