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I guess I would have liked to have seen more Martin, less of the centipede. More scathing black humor, less of the gore? Crazy? Maybe. But my love of all things fuck-upedly psychological led me to wish for an entirely different movie.
I'll be honest and straight-up and admit that I haven't seen Tom Six's controversial original (and at this point I don't think I'll bother.) But to those uninitiated few, I'll describe the original premise to the best of my abilities. Sensitive readers, stop right here. It only goes downhill from here.
In the original "Human Centipede," two pretty American tourists' car breaks down while traveling in Germany (of course, the car,) and they seek help at the home of an incredibly creepy German doctor, who proceeds to serve them a drugged drink and reveal his master plan (you've never seen that one before, right?)
The doctor intends to make a Siamese triplet out of the frightened girls and a third party. Okay, this is where it gets real messy. Using the magic of surgical precision, the the good doc will sew them together mouth to anus, therefore creating one entity. I guess you're starting to understand the controversy behind these films, eh?
So. "The Human Centipede II." Listen, now, because the premise is actually pretty creative. Martin, a short, creepy, obese security guard (Laurence R. Harvey) who lives with his abusive mother (Mommy issues- where have I heard that one before...? Okay I'll stop now) is INSPIRED by the original "Human Centipede" and sets out to make one of his own, but suffers from poor health and limited resources.
Martin, whose father sexually abused him, and whose mother blames Martin for sending hubby to jail (I call it "Precious" syndrome. but it definitely happens,) has led an agonizing life full of brutality and misery, and, as it so happens, has a sexual fetish for "The Human Centipede." On top of that he has a psychiatrist (Bill Hutchins) who wants to have sex with him (ew.)
SO what can Martin do except to make the people around him suffer? And so he does, in a spectacularly brutal manner. And may I just say, Laurence R. Harvey is a FABULOUS actor. Not only does he cope with the fact that Martin doesn't say a single word throughout the movie, he makes it an asset.
Harvey also makes you feel sorry for Martin at parts throughout the movie. And I think that's where he really excels, making you feel sympathy for such a beastly character. Unfortunately, Laurence R. Harvey (and Martin) are stuck in a movie that doesn't deserve them, and Vivian Bridsen (who plays Martin's mother) is as incompetent as Harvey is adept.
The first half of this film is pretty good- deliberately illogical at times (Martin hits his victims full-force with a crow bar and still manages to only knock them out,) but the film has a devilish, nightmarish feel, and makes good use of black & white photography. The dialogue is often bizarre and implausible, but only reinforces the fact that we are living in nightmare.
After the first half, though, we are thrown into forty minutes of torture which is not only gross, it's also boring. How do you make torture boring? For dragging it on forty minutes, that's how. I know, I know, I'm watching "The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence,)," not "My Dinner With Andre." Dialogue isn't the film's strong point. But is it too much to hope for a little... more of it?
If there's one thing I got out of this movie, it was Laurence R. Harvey's performance. I really, really hope this guy makes it. Otherwise, skip this weakly plotted torture fest. Next!
5/10
