The Filmcake

May 3rd – May 9th

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) — Two ditsy American girls on their way to a club in a foreign country get a flat tire on their rental car. It begins to rain. They stumble towards the nearest house to make a phone call. A deranged German scientist answers the door. Things will not turn out okay.

That’s the beginning of a standard horror/slasher plot. When things start getting surgical–when Dr. Heiter creates his monster–is where the movie veers off into new territory. Given the subject matter, the movie is surprisingly restrained and nice to look at.

The film is certainly better than I had expected. It was more than just a shocking, gross-out cinematic challenge. But what it was exactly, I still don’t know. After seeing it, I can totally see where Ebert was coming from when he said in his review:

I am required to award stars to movies I review. This time, I refuse to do it. The star rating system is unsuited to this film. Is the movie good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don’t shine.

The Room — Another go at this one. This time for something much lighter than the previous film. While this still continues to be hilariously bad and eminently quotable, I must admit that I’m getting a little sick of it. It’s about time for another movie to make me laugh.