The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
Encyclopedia
The Human Centipede is a 2010 Dutch
horror film written and directed by Tom Six. The film tells the story of a German doctor who kidnaps three tourists and joins them surgically, mouth to anus
, forming a "human centipede
". It stars Dieter Laser
as the villain, Dr. Heiter, with Ashley C. Williams
, Ashlynn Yennie
, and Akihiro Kitamura
as his victims. According to Six, the concept of the film arose from a joke he made with friends about punishing a child molester by stitching his mouth to the anus of a "fat truck driver". Six also stated that inspiration for the film came from Nazi medical experiments carried out during World War II
, such as the actions of Josef Mengele
at the Auschwitz concentration camp
.
When approaching investors prior to filming, Six did not mention the mouth-to-anus aspect of the plot, fearing it would put off potential backers. The financiers of The Human Centipede did not discover the full nature of the film until it was complete. The film received mixed reviews from mainstream film critics, but it won several accolades at international film festivals. The film was released in the United States on a limited release
theatrically on 30 April. A sequel, The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)
, also written and directed by Six, was released in 2011.
, but dreams of making new creatures by sewing people together. He describes in detail how he will surgically connect his three victims mouth-to-anus, so that they share a single digestive system
.
After Lindsay tries to escape and fails, Heiter explains to her that he had previously experimented with creating what he called a "three-dog", also joined mouth-to-anus. However, the three-dog died shortly after surgery. Heiter tells Lindsay that the middle dog of his creation experienced the most pain, and as punishment for her escape attempt she will become the middle part of his centipede. Heiter performs the surgery on his victims, placing Katsuro at the front, Lindsay in the middle and Jenny at the rear. During his procedure, Heiter severs the ligaments in his victims' knees so they cannot stand and are forced to crawl, and sticks the victims together in a line with their mouths surgically attached to the anus of the person in front of them.
Once the operation is complete, Heiter attempts to train his centipede as a pet. During one such session, he watches with great delight as Lindsay is forced to swallow Katsuro's excrement. However, he eventually becomes irritated after being kept awake by the constant screaming of Katsuro (who, as the front part of the centipede, has his mouth free and is still able to speak) and the realization that Jenny is dying from blood poisoning
. When two detectives, Kranz (Andreas Leupold) and Voller (Peter Blankenstein), visit the house to investigate the disappearance of tourists, Heiter decides to add them as replacements for Jenny in a new creation, a quadruped. Heiter succeeds in drugging one of the detectives, Voller, as the pair later leave the house to obtain a search warrant. The victims attempt to escape from the ward, crawling up the stairs, as Katsuro also attacks Heiter in the process. Their attempt to escape ultimately fails. Katsuro confesses to the doctor, in Japanese, that he deserves his fate because he had treated his family poorly. Katsuro then commits suicide by slitting his throat with a shard of broken glass.
The detectives return to the house and forcefully conduct separate searches as an injured Heiter hides near his swimming pool. Kranz finds the makeshift ward along with Heiter's victims in another room. Meanwhile Voller begins to feel ill from the earlier drugging, and is later shot by Heiter. Kranz discovers Voller dead in the swimming pool. Heiter shoots Kranz in the stomach, and Kranz responds by shooting Heiter in the head. Kranz then falls in the pool, dead. Back in the house, Jenny and Lindsay hold hands as Jenny dies from her infection. Lindsay is left alone in the house, trapped between her deceased fellow captives.
and Japanese horror films. Six has said he prefers horror films that are more realistic over "unbelievable" monster films, and said that he gets "a rash from too much political correctness." Major influences for The Human Centipede were Pier Paolo Pasolini
's controversial 1975 Italian drama film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, which was notable for its scenes depicting intensely graphic violence, sadism, and sexual depravity, as was the work of Japanese director Takashi Miike
. Six has also expressed his love of the works of David Lynch
. Further inspiration came from Six's previous work as a director on the Dutch series
of Big Brother
, where he had been able to observe people who "did crazy things when they were alone and thought they were not (being) watched".
Six has stated that The Human Centipede is, to an extent, a reflection on fascism. Dieter Laser
, who played the antagonist Dr. Heiter, said during the promotion of the film that he felt the guilt of Nazi actions during the war had haunted ordinary Germans for generations, and that as a German whose father participated in the war, he often felt "like a child whose father is in jail for murder." The inclusion of a German villain came from this, with Six citing both the German invasion of the Netherlands during World War II
and the Nazi medical experiments as inspiration. Laser stated in an interview with Clark Collis for Entertainment Weekly
that he considered the film a "grotesque [parody] about the Nazi psyche". Heiter's name was an amalgamation of several Nazi war criminals, his surname (literally meaning "cheerful" in German) a combination of the names of Nazi doctors Fetter and Richter, and his first name coming from Josef Mengele
, who carried out experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp
. World War II also played an influence on the nationality of the other main characters who were American and Japanese. Six includes many horror film clichés in the first act, such as a broken-down car, lack of phone signal
and very naïve victims. Six did this in an attempt to lull audiences into thinking they are watching a conventional horror film, therefore making Dr. Heiter's treatment of his victims more shocking.
Six placed a Japanese male at the front of the centipede for two reasons: first to create a language barrier
between the doctor and the centipede. Throughout the film the characters (with the exception of Heiter who for the most part speaks to the centipede in English) speak in their native languages only (subtitled for the viewer into English where necessary). Katsuro, as the front part of the centipede, can only speak Japanese and therefore cannot speak with either the doctor or Jenny and Lindsay. Secondly, Katsuro's position in the centipede sets up the opportunity for the doctor and the male victim of the centipede to fight toward the climax of the film. Six stated in the director's commentary for The Human Centipede that he has a personal fear of hospitals and doctors, so he stretched out the scene where Heiter explains how he will create the centipede and the subsequent procedure to create his "own nightmare."
While seeking funding for the film, Six pitched the idea of a surgeon who sewed people together. He did not initially reveal that the victims would be joined mouth-to-anus, as he believed this idea would stand no chance of receiving investments. His backers felt that the idea of a surgeon sewing people together was original and Six received funding. However, they did not learn the exact details of the film until it had been completed. Six claimed that they were very happy with the finished film. Before signing on, the actors were given an outline of the storyboard
rather than a complete script. They were also shown sketches of how the centipede would be formed.
that were displayed throughout the house were painted by Tom Six, which he felt contributed to the atmosphere in the house. The hotel room scene near the beginning of the film was filmed in a hotel suite at a location near Amsterdam
. The film was shot almost entirely in sequence, which Yennie stated helped the actors to develop their characters throughout the film. The opening scene, which only featured Laser and de Wit, was shot on the last day of filming.
Laser remained in character as Heiter during the filming process, often shouting at the rest of the cast on set, but wherever possible staying away from the other actors and crew between scenes to preserve a level of separation. He only ate food he had brought onto the set himself, eating mostly fruit. He contributed dialogue for his character and selected many of his character's outfits from his personal wardrobe. Six claims that the jacket Heiter wore, which was bought by Laser, was a genuine jacket worn by real Nazi doctors. Laser was also happy for the other actors in The Human Centipede to add their own ideas to the film. For example, when Heiter is explaining his procedure to his victims, Katsuro's dialogue was improvised, which pleased Laser. During filming Laser accidentally kicked Kitamura (Katsuro), leading to a fight on set between the actors. The incident contributed to the tension and anger throughout the scene they were filming, in which Heiter sits at his dining table eating while the centipede eats dog food from the floor alongside him. Laser also hurt Williams during the scene when Heiter roughly grabs and injects Lindsay, which caused a pause in shooting before the filmmakers could continue.
The Nazi influence behind Heiter led to the use of classical music when the doctor is "training" his centipede. The music was deliberately played at low quality to simulate the music coming from a loudspeaker, in much the same way as music was sometimes played in Nazi concentration camps
. Many of the sound effects in The Human Centipede were created by manipulating meat. For example, the sound of a nose being broken was made by snapping bones within cuts of raw meat. Due to the discomfort of spending long periods on their hands and knees, the actors playing the centipede were given massages at the end of each day of filming. Yennie stated that she and Williams experienced jaw pain from holding a bit
in their mouths during filming, but overall she did not feel that the physical side of filming had been excessively difficult.
, it is "never quite as outrageous as it threatens to be." Six stated that he wanted the film to be as authentic as possible and claimed to have consulted a Dutch surgeon during the creation and filming process, resulting in the film being "100% medically accurate." Six said that the surgeon initially wanted nothing to do with his film, as he felt Six was "crazy" and the idea had "nothing to do with medical science." However, the surgeon changed his mind and decided that he in fact liked the idea, and so came up with a method of creating a human centipede.Mr Disgusting, Tom Six Answers Your Questions, 2:30–3:00 Six has claimed that the central and rear members of the centipede could survive for years by supplementing their diet with an IV drip
. The special effects team was led by a father-and-son team, Rob Hillenbrink and son Erik. They designed the final composition of the centipede from sketches provided by the consulting surgeon. The actors who made up the centipede wore hardened underwear, compared by Yennie to shorts, which had a rubber grip for the actors to wear for the actor behind on which to bite, creating the illusion of the mouth-to-anus connection. Six kept secret how the centipede would be formed as long as possible, and Yennie claimed that even her make-up artist did not know, asking Yennie what kind of "suit" the actors would be wearing.
When Heiter is operating on his victims, Jenny's teeth were digitally removed in post-production. However, other effects were relatively simple to create. Heiter's 'three dog' was created by photoshopping an image of three Rottweilers to create an image of dogs joined together. Colour grading
was used extensively throughout the production of The Human Centipede. For example, at the end of the film when Lindsay is left between the dead bodies of Jenny and Katsuro, their skin tones were lightened to further emphasise that they were dead and Lindsay was still alive.
The rain when Jenny and Lindsay's car breaks down was added digitally in post-production. The filmmakers had not been granted permission to film at the roadside location, but went ahead against the authorities' wishes as Tom Six felt the location in the woods was ideal for the scene. When Heiter's window is repaired after Lindsay's escape attempt, the use of a tracking shot
through the window pane required the reflection of the crew to be digitally removed from the glass. The film contains a large number of long tracking shots; Six has cited the influence of Takashi Miike who also uses many tracking shots in his films.
magazine and Jay Stone of the Calgary Herald
described the film as torture porn. Roger Ebert
, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times
stated that he felt the film had been "deliberately intended to inspire incredulity, nausea and hopefully outrage." However, writing in The Guardian
, David Cox noted that he had been unable to trace the source of this quote as the "most horrific ever made" and had contacted Six to attempt to ascertain the origin of this judgement. Six claimed that the statement had originally been made by The Sun newspaper in the United Kingdom. However, Cox was unable to trace any article making this claim. When asked by Cox as to what Six regarded as the "most horrific" film, Six stated he in fact believed it to be Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom.
(MPAA) rating. It was released theatrically in New York City on 30 April 2010 and had a limited release in the US shortly afterward, distributed by IFC Films
. During 2009 the film was included in several film festival
s around the world including the London FrightFest Film Festival
, Leeds International Film Festival
, Sitges Film Festival, and Screamfest Horror Film Festival
. Six remarked on how many film festival audiences reacted strongly to the film, sometimes almost vomiting in the cinema aisles. To Six's amusement, Spanish audiences often found the film funny, and laughed throughout screenings. Six claimed that the "buzz" surrounding the film led to several studios approaching him to discuss its distribution. IFC Films has a history of releasing unconventional horror films, having previously distributed the Norwegian Nazi-zombie feature Dead Snow
and the 2009 release Antichrist
. The Human Centipedes US gross was $181,467, and worldwide takings amounted to $252,207.
The film was passed uncut by the British Board of Film Classification
(BBFC) and released with an 18-rated certificate, receiving a limited release in the UK on 20 August 2010. It was distributed by Bounty Films.
on 4 October 2010 and in the US the following day, where, as of September 2011, DVD sales have totalled $2,113,186.
web site Rotten Tomatoes
gave the film a 50% 'Rotten' rating, based upon 90 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2 out of 10. Among Rotten Tomatoes "Top Critics", which only considers the views of mainstream film critics, the film received a slightly lower rating of 44%, with an average rating of 4.5 from 9 reviews. At Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 33 based on 15 reviews.
Giving the film three stars out of five, Empire
writer Kim Newman stated that "underneath an extremely repulsive concept, this is a relatively conventional horror movie." Variety Magazine
writer Peter DeBurge criticised the film's lack of any form of social commentary, stating that it could not "be bothered to expand upon its unpleasant premise, inviting audiences to revel in its sick humor by favoring Dr. Heiter ... and characterizing the victims as shallow expendables." Writing in Entertainment Weekly
, Clark Collis was broadly positive about Dieter Laser's performance as the Doctor, and praised Six's direction, saying Six "has put together his nightmare yarn with Cronenbergian
care and precision." Collis said The Human Centipede was "without question one of the most disgusting horror films ever made." Writing in The Guardian
, Peter Bradshaw
gave the film three out of five, saying that whilst "entirely deplorable and revolting" the film was "sort of brilliant." Total Film
writer Jamie Russell gave the film four stars out of five, calling it "Shocking, funny, disturbing... a throwback to the glory days of Cronenberg".
Sukhdev Sandhu in The Daily Telegraph
was generally negative about the film, stating, "The Human Centipede has its moments, but they’re largely obscured by umpteen holes in the plot as well as by reams of exposition" and that it was "an ultimately underwhelming affair that’s neither sick or repellent enough to garner the cult status it so craves." The New York Times
review by Jeannette Catsouli noted that it was unsure if the film was "a commentary on Nazi atrocities or a literal expression of filmmaking politics, [but] the grotesque fusion at least silences the female leads, both of whose voices could strip paint." Writing in the Chicago Sun Times, Roger Ebert
did not assign the film a star rating (as opposed to awarding it zero stars), stating, "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."
Critics and a physician have dismissed Six's claim that the film was "100 percent medically accurate" as "ludicrous" and "rubbish." Dr John Cameron, speaking to TV3
News in New Zealand
gave an interview about the feasibility of a human centipede, stating how he believed it would be difficult for a join between different people to heal and form a connection, and how the centipede would quickly die from lack of nutrition. John Martin, a former Hollywood film executive and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas said Six's claims of 100 percent medical accuracy should be viewed with reference to the kind of shock gimmicks that film producers had long used to attract attention. Martin compared Six's claims to those of Kroger Babb
and William Castle
who had also made "grand promises" about what they were putting on screen in a bid to lure audiences.
(Austin
, Texas), Screamfest Horror Film Festival
(Los Angeles), and the Sainte Maxime International Horror Film Festival. Laser won Best Actor in the horror category at Fantastic Fest and the film won the award for Best Ensemble Cast at the South African Horrorfest Film Festival.
to First Sequence, titled The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)
. Shooting on a similar budget to the first film, Six stated the sequel would be a much more graphic and disturbing film; First Sequence being "My Little Pony
compared with part two." Yennie stated at the May 2010 Weekend of Horrors
that the sequel would contain "the blood and shit" that viewers did not see in the first film. The plot of Full Sequence involved a centipede made from twelve people, featured a largely British cast and was given the tag-line "100% medically inaccurate."
The plot of Full Sequence involves a man who after becoming sexually obsessed with a DVD recording of First Sequence decides to create his own human centipede. The film had been planned for a DVD release in the United Kingdom. However, upon submitting the film to the BBFC for classification, the film was rejected due to content that was "sexually violent and potentially obscene". The BBFC's report criticised the film as making "little attempt to portray any of the victims in the film as anything other than objects to be brutalised, degraded and mutilated for the amusement and arousal of the central character, as well as for the pleasure of the audience" and that the film was potentially in breach of the Obscene Publications Act
, meaning its distribution in the UK would be illegal. Bounty Films, the UK distributor, appealed the decision, and the film was eventually passed with an 18 certificate in October 2011. To achieve the 18 rating, 32 cuts were made from the film, removing 2 minutes and 37 seconds from the original version.
and titled The Human Sexipede, was released in September 2010. It starred Tom Byron
as Heiter, who joined three people mouth-to-genitals. The South Park
episode "HUMANCENTiPAD
" saw character Kyle Broflovski
unwittingly agreeing to become a part of a "Human CENTiPAD
" after failing to read the full details of an Apple user license agreement
. The web site FunnyOrDie featured a sketch where the freed victims of a human centipede, now separated, but scarred physically and mentally, argue at a survivors' meeting.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
horror film written and directed by Tom Six. The film tells the story of a German doctor who kidnaps three tourists and joins them surgically, mouth to anus
Human anus
The human anus is the external opening of the rectum. Like other animals, its closure is controlled by sphincter muscles...
, forming a "human centipede
Centipede
Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of...
". It stars Dieter Laser
Dieter Laser
Dieter Laser is a German actor.He is known to English speaking audiences for his roles in Lexx, The Ogre and The Human Centipede , for which he won "Best Actor" at the Austin Fantastic Fest....
as the villain, Dr. Heiter, with Ashley C. Williams
Ashley C. Williams
Ashley Christina Williams is an American actress, singer, dancer and producer in both theater and film.- Early life :Williams was born in Boston, Massachusetts...
, Ashlynn Yennie
Ashlynn Yennie
Ashlynn Yennie is an American actress from Riverton, Wyoming. She is best known for playing the role of Jenny in the 2010 Dutch horror film, The Human Centipede . In 2010, she starred as Starlene Arbuckle, in the CM Downs directed horror film, Fetch...
, and Akihiro Kitamura
Akihiro Kitamura
is a Japanese actor and director, who appeared in The Human Centipede .-Early life:After moving to the United States at the age of 18, Kitamura studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse for five years...
as his victims. According to Six, the concept of the film arose from a joke he made with friends about punishing a child molester by stitching his mouth to the anus of a "fat truck driver". Six also stated that inspiration for the film came from Nazi medical experiments carried out during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, such as the actions of Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
at the Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
.
When approaching investors prior to filming, Six did not mention the mouth-to-anus aspect of the plot, fearing it would put off potential backers. The financiers of The Human Centipede did not discover the full nature of the film until it was complete. The film received mixed reviews from mainstream film critics, but it won several accolades at international film festivals. The film was released in the United States on a limited release
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
theatrically on 30 April. A sequel, The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)
The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)
The Human Centipede 2 is a 2011 British-Dutch body horror film directed by Dutch filmmaker Tom Six. The sequel to 2010's Dutch film The Human Centipede , the film was scheduled for straight-to-DVD release...
, also written and directed by Six, was released in 2011.
Plot
Lindsay (Ashley C. Williams) and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie), two American tourists in Germany, are drugged and involuntarily detained by crazed surgeon Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser) when they seek help at his house after their car breaks down. The women awake in a makeshift medical ward. They witness Heiter kill a kidnapped truck driver (Rene de Wit) after Heiter informs him he is "not a match". When the women wake up a second time, Heiter has secured a new male captive, Japanese tourist Katsuro (Akihiro Kitamura). The doctor explains that he is a world-renowned expert at separating conjoined twinsConjoined twins
Conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined in utero. A rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of...
, but dreams of making new creatures by sewing people together. He describes in detail how he will surgically connect his three victims mouth-to-anus, so that they share a single digestive system
Digestion
Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components that are more easily absorbed into a blood stream, for instance. Digestion is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones....
.
After Lindsay tries to escape and fails, Heiter explains to her that he had previously experimented with creating what he called a "three-dog", also joined mouth-to-anus. However, the three-dog died shortly after surgery. Heiter tells Lindsay that the middle dog of his creation experienced the most pain, and as punishment for her escape attempt she will become the middle part of his centipede. Heiter performs the surgery on his victims, placing Katsuro at the front, Lindsay in the middle and Jenny at the rear. During his procedure, Heiter severs the ligaments in his victims' knees so they cannot stand and are forced to crawl, and sticks the victims together in a line with their mouths surgically attached to the anus of the person in front of them.
Once the operation is complete, Heiter attempts to train his centipede as a pet. During one such session, he watches with great delight as Lindsay is forced to swallow Katsuro's excrement. However, he eventually becomes irritated after being kept awake by the constant screaming of Katsuro (who, as the front part of the centipede, has his mouth free and is still able to speak) and the realization that Jenny is dying from blood poisoning
Sepsis
Sepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues...
. When two detectives, Kranz (Andreas Leupold) and Voller (Peter Blankenstein), visit the house to investigate the disappearance of tourists, Heiter decides to add them as replacements for Jenny in a new creation, a quadruped. Heiter succeeds in drugging one of the detectives, Voller, as the pair later leave the house to obtain a search warrant. The victims attempt to escape from the ward, crawling up the stairs, as Katsuro also attacks Heiter in the process. Their attempt to escape ultimately fails. Katsuro confesses to the doctor, in Japanese, that he deserves his fate because he had treated his family poorly. Katsuro then commits suicide by slitting his throat with a shard of broken glass.
The detectives return to the house and forcefully conduct separate searches as an injured Heiter hides near his swimming pool. Kranz finds the makeshift ward along with Heiter's victims in another room. Meanwhile Voller begins to feel ill from the earlier drugging, and is later shot by Heiter. Kranz discovers Voller dead in the swimming pool. Heiter shoots Kranz in the stomach, and Kranz responds by shooting Heiter in the head. Kranz then falls in the pool, dead. Back in the house, Jenny and Lindsay hold hands as Jenny dies from her infection. Lindsay is left alone in the house, trapped between her deceased fellow captives.
Cast
- Dieter LaserDieter LaserDieter Laser is a German actor.He is known to English speaking audiences for his roles in Lexx, The Ogre and The Human Centipede , for which he won "Best Actor" at the Austin Fantastic Fest....
as Dr. Josef Heiter, a retired surgeonSurgeonIn medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
who specialised in the separation of conjoined twins, but in retirement is more interested in joining creatures together. Casting for the role of Heiter took place in Berlin, and Six intended to cast Laser before he had even read for the part, after Six saw a DVD of one of Laser's previous films. Laser had previously appeared in over 60 mostly German-languageGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
films, including Der Unhold and Baltic StormBaltic StormBaltic Storm is a 2003 film written and directed by Reuben Leder about the MS Estonia disaster. Based on the book Die Estonia: Tragödie eines Schiffsuntergangs by German journalist Jutta Rabe, the film focuses on the confirmed transport of defense materials by the Swedish Armed Forces, and alleged...
. Upon meeting him in Berlin, Six gave Laser a shot-by-shot explanation of Heiter's scenes, and Laser, impressed by Six's dedication and passion, agreed to take part in the film. Laser contributed considerably to the development of Heiter's character. For example, because Heiter views the "centipede" as his pet, Laser felt that it was important that Heiter appeared naked during a scene in which he swam in full view of his victims, because Laser said "you aren't ashamed to be naked" around a pet. - Ashley C. WilliamsAshley C. WilliamsAshley Christina Williams is an American actress, singer, dancer and producer in both theater and film.- Early life :Williams was born in Boston, Massachusetts...
as Lindsay, an American tourist and the central section of the centipede. Auditioning for the roles of Jenny and Lindsay took place in New York City. Six said during the auditioning process, many actresses walked out of readings in disgust after hearing the full nature of the role. Others thought they would be able to take on the role, but found it was "too much" for them once they got onto their hands and knees behind another actor. Williams expressed concerns about the nudity expected of her in the film, but took the role when she was assured it would be modest and of a non-sexual nature. - Ashlynn YennieAshlynn YennieAshlynn Yennie is an American actress from Riverton, Wyoming. She is best known for playing the role of Jenny in the 2010 Dutch horror film, The Human Centipede . In 2010, she starred as Starlene Arbuckle, in the CM Downs directed horror film, Fetch...
as Jenny, the rear section of the centipede. As with Williams, The Human Centipede was Yennie's first major film role. Yennie was one of several actresses to audition for the role, as the producers searched for an actress who would have good on-screen chemistry with Williams. Yennie was able to further develop her relationship with Williams when the pair shared an apartment in the Netherlands during filming. Yennie auditioned to Ilona Six, sister of Tom Six and the film's producer, and did not meet Tom Six, who had viewed tapes of her reading, until fitting for the centipede special effects in the Netherlands. Yennie was drawn to the role by the humanity throughout the story, referring to how the three victims of Heiter are unwillingly forced into their situation. She also said the story was so realistic it scared her. - Akihiro KitamuraAkihiro Kitamurais a Japanese actor and director, who appeared in The Human Centipede .-Early life:After moving to the United States at the age of 18, Kitamura studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse for five years...
as Katsuro, a Japanese tourist and front section of the centipede. Having already acted in or written for a number of films and television shows (including popular American television series HeroesHeroes (TV series)Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
), Kitamura was a relatively experienced actor compared to other cast members. He auditioned for the role of Katsuro via SkypeSkypeSkype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
from Los Angeles after the casting director saw him on television and recommended him for the role. The rest of the cast did not meet Kitamura until the day before shooting commenced. - Rene de Wit as Truck Driver, one of Heiter's victims. De Wit had previously worked with Six in his 2008 film I Love Dries.
- Andreas Leupold as Detective Kranz, a police officer.
- Peter Blankenstein as Detective Voller, Kranz's partner.
Writing
The inspiration for The Human Centipedes plot came from a joke that writer/director Tom Six once made to his friends about punishing a child molester they saw on TV by stitching his mouth to the anus of an overweight truck driver. Six saw this as the concept for a great horror film, and he began to develop the idea. He has said he was heavily influenced as a filmmaker by the early works of David CronenbergDavid Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
and Japanese horror films. Six has said he prefers horror films that are more realistic over "unbelievable" monster films, and said that he gets "a rash from too much political correctness." Major influences for The Human Centipede were Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...
's controversial 1975 Italian drama film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, which was notable for its scenes depicting intensely graphic violence, sadism, and sexual depravity, as was the work of Japanese director Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike
is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...
. Six has also expressed his love of the works of David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
. Further inspiration came from Six's previous work as a director on the Dutch series
Big Brother (Netherlands)
The Dutch Big Brother is the original version of the TV reality shows. It created the format in which contestants live in an isolated house trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of a prize at the end...
of Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
, where he had been able to observe people who "did crazy things when they were alone and thought they were not (being) watched".
Six has stated that The Human Centipede is, to an extent, a reflection on fascism. Dieter Laser
Dieter Laser
Dieter Laser is a German actor.He is known to English speaking audiences for his roles in Lexx, The Ogre and The Human Centipede , for which he won "Best Actor" at the Austin Fantastic Fest....
, who played the antagonist Dr. Heiter, said during the promotion of the film that he felt the guilt of Nazi actions during the war had haunted ordinary Germans for generations, and that as a German whose father participated in the war, he often felt "like a child whose father is in jail for murder." The inclusion of a German villain came from this, with Six citing both the German invasion of the Netherlands during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Nazi medical experiments as inspiration. Laser stated in an interview with Clark Collis for Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
that he considered the film a "grotesque [parody] about the Nazi psyche". Heiter's name was an amalgamation of several Nazi war criminals, his surname (literally meaning "cheerful" in German) a combination of the names of Nazi doctors Fetter and Richter, and his first name coming from Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
, who carried out experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
. World War II also played an influence on the nationality of the other main characters who were American and Japanese. Six includes many horror film clichés in the first act, such as a broken-down car, lack of phone signal
Mobile phone signal
A mobile phone signal is the strength of the connection to the mobile phone with its network. Depending on various factors, such as proximity to a tower, obstructions such as buildings or trees, etc, the signal may vary. Most mobile devices use a set of bars of varying heights to display the...
and very naïve victims. Six did this in an attempt to lull audiences into thinking they are watching a conventional horror film, therefore making Dr. Heiter's treatment of his victims more shocking.
Six placed a Japanese male at the front of the centipede for two reasons: first to create a language barrier
Language barrier
Language barrier is a figurative phrase used primarily to indicate the difficulties faced when people who have no language in common attempt to communicate with each other...
between the doctor and the centipede. Throughout the film the characters (with the exception of Heiter who for the most part speaks to the centipede in English) speak in their native languages only (subtitled for the viewer into English where necessary). Katsuro, as the front part of the centipede, can only speak Japanese and therefore cannot speak with either the doctor or Jenny and Lindsay. Secondly, Katsuro's position in the centipede sets up the opportunity for the doctor and the male victim of the centipede to fight toward the climax of the film. Six stated in the director's commentary for The Human Centipede that he has a personal fear of hospitals and doctors, so he stretched out the scene where Heiter explains how he will create the centipede and the subsequent procedure to create his "own nightmare."
While seeking funding for the film, Six pitched the idea of a surgeon who sewed people together. He did not initially reveal that the victims would be joined mouth-to-anus, as he believed this idea would stand no chance of receiving investments. His backers felt that the idea of a surgeon sewing people together was original and Six received funding. However, they did not learn the exact details of the film until it had been completed. Six claimed that they were very happy with the finished film. Before signing on, the actors were given an outline of the storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
rather than a complete script. They were also shown sketches of how the centipede would be formed.
Filming
Although The Human Centipede is set in Germany, filming took place in the Netherlands due to the countries' similar landscapes. Heiter's home, where most of The Human Centipede takes place, was a villa in the Netherlands found by the production team. The property was in a residential area and not surrounded by woodland as it appears in the film, but by other houses. This meant the filmmakers had some difficulty ensuring that the other houses did not appear in shot. Some conversion of the property took place prior to filming, for example, a cinema room was converted to form Heiter's basement operating theatre, with real hospital beds and intravenous drips rented from a local hospital. The paintings of conjoined twinsConjoined twins
Conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined in utero. A rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of...
that were displayed throughout the house were painted by Tom Six, which he felt contributed to the atmosphere in the house. The hotel room scene near the beginning of the film was filmed in a hotel suite at a location near Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. The film was shot almost entirely in sequence, which Yennie stated helped the actors to develop their characters throughout the film. The opening scene, which only featured Laser and de Wit, was shot on the last day of filming.
Laser remained in character as Heiter during the filming process, often shouting at the rest of the cast on set, but wherever possible staying away from the other actors and crew between scenes to preserve a level of separation. He only ate food he had brought onto the set himself, eating mostly fruit. He contributed dialogue for his character and selected many of his character's outfits from his personal wardrobe. Six claims that the jacket Heiter wore, which was bought by Laser, was a genuine jacket worn by real Nazi doctors. Laser was also happy for the other actors in The Human Centipede to add their own ideas to the film. For example, when Heiter is explaining his procedure to his victims, Katsuro's dialogue was improvised, which pleased Laser. During filming Laser accidentally kicked Kitamura (Katsuro), leading to a fight on set between the actors. The incident contributed to the tension and anger throughout the scene they were filming, in which Heiter sits at his dining table eating while the centipede eats dog food from the floor alongside him. Laser also hurt Williams during the scene when Heiter roughly grabs and injects Lindsay, which caused a pause in shooting before the filmmakers could continue.
The Nazi influence behind Heiter led to the use of classical music when the doctor is "training" his centipede. The music was deliberately played at low quality to simulate the music coming from a loudspeaker, in much the same way as music was sometimes played in Nazi concentration camps
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
. Many of the sound effects in The Human Centipede were created by manipulating meat. For example, the sound of a nose being broken was made by snapping bones within cuts of raw meat. Due to the discomfort of spending long periods on their hands and knees, the actors playing the centipede were given massages at the end of each day of filming. Yennie stated that she and Williams experienced jaw pain from holding a bit
Bit (horse)
A bit is a type of horse tack used in equestrian activities, usually made of metal or a synthetic material, and is placed in the mouth of a horse or other equid and assists a rider in communicating with the animal. It rests on the bars of the mouth in an interdental region where there are no teeth...
in their mouths during filming, but overall she did not feel that the physical side of filming had been excessively difficult.
Effects
The Human Centipede contains relatively few gory images; little of the surgical procedure is depicted directly, no excrement is shown on screen, and according to Kim Newman in EmpireEmpire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
, it is "never quite as outrageous as it threatens to be." Six stated that he wanted the film to be as authentic as possible and claimed to have consulted a Dutch surgeon during the creation and filming process, resulting in the film being "100% medically accurate." Six said that the surgeon initially wanted nothing to do with his film, as he felt Six was "crazy" and the idea had "nothing to do with medical science." However, the surgeon changed his mind and decided that he in fact liked the idea, and so came up with a method of creating a human centipede.Mr Disgusting, Tom Six Answers Your Questions, 2:30–3:00 Six has claimed that the central and rear members of the centipede could survive for years by supplementing their diet with an IV drip
Intravenous therapy
Intravenous therapy or IV therapy is the infusion of liquid substances directly into a vein. The word intravenous simply means "within a vein". Therapies administered intravenously are often called specialty pharmaceuticals...
. The special effects team was led by a father-and-son team, Rob Hillenbrink and son Erik. They designed the final composition of the centipede from sketches provided by the consulting surgeon. The actors who made up the centipede wore hardened underwear, compared by Yennie to shorts, which had a rubber grip for the actors to wear for the actor behind on which to bite, creating the illusion of the mouth-to-anus connection. Six kept secret how the centipede would be formed as long as possible, and Yennie claimed that even her make-up artist did not know, asking Yennie what kind of "suit" the actors would be wearing.
When Heiter is operating on his victims, Jenny's teeth were digitally removed in post-production. However, other effects were relatively simple to create. Heiter's 'three dog' was created by photoshopping an image of three Rottweilers to create an image of dogs joined together. Colour grading
Color grading
Color grading or colour painting, is the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture, video image, or still image either electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. The photo-chemical process is also referred to as color timing and is typically performed at a photographic...
was used extensively throughout the production of The Human Centipede. For example, at the end of the film when Lindsay is left between the dead bodies of Jenny and Katsuro, their skin tones were lightened to further emphasise that they were dead and Lindsay was still alive.
The rain when Jenny and Lindsay's car breaks down was added digitally in post-production. The filmmakers had not been granted permission to film at the roadside location, but went ahead against the authorities' wishes as Tom Six felt the location in the woods was ideal for the scene. When Heiter's window is repaired after Lindsay's escape attempt, the use of a tracking shot
Tracking shot
In motion picture terminology, a tracking shot is a segment in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken...
through the window pane required the reflection of the crew to be digitally removed from the glass. The film contains a large number of long tracking shots; Six has cited the influence of Takashi Miike who also uses many tracking shots in his films.
Promotion
During promotion for The Human Centipede, press materials claimed that the film was "100% medically accurate." Six and the producers frequently stated that the film had been described as "the most horrific film ever made," and many writers, such as Karina Longworth of LA WeeklyLA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
magazine and Jay Stone of the Calgary Herald
Calgary Herald
The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31, 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...
described the film as torture porn. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
stated that he felt the film had been "deliberately intended to inspire incredulity, nausea and hopefully outrage." However, writing in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, David Cox noted that he had been unable to trace the source of this quote as the "most horrific ever made" and had contacted Six to attempt to ascertain the origin of this judgement. Six claimed that the statement had originally been made by The Sun newspaper in the United Kingdom. However, Cox was unable to trace any article making this claim. When asked by Cox as to what Six regarded as the "most horrific" film, Six stated he in fact believed it to be Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom.
Theatrical
The Human Centipede was released in the United States with no Motion Picture Association of AmericaMotion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
(MPAA) rating. It was released theatrically in New York City on 30 April 2010 and had a limited release in the US shortly afterward, distributed by IFC Films
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by AMC Networks. It distributes independent films and documentaries under the IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. It operates the IFC Center....
. During 2009 the film was included in several film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s around the world including the London FrightFest Film Festival
London FrightFest Film Festival
FrightFest is an annual film festival held in central London over the August Bank Holiday weekend. The first event was held in the year 2000....
, Leeds International Film Festival
Leeds International Film Festival
The Leeds International Film Festival is the largest film festival in England outside London. Held in November at various venues throughout Leeds, West Yorkshire it shows over 200 films from around the world, commercial and independent....
, Sitges Film Festival, and Screamfest Horror Film Festival
Screamfest Horror Film Festival
Screamfest Horror Film Festival is the largest horror film festival in the United States. Some of the largest horror online publications have called it the "Sundance of Horror". Previously held at Loews Universal Studios Cinemas, Universal CityWalk, the festival is now held annually at the...
. Six remarked on how many film festival audiences reacted strongly to the film, sometimes almost vomiting in the cinema aisles. To Six's amusement, Spanish audiences often found the film funny, and laughed throughout screenings. Six claimed that the "buzz" surrounding the film led to several studios approaching him to discuss its distribution. IFC Films has a history of releasing unconventional horror films, having previously distributed the Norwegian Nazi-zombie feature Dead Snow
Dead Snow
Dead Snow is a 2009 Norwegian horror film directed by Tommy Wirkola, starring Charlotte Frogner, Stig Frode Henriksen, Bjørn Sundquist, Ane Dahl Torp and Jenny Skavlan.- Plot :A woman, Sara, is being chased through the snows of Norway...
and the 2009 release Antichrist
Antichrist (film)
Antichrist is a 2009 arthouse-horror film written and directed by Lars von Trier, starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It follows horror film conventions and tells the story of a couple who, after the death of their child, retreat to a cabin in the woods where the man experiences strange...
. The Human Centipedes US gross was $181,467, and worldwide takings amounted to $252,207.
The film was passed uncut by the British Board of Film Classification
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
(BBFC) and released with an 18-rated certificate, receiving a limited release in the UK on 20 August 2010. It was distributed by Bounty Films.
Home media
The Human Centipede was released in the United Kingdom on DVD and Blu-rayBlu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on 4 October 2010 and in the US the following day, where, as of September 2011, DVD sales have totalled $2,113,186.
Critical
The Human Centipede generally received mixed reviews. Review aggregatorReview aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services . This system stores the reviews and then uses them for purposes such as: creating a website for users to view the reviews, selling information to third parties about consumer tendencies and creating databases for...
web site Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave the film a 50% 'Rotten' rating, based upon 90 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2 out of 10. Among Rotten Tomatoes "Top Critics", which only considers the views of mainstream film critics, the film received a slightly lower rating of 44%, with an average rating of 4.5 from 9 reviews. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 33 based on 15 reviews.
Giving the film three stars out of five, Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
writer Kim Newman stated that "underneath an extremely repulsive concept, this is a relatively conventional horror movie." Variety Magazine
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
writer Peter DeBurge criticised the film's lack of any form of social commentary, stating that it could not "be bothered to expand upon its unpleasant premise, inviting audiences to revel in its sick humor by favoring Dr. Heiter ... and characterizing the victims as shallow expendables." Writing in Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, Clark Collis was broadly positive about Dieter Laser's performance as the Doctor, and praised Six's direction, saying Six "has put together his nightmare yarn with Cronenbergian
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
care and precision." Collis said The Human Centipede was "without question one of the most disgusting horror films ever made." Writing in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw is a British writer and film critic. He was educated at Cambridge University, where he was President of Footlights.Bradshaw is a film critic for The Guardian...
gave the film three out of five, saying that whilst "entirely deplorable and revolting" the film was "sort of brilliant." Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
writer Jamie Russell gave the film four stars out of five, calling it "Shocking, funny, disturbing... a throwback to the glory days of Cronenberg".
Sukhdev Sandhu in The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
was generally negative about the film, stating, "The Human Centipede has its moments, but they’re largely obscured by umpteen holes in the plot as well as by reams of exposition" and that it was "an ultimately underwhelming affair that’s neither sick or repellent enough to garner the cult status it so craves." The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review by Jeannette Catsouli noted that it was unsure if the film was "a commentary on Nazi atrocities or a literal expression of filmmaking politics, [but] the grotesque fusion at least silences the female leads, both of whose voices could strip paint." Writing in the Chicago Sun Times, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
did not assign the film a star rating (as opposed to awarding it zero stars), stating, "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."
Critics and a physician have dismissed Six's claim that the film was "100 percent medically accurate" as "ludicrous" and "rubbish." Dr John Cameron, speaking to TV3
TV3 (New Zealand)
TV3 is a New Zealand commercial television network, owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Launched on 26 November 1989, the first private television network in New Zealand...
News in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
gave an interview about the feasibility of a human centipede, stating how he believed it would be difficult for a join between different people to heal and form a connection, and how the centipede would quickly die from lack of nutrition. John Martin, a former Hollywood film executive and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas said Six's claims of 100 percent medical accuracy should be viewed with reference to the kind of shock gimmicks that film producers had long used to attract attention. Martin compared Six's claims to those of Kroger Babb
Kroger Babb
Howard W. "Kroger" Babb was an American film and television producer and showman. His marketing techniques were similar to a travelling salesman's, with roots in the medicine-show tradition...
and William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
who had also made "grand promises" about what they were putting on screen in a bid to lure audiences.
Accolades
Despite mixed reviews, the film won several awards in 2009 during advance screenings at various international horror film festivals, including Best Picture/Movie at Fantastic FestFantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of The Iron Giant and Secondhand Lions. The festival focuses on genre films such as horror,...
(Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas), Screamfest Horror Film Festival
Screamfest Horror Film Festival
Screamfest Horror Film Festival is the largest horror film festival in the United States. Some of the largest horror online publications have called it the "Sundance of Horror". Previously held at Loews Universal Studios Cinemas, Universal CityWalk, the festival is now held annually at the...
(Los Angeles), and the Sainte Maxime International Horror Film Festival. Laser won Best Actor in the horror category at Fantastic Fest and the film won the award for Best Ensemble Cast at the South African Horrorfest Film Festival.
Sequel
While promoting The Human Centipede, Six stated that he had started work on a sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to First Sequence, titled The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)
The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)
The Human Centipede 2 is a 2011 British-Dutch body horror film directed by Dutch filmmaker Tom Six. The sequel to 2010's Dutch film The Human Centipede , the film was scheduled for straight-to-DVD release...
. Shooting on a similar budget to the first film, Six stated the sequel would be a much more graphic and disturbing film; First Sequence being "My Little Pony
My Little Pony
My Little Pony is a brand of toy ponies marketed primarily to girls produced by the toy manufacturer Hasbro. These ponies can be identified by their colorful bodies and manes and a unique symbol on one or both sides of their flanks...
compared with part two." Yennie stated at the May 2010 Weekend of Horrors
Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors
Weekend of Horrors is a tri-annual traveling convention which focuses on horror films. Formerly produced and operated by Fangoria Magazine with its name and likeness owned by Creation Entertainment, the convention is now produced solely by Creation.The convention also deals in areas of the horror...
that the sequel would contain "the blood and shit" that viewers did not see in the first film. The plot of Full Sequence involved a centipede made from twelve people, featured a largely British cast and was given the tag-line "100% medically inaccurate."
The plot of Full Sequence involves a man who after becoming sexually obsessed with a DVD recording of First Sequence decides to create his own human centipede. The film had been planned for a DVD release in the United Kingdom. However, upon submitting the film to the BBFC for classification, the film was rejected due to content that was "sexually violent and potentially obscene". The BBFC's report criticised the film as making "little attempt to portray any of the victims in the film as anything other than objects to be brutalised, degraded and mutilated for the amusement and arousal of the central character, as well as for the pleasure of the audience" and that the film was potentially in breach of the Obscene Publications Act
Obscene Publications Act
Since 1857, a series of obscenity laws known as the Obscene Publications Acts have governed what can be published in England and Wales. The classic definition of criminal obscenity is if it "tends to deprave and corrupt," stated in 1868 by John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge.There have been...
, meaning its distribution in the UK would be illegal. Bounty Films, the UK distributor, appealed the decision, and the film was eventually passed with an 18 certificate in October 2011. To achieve the 18 rating, 32 cuts were made from the film, removing 2 minutes and 37 seconds from the original version.
Parodies
A number of parodies of the film have been made. A pornographic parody, directed by Lee Roy MyersLee Roy Myers
Lee Roy Myers is a Canadian pornographic film director, producer, and screenwriter. He started his career with New Sensations in 2008 and developed their A XXX Parody and Romance Series lines...
and titled The Human Sexipede, was released in September 2010. It starred Tom Byron
Tom Byron
Tom Byron is an American pornographic actor and director. He is of Italian descent and is an alumnus of the University of Houston. He has also been credited as Tom Byrom, Tim Byron, Tom Bryon, Tom Bryan, and Tommy Byron...
as Heiter, who joined three people mouth-to-genitals. The South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
episode "HUMANCENTiPAD
HumancentiPad
"HUMANCENTiPAD" is the first episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 210th episode of the series overall. "HUMANCENTiPAD" originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central and in Canada on The Comedy Network on April 27, 2011, and Comedy...
" saw character Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
unwittingly agreeing to become a part of a "Human CENTiPAD
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
" after failing to read the full details of an Apple user license agreement
Software license agreement
A software license agreement is a contract between the "licensor" and purchaser of the right to use software. The license may define ways under which the copy can be used, in addition to the automatic rights of the buyer including the first sale doctrine and .Many form contracts are only contained...
. The web site FunnyOrDie featured a sketch where the freed victims of a human centipede, now separated, but scarred physically and mentally, argue at a survivors' meeting.