I finally found a movie I couldn't finish watching.

The other night I sat down to watch a movie that has been (relatively) quietly circulating around critic and horror fan circles. That movie is the Dutch The Human Centipede (First Sequence), written and directed by Tom Six. It is a horror film unlike any other, and I don’t say this lightly. The reason that I consider it particularly unusual is because it was the first film – ever – that I absolutely could not finish watching.

Without giving away too much to those who may be disinterested in viewing or even knowing about such a movie, I will state its premise as such: An evil ex-surgeon abducts three people and grafts them together. For more information I would suggest going to the film’s IMDb or Wikipedia page.

As an aspiring professional film journalist, I am embarrassed to admit such a thing. But as one movie-watcher out of many, I simply mean to acknowledge the power that the medium can have. Everyone is afraid of something, whether it be death, pain, clowns, spiders, being buried alive, or simply being tied up, and so in theory everyone could be confronted with a film that tackles the subject of that fear in a way that would make that film simply unwatchable without negative side-effects occurring (one example would be nightmares).

Even though I was appalled at the film to such an extent that I could not stomach finishing it, I do vow to one day do so. I make this vow out of respect for the film, because while I only saw the first half I was still able to notice how brilliantly it was made – that is, from an artistic standpoint. I believe that a horror film that can affect a seasoned horror movie fan such as myself to such an extent deserves at least some admiration, even though personally I may worry about its maker’s state of mind.

Since I cannot review the film myself just yet, I’d like to point you towards the best one I have yet read. Roger Ebert’s review is characteristically fair-minded, but this one by HorrorSquad.com’s Alison Nastasi delves further into the story’s ideas, themes, and supporting philosophies. She provides perhaps the most studied interpretation of Tom Six’s intentions with the material, going out of her way to cite multiple obscure references. I wouldn’t claim that her views are the “correct” ones, but they encourage us as readers to consider the film from her point of view better than anyone else I’ve found.

Evaluative judgments aside, The Human Centipede (First Sequence) is NOT a film for the faint of heart. Its subject matter is universally considered deplorable and depraved, and if the fact that this film fanatic and horror junkie could not finish it doesn’t say something significant about it then I fail to think of what will. For those wondering, blood and/or gore are extremely scarce and are not the cause of my or others’ intense trepidation. The most frightening ideas are relatively simple, and this movie proves it once again.