Aaron and His Mom Dissect ‘The Human Centipede’

The Human Centipede: Beyond Star Ratings

Dr. Heiter:  Feed her!

Happy Holidays everyone!  After a year of writing about movies and spending the past week writing up top 10 lists to pick out the highlights (and lowlights) of the year, I figured:  why not end the year with a look at the 2010 film that disgusted the most people simply by creating mental image of its premise (and I’m not talking about Sex and the City 2: Still Bangin’).  The Human Centipede is a film that many are convinced does not even exist, but is just some kind of sick joke film that people hear about.  I can indeed say it does exist, but I have had a lot of trouble coming up with a way to write about it.  However, I came up with a solution.

After much convincing from my friend Brian (owner and writer of the site Why So Blu, whose review of the Blu-ray for this film can be found here), I managed to obtain a copy of the Blu-ray and watch it with some friends during a weekend in October.  On this same weekend, I tasked my mom to do the same thing, as she and I share a similar taste in obscure, B-horror movies.  I gave my mom such a task because even before seeing the film myself, because I felt I would have difficulty explaining my thoughts and coming up with an appropriate star rating.  Now, with both of us having seen the film, I managed to spend some time with my mother to talk over whatever merits The Human Centipede had to offer.  I have recorded the conversation we had, but I will first describe some of the main thoughts that came from my mom in this discussion.  Enjoy:

Did you like The Human Centipede?

Mom:  Yes.  I liked the human centipede, because it was different from anything I’ve ever watched.

(Note: These are only some simple thoughts, but the recording goes on to dissect the statements made.)

On the basic premise:

•  A famous surgeon, a little on the kooky side, brilliant people always have that side, wanted to make a human centipede.

On what a human centipede is:

• Not what I expected. 
• I was being too literal, expecting hundreds of legs and things more like the insect, opposed to what the movie presented.

On what this surgeon can be considered:

• Kooky, later changed to twisted and warped, so not to be confused with The Addams Family.

On the merits of the film:

• It was different.
• Interesting. 
• Wouldn’t say it was a great movie to see.
• A change in pace from other movies that tend to come out. 
• If there’s something off the wall totally corrupted, this is a movie you can watch. 
• It’s a conversation piece.

On judging this movie:

• It’s not that bad.  
• It could have been way worse. 
• Possibly interested in how bad it could have been. 
• An interesting, weird, warped movie. 
• I would never tell anybody, “Don’t watch it.” 
• It would depend on who I was talking to. 
• If you want to say, “For twisted and warped – it’s a 5.” 
• I’ve seen worse movies. 
• This was no big deal.

On how it’s disgusting:

• It involves two women eating…stuff. 
• Would not be disgusting if they were connected another way. 
• I’ve seen more disgusting movies

Final Analysis:

•  On a 1 to 5 scale, I’ll give it a 2 ½. 
• There are people out there who can appreciate this movie for its differences.

On the sequel:

• I would like to see just how much more warped and twisted it can be. 
• I would like to see it in theaters. 
• Actually, maybe I would rather be in the comfort of my own home.

Recording:

(Picture: The Human Santapede)

Part1

Part 2

Dr. Heiter:  Do you already regret your little escape? In fact, I'm thankful for it, because now... I know definitely you are the middle piece!