The Human Centipede: Part 3 (Final Sequence)

[Puce Moment]

Laurence is a really interesting person - supremely intelligent and extremely cine-literate with an impressive knowledge of world cinema and theatre.

[Noodle Lizard]

Yeah, the baby crushing and that doctor who kept talking about wanting to have sex with 'the retard' were absolutely fucking woeful, like somebody had let a child write an 18. Apparently this is going to be the funniest of the three, which I'm wary is just going to be more of Six's 'un-PC' shite.

I've noticed a lot of Europeans (including Brits, to be fair) misunderstand what the term un-PC means.  They seem to think it means anything objectionable or offensive, and that certainly seems to be the case with Tom Six.  I don't remember anything actually un-PC about the first two films.

I do think offense for offense's sake is sometimes good, and I like that Six doesn't fall into that trap of trying to justify its excesses like A Serbian Film and Hostel did.  He's pretty much said "Yeah, it's a fucking gross idea and I wanted to make a movie about it", which I can't fault him for.  I don't think they're great movies by any means, even within the context of the "extreme gore/horror" subgenre, but I do admire his attitude towards them.  I can't really explain it.  And while the acting in 2 especially is very suspect, both antagonists have been quite good I think and the humour is often well-judged.  I think the second one is funnier than most people give it credit for.

And yeah I saw a couple of interviews with Laurence Harvey - seems like a really nice guy with a good approach to acting.  I felt a bit sorry for him when he started talking about how he still lives with his parents.  I wonder what they thought of HC2.

[Cerys]

I thought the first half of THC2 was actually pretty damn good.  Bleak as all hell, but good.  The second half started sliding, but some of the comedy was brilliant - specifically Martin reacts shots.

I had some serious trouble empathising sympathising

I was tired.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

[Replies From View]

They should make three films after this called The Human Butterfly, I reckon.

They could call them:

The Human Butterfly
The Human Butterfly 2
The Human Butterfly 3


Edit:  oh yeah I forgot that butterflies come from caterpillars and not centipedes.  Still a good idea though I am sure you agree.

Edit 2:  actually maybe The Human Butterfly 3 could instead be called The Butterfly Butterfly 1.  Yes I think that's best.

[Cerys]

The

Spoiler alert

Very Hungry

[close]

Human Caterpillar

The

Spoiler alert

Not As Hungry

[close]

Human Chrysalis

The

Spoiler alert

Kind Of Hungry

[close]

Human Butterfly

[idunnosomename]

Did I miss something among all this debate about whether 500 people is feasible but shouldn't a human centipede be 25 people long?

No more, no less

[Cerys]

You're assuming that the creators of each centipede are sane and rational.

[Uncle TechTip]

Indeed, with this third instalment it's starting to edge into the world of fantasy.

[idunnosomename]

They should do a prequel called the Centipede Human where a small child pulls all but four legs off a centipede

Much of the film could be a debate as to whether arms are homologous to a pair of legs or the mandibles

(Also I watched the trailer and the straight-faced "It looks medically feasible" made me laugh)

[weekender]

They should do a prequel called the Centipede Human where a small child pulls all but four legs off a centipede

I dunno, I'm going to be slightly disappointed with Human Centipede III now.

"OK, there's a 500-person centipede.  I've been through the practicalities of it via an online forum, and I concede that it might work, under limited 'fantasy' scenarios".

So why aren't there these giant children wandering around and pulling its legs off?

Then film #4 can be about the successful training of the human centipede to fight in battle.

Flashbacks to Doctor Strange, who was a child who once pulled the legs of an insect, something like that.  Honestly, it writes itself.

Once all that's been worked out, it's over to Marvel to explain the back story.

[Replies From View]

Did I miss something among all this debate about whether 500 people is feasible but shouldn't a human centipede be 25 people long?

No more, no less

Yeah you missed the fact that centipedes don't tend to have 100 legs.

Their name (originally "cuntipede") actually means "paedophile cunts", and to punish them for making us think the wrong thing about their leg number we will continue to stitch humans together mouth-to-anus until their name is forever ruined by association.

[idunnosomename]

Yeah you missed the fact that centipedes don't have 100 legs.

It seems the logical conclusion to have a Platonic centipede as the finale.

This is more of a human millipede

[olliebean]

Actually shouldn't centipedes and millipedes have 1/100 and 1/1000 of a leg, respectively?

[DukeDeMondo]

HC2 is a far more interesting and far funnier film than folk give it credit for. It's incredibly sharp a lot of the the time, and funny as fuck - when the Eraserhead-esque soundtrack turns out to be the result of the bloke upstairs playing his music too loud, for example - I still think there's a lot wrong with it, but it's a far better film than folk who've never seen it will tell you it is. Also, Lawrence is wonderful, and a friend of mine.

[Artemis]

I don't envy the poor bastard at the BBFC whose day begins with an unedited, unclassified copy of this movie landing on their desk for review.

[Cerys]

Also, Lawrence is wonderful, and a friend of mine.

Give him a hug from me and tell him that a crazed Welsh cripple thinks he's brilliant, please.

[BritishHobo]

Yeah, same for me too.

Second trailer.

Fair play to Tom Six, I like the utterly mental new direction he takes each film in. This looks like a demented ride. I can't wait.

[Kelvin]

That trailer's genuinely funny.

[BritishHobo]

The little partnership of the two previous bad guys looks really fun, as do the scenes where they're interviewing Tom Six.

I wonder if they'll make anything of the fact that the pair of them look identical to the antagonists of the first two films.

[Depressed Beyond Tables]

I'll wait for the stage show.

[Old Nehamkin]

Second trailer.

100% politically incorrect? I'M IN!

[BritishHobo]

Out in cinemas in the UK in June. Missed the chance to see the second one, no way I'm missing this.

I'm with you on the 'politically correct' thing though, Nehamkin. Six bangs on about political correctness more than Richard fucking Littlejohn.

[Rev]

Sort of a possible spoiler, but this one supposedly features the debut of the

Spoiler alert

Human Caterpillar,

[close]

which is something of a concept.

I'm getting a Tarantino 'Death Proof' vibe from this one - smug as fuck with nothing to back it up.  If you're making a disturbing or 'politically incorrect' film you probably don't need to bang on about it quite so much.  Hey guys I've got this joke right, it's the funniest joke ever, wait til you hear it, you laugh your arse off, it's that funny, seriously.

[Noodle Lizard]

I'm getting a Tarantino 'Death Proof' vibe from this one - smug as fuck with nothing to back it up.  If you're making a disturbing or 'politically incorrect' film you probably don't need to bang on about it quite so much.  Hey guys I've got this joke right, it's the funniest joke ever, wait til you hear it, you laugh your arse off, it's that funny, seriously.

But also if you've completely independently financed a film which is third in a trilogy that lost its surprise mainstream caché after the first one and does need to make some of its money back and you don't have any budget for advertising or marketing, it's not unforgivable for the filmmaker to "bang on about it" wherever he can.

He isn't really though, the "100% Politically Incorrect" thing is just a tagline which corresponds with the first two (100% Medically Accurate, 100% Medically INaccurate etc.)  The second one had an alternate tagline which was, quite amusingly I thought, just "Sick". 

[DukeDeMondo]

I blame Charlie Brooker for the fact that folk think that these films are stupid as fuck. The first was diverting enough, the second was genuinely funny and artful and antagonistic and deranged.

Looking forward to this immensely.

[Rev]

But also if you've completely independently financed a film which is third in a trilogy that lost its surprise mainstream caché after the first one and does need to make some of its money back and you don't have any budget for advertising or marketing, it's not unforgivable for the filmmaker to "bang on about it" wherever he can.

Only he did the same thing for the second film - which was initially well-positioned to be quite lucrative - trailing it with himself wandering around a car park in a blood-spattered white suit before he'd shot a second of it, proclaiming it to be the sickest film ever made.  Ordinarily I like that sort of hucksterism; I think it's his desire to put himself centre-stage that rubs me the wrong way.  Someone like William Castle was all about his movies, Tom Six seems to be all about being interviewed about his movies.

[Noodle Lizard]

Only he did the same thing for the second film - which was initially well-positioned to be quite lucrative - trailing it with himself wandering around a car park in a blood-spattered white suit before he'd shot a second of it, proclaiming it to be the sickest film ever made.  Ordinarily I like that sort of hucksterism; I think it's his desire to put himself centre-stage that rubs me the wrong way.  Someone like William Castle was all about his movies, Tom Six seems to be all about being interviewed about his movies.

I don't know if that trailer had been made before he'd shot the second one, I thought it was a homage to that Hitchcock trailer for Psycho.  But even if it was, who cares?  It's promotion.  As far as I can tell, he's financing these films entirely by himself (presumably through private investors), you have to try and sell it.  If that means being hyperbolic or confrontational, then so be it. 

I almost prefer his desire to be front-and-center of the marketing rather than silently churning things out for money like the "good" (i.e. well-paid) directors do.  You can be sure that he's not becoming a millionaire off any of these films, and he's hardly used them to skyrocket himself to fame.  As far as I know he hasn't started a podcast, hasn't turned up on panel shows, hasn't taken bit-part cameos in other films, and only really does interviews focusing on The Human Centipede (I haven't noticed him doing any more or less of those than any other indie director with a film to sell either, but I could be wrong).

I'm honestly not trying to be a contrarian here, but the more I hear against him the more my admiration for him grows.  He has a giddy, boyish enthusiasm for the films he makes which is so rare now in this industry and deserves to be celebrated, whether or not you like his work.  Like I said, I don't think either film is particularly special in and of itself (the phenomenon surrounding them certainly is, though), but fuck me if I'm not sick to death of dour, humourless filmmakers doing nothing but trying to placate their audience and win awards/box office, even if the films are good.

Look at this interview for HC2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtFNuIdXIqE - these are two guys who are genuinely excited about a film they've made.  And thought has clearly gone into it as well - most horror directors with a surprise hit would follow it up with something nearly identical just to cash in, but he didn't rest on his laurels and instead made an uncharacteristically meta-fictional follow-up with a completely different aesthetic and tone to the first.  Nothing wrong with this kind of thing, I reckon.  I am now Tom Six's biggest fan.

[BritishHobo]

most horror directors with a surprise hit would follow it up with something nearly identical just to cash in, but he didn't rest on his laurels and instead made an uncharacteristically meta-fictional follow-up with a completely different aesthetic and tone to the first.  Nothing wrong with this kind of thing, I reckon.  I am now Tom Six's biggest fan.

Definitely. I see a lot of comments on HC3 new (and it was the same when the first sequel came out) saying the same fairly expected things about 'another one?!' and it being unnecessary and dragging the idea out and such, but that all implies he's just knocked out another identikit film. Slam in another (but similar-looking) teenage girl, inexplicably have the villain survive his death, take no risks in terms of narrative or production. But he's been impressively inventive with them, and he clearly knows what he's doing, and is having great fun doing it.

Cheers for linking that interview, by the way. I'd not seen that one, and it's made me warm to him massively, especially when he talks about the comedic aspect.

I've seen Six talk here and there about releasing a kind of behind-the-scenes book with lots of production detail/stills and stuff from all three films. I'd love, but also hate, to have a copy of that. Also waiting to find out if they're planning a trilogy steelbook, which I'd snap up immediately. Otherwise I'll just buy the steelbook of 1+2.

[Rev]

I almost prefer his desire to be front-and-center of the marketing rather than silently churning things out for money like the "good" (i.e. well-paid) directors do.  You can be sure that he's not becoming a millionaire off any of these films, and he's hardly used them to skyrocket himself to fame.

It might just be might own cynicism, admittedly.  What I see with him is someone who has observed people like Lloyd Kaufman and William Castle, Quentin Tarantino and Ricky Gervais, and after directing a few films that didn't set the world alight wanted to try to emulate a bit of their fairy dust.  There's nothing wrong with cropping up in his own film as himself, but it does point to this desire he seems to have to make himself into a cult figure sooner rather than later.  His films are fun but they're not exactly boundary-pushing, and while enthusiasm is always welcome, the Human Centipede films have been variously silly and fun rather than momentous so far.  What'll he do if he comes up with something substantial?  He'll be known as the guy in the white suit who chatted shit about the daft centipede films.

[Replies From View]

Lloyd Grossman and Roy Castle

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