Haute Tension (2003)
[Reader disclaimer: there will be some spoilers discussed. This piece also contains material of a graphic and disturbing nature: read at your own discretion.]
Don't you just hate it when you meet the inlaws? The whole ordeal usually goes up in flames and then there you are, a bloodbath on your hands. For 2003's Haute Tension, I mean this in the more literal sense of the word.
This memorable French horror was directed by Alexandre Aja, a man that some avid horror fans might remember from being the visionary behind The Hills Have Eyes remake. Whilst I can't say that the remake left any memorable impression on me, I will say that Aja pushes horror in a refreshingly new direction with this film.
When I first watched Haute Tension, I was in college. One scene in particular hooked me: a man in a dingy truck receiving oral from a woman. Totally normal. Sex, similar to violence, is something featured in most horror films: it is a trope, though arguably a stale one at this point. After the man is 'finished', so to speak, I remember watching my jaw drop as it cuts to a shot of him nonchalantly tossing the woman's head out of the driver side window. Yes, ladies and gents. He was using a dismembered head.
That scene set the tone for me: Aja wasn't going to guide me through recycled plot points from any old slasher film, he's going to beat me over the head with imagery that's going to make my stomach want to fold in on itself like a defective deck-chair.
The opening sequence is also vital to the subversion of audience expectation: it shows us main protagonist Marie, running through the woods covered in blood, yelling for help. Immediately, we are presented with one of horrors most influential and popular tropes: the 'final girl'.
For those of you that are unaware of this theme, I'll give you a quick rundown: the concept of the 'final girl', coined by Carol J. Clover in 1992, is one that focuses on a female character who inevitably becomes the last one standing. The 'final girl' usually adheres to a sense of privilege or moral integrity which secures her a happy ending or, at least, an ending in which she hasn't been made into human chowder.
Think of any horror film and you'll almost certainly find a 'final girl' in it: classics such as Alien (1979), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Hellraiser (1987) are just to name a few.
"A movie that makes you want to squirm in your seat and judged by that standard, it works brilliantly." - Jeremy Knox
This trope, like many others, can have variations. That (in my opinion) is what keeps a genre from dying: the ability to rework an ideology in favour of cultural relevancy and interest. This film most certainly gives us that, luring the audience in with a helpless yet admirably resilient woman at the start. This facade, I'm pleased to say, does not last very long.
I also found that a surprising and equally endearing aspect to Haute Tension was Aja's homage to the classic 80s era of slasher films, including Maniac (1980) and The Shining (1980). A good director knows what tropes to use, a great one pays tribute in an original way.
Haute Tension is much more than 'fake-out' jump scares and gratuitous blood splatter, though: it's a socio-political commentary on mental illness and sexuality. It belongs in a sub-genre of horror which many critics refer to as the New French Extremity: a "crossover between sexual decadence, bestial violence and troubling psychosis".
I find this to be a very distinctive yet under-appreciated category of film; you may have also heard of others such as Martyrs (2008) or most recently Raw (2016). These films, albeit less popular within our westernised society, view the world in a visceral and substantially violent way and yet evoke a sense of empathy. Films such as Haute Tension demand your attention and your willingness to engage with the gore as, in most cases, it's integral to the storyline.
The most interesting part of this film to me was Marie's psyche and how it's divided in such a substantial way. The 'normal' Marie feigns introversion, a disdain for being "sex-crazed", a logical yet gentle being: the 'other', the unknown, is lustful and violent, possessive and utterly terrifying. One might argue that this is an example of self-demonisation: Marie and Alex's relationship, although initially clarified as purely a platonic friendship, holds such strong undertones of homo-eroticism that one could be mistaken for thinking they are lovers in the first act.
However, it becomes clearer throughout the narrative that this tenderness is one-sided. Alex, it seems, is focused on boys and boys alone. So, despite her flaws (and you will see them), Marie may well just be a byproduct of repressing her own desires, whether that is a coping mechanism ingrained in her or whether it's something she chooses to do to preserve her friendship.
Murder in this film varies from overly explicit to subtle in a way I thought unachievable. Let's take Alex's father for example: spoiler, he does not live it out to see the plot twist at the end. Alex's father is killed almost silently, with an exception of some good old-fashioned whimpering: the scene is unnerving to the viewer, not because the poor sod has his head struck off with a side-table, but because the diegetic sound is almost non-existent. There are no guttural screams to flinch at, no music to remain cautious of. You are left to sit and watch a man die, and that's it.
This film is unforgivably violent in places, genuinely heartbreaking in others. The NFE movement is underrated in its ability to present an equal ratio of horror and political commentary and I hope this in part will make you reconsider and watch some other films within this genre.
If you like this film, I'd also recommend the following:
- Calvaire (2004)
- Frontiers (2007)
- Martyrs (2008)
- Mutants (2009)
- Raw (2016)
Overall rating: 8/10
- K
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