 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
High Tension
- Review Date: December 14, 2006
- R
- Genre: Horror
- 2005
Common Sense Media says
This gruesome slasher movie is not for kids.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie is not for children. It contains multiple horrific murders (by knives, axes, circular saws, and other sharp implements, as well as a shotgun), frightening and frequent jump scenes, a long shot of a girl in the shower, a girl's masturbation, a dead dog, drinking, smoking, cursing, an implied blow job (below a truck window frame) by a decapitated head. Lesbianism is associated with insanity.
What's the story?
This French-made film (unevenly dubbed into English for U.S. release) begins with two pretty college friends -- Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco) and Marie (Cécile De France) -- driving in a cornfield, en route to Alex's parents' country home. They tease one another, flirt vaguely, and arrive just in time to head to their bedrooms. A lumbering, grunting killer arrives, brandishing a huge knife, wearing filthy overalls and a trucker's cap, his face rarely in frame. Following the loud murders of Alex's mother, father, and little brother, the killer chains her up and kidnaps her in his van, promising to ravish and abuse her. Marie follows, determined to save her friend, and so seeming like the slasher genre's usual Final Girl, at once frightened, resourceful, and increasingly violent, by the end mirroring the killer's tactics in her efforts to save Alex.
Is it any good?
Gruesome and knowingly derivative, HIGH TENSION delivers what it promises: bloody violence, nubile young bodies tense with pain and fear, and screaming victims. If you expect and want to see a peculiarly old-fashioned, low-budget ugliness, this self-serious movie is unsurprising but also quite aware of its ancestry.
Borrowing liberally from 1970s slasher movies by Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven, this film tacks an intriguing addition to standard horror conventions by showing Marie in a closet as she witnesses a slaying, a scene that suggests her responsibility as voyeur. A twist toward the end further challenges conventions and underlines the genre's illogical presumption that viewers take pleasure in observing pain. Making the pain almost too close -- with repeated jump scenes and uncomfortably close camerawork -- the movie doesn't grant much moral or visceral space.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the enduring appeal and specific gender dynamics of slasher movies. Formulaic and brutal, this subset of horror usually features two types of girls (sometimes overlapping): fearful victims and resilient fighters, as well as monsters whose defeat translates into their own emasculation. Does their doubleness make female characters seem untraditionally strong or stereotypically frail? How does the rural class setting or underclass killer reinforce stereotypes of ignorant, brutal "hicks"?
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AGE
Disappointment
Fans of slasher films will enjoy this movie. I didn't see the theatrical release, but I did see the unrated DVD version. I imagine the unrated version contained more gore!
The surprise plot twist at the end was a bit of a disappointment and raises questions which are left unanswered when one recalls the events leading up to this point.
I give the film a high rating because the special effects as well as the cinemetography was excellent. The story line, up till the twist, was also good.
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AGE
Are you all stupid???? Under messages you have "Serial killer with dirty fingernails." What is that??? The message of the movie is don't let your emotions take over you. If she didn't love Alex so much she wouldn't have killed her whole family. I'm only 14 and i'm smart enough to see that. That is a good message.
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AGE
One of the best slasher movies ever made.
High Tension is unique from other horror films.
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AGE
Prettty good, but not for kids.
Disturbing and shocking, the ending is one of the best that i've seen. Not a movie for kids.
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Once in a while,nothing like a good big bloodbath for a movie break.
Well,this sums it up:Another big leap in French horror cinema.I'm 13 and I've seen tons of French horror over the years(Inside,Martyrs,Live Feed,Frontier(s),A Serbian film)you name it.Actually,Serbian Film is Swedish but its still an awesome movie,not for weak hearts.Ive seen almost every single horror or splatter film from the day they were made until today,if not every single one.In the french horror category,this will remain as one of the most disturbing films ever made,with Inside at the first,probably because of the never ending amount of blood,gore and guts and the famous baby removing scene which will undoubtedly scare the crap out of many.So what makes High Tension unique?Well,just like an awesome French horror flick needs to be,add blood,scares,thrills,suspense,gore and a awesome,memorable twist ending,That's what a good horror flick needs.The plot is pretty snappy at times,but goes fast(I HATE films that have slow moving plots) and manages to cram everything into a good hour and half.Blood is spewed at every opportunity,but the ending totally got me.A definitely memorable one.And watch out for the car scene where the killer slices the windshield of a guys car to get him and saws him which is one of the most memorable super gory unique moments in splatter cinema.I have only seen the Unrated version when I was 8 one year after its release but the effects are still good.A must watch for French horror reviewers.So if you haven't at all seen this yet,get down to Blockbuster ,get a copy of this and watch it.Hurry,why are you still looking at your computer?
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| Studio: | Lionsgate |
| Director: | Alexandre Aja |
| Cast: | Cecile De France, Maiwenn Le Besco, Philippe Nahon |
| Genre: | Horror |
| Run time: | 85 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | June 10, 2005 |
| DVD release date: | October 11, 2005 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | Graphic bloody killings, terror, sexual content, and language |
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