Haute (High) Tension: Where do you stand?

Agreed. There are plenty of films with certain aspects that I really didn't like, the ending being the usual offender, and I still enjoy them enough to watch them again. Sometimes it takes multiple viewings for me to grow to like an ending.

 

I still can't for the life of me see what is so bad about the ending. It all seemed so clear to me. Oh well, I guess folks notice different things when they watch a movie. There is more than one movie everyone praises that I have no clue at all what it was even about so I am certainly not playing know it all.

As to what dwatts said, I didn't love the ending to They Came Back, but I still like the movie a lot. The journey was worth it, even without the payoff I was hoping for. I would still recommend it, with caution, to people I would think would be open to that kind of movie.

 

That was basically my point, onebyone - if the movie is good but the ending is a poor, I might say "Good film, was left cold by the ending" or some such thing. After all, can't say I like the ending to "City of the Living Dead", but I enjoy and watch the flick

 

Why would you not recommend the film, if you thought the first 85% of it was great.

"Hey don't watch Haute Tension it sucks, the first 75 minutes kicked major ass but the last 10 minutes, well I did't really agree with the direction it took. So don't watch it"

How does that makes sense. Ever thought the person you recommend it to would have a different view then you did?

Personaly at first I loved the film but wasn't sure if the ending made sense. After multiple viewings I now love the ending and I think it gives the film even more substance.

 

I finally watched this last night, and all throughout the movie I was thinking, "damn, this is kinda good." But then came the ending and I was just left thinking, "damn, that's fucked up!" I still liked the movie, ending and all, but damn, that was FUCKED UP! There really isn't any other way that I can describe it. It is defintely a "thinking man's (or woman's) horror movie, and pretty well made considering all of the discussion that's taken place here around it.

At first

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my gut reaction when it was revealed that Marie was the killer was the same as at the end of most M. Knight Shamma-lamma-ding-dong movies (especially The Village), and I felt like I'd been screwed over. But then the more I thought about it, it just seemed like a great portrayal of someone who is truly fucked up. Anything that doesn't make any sense in the movie, from the beginning where Marie and Alex are driving in the car, the scenes in the house when she meets the family, to the gas station scene and the "car chase", literally everything, is all in the mind of the psycho. After all, who's to say that what goes on in the mind of a psycho has to make sense to normal thinking people!!! It makes the whole "good Marie vs. bad Marie" totally plausible.

Since what I saw was a screener copy, that shifted to black and white and back to color periodically (something I've gotten very used to since most of what I watch is advace screeners), I'd be interested in seeing a version with extras, deleted scenes, commentaries, etc. The bouncing back and forth from badly dubbed inglish to French with subtitles was a bit annoying. But, I do want to add this, a real purchased version, that is, to my collection, so I'm going to have to do shome shopping now!

 

I too would of found a just alright option better!
It was an OK film, but too many blehs!

 

I hated the fuck out of this.

 

I enjoyed the intensity of it and the gore scenes, but a script defines a film to me and the script was the weakest piece of shit ever!! It could have worked, if done right!!!

 

Out of curiosity, what are some recent films that you did like?

 

-- the script was the weakest piece of shit ever!!--

Oh, you see, I watch Uwe Boll films, with a spattering of Mattei

 

Hahahahaha.

People always seem to forget the infinite amount of films that are far worse than what they've just watched.

 

I thought it was great. Bought the region 2 from Amazon.uk last fall. Got the poster hanging in my living room.

 

Bought the uncut version at Horrorfind tonight, boy does that one minute of added footage make a difference.

 

The script is perfectly fine. Without the twist, the script would actually be weaker, because then it'd just be a typical slasher film, albeit more gruesome and stylish than most. The twist gives it some added depth, and allows Aja to play around with the conventions of the slasher subgenre.

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I especially love the mirror scene where he plays with our expectations of the killer always revealing themselves in the mirror. The killer DOES show up in the mirror, just not in the way that we expect. I just love this, one of my favorite scenes in the film.

This isn't the sign of a weak script. And the twist? As stated numerous times, it makes perfect sense.

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I've seen a few complaints about why she has the scars from the car accident when she's in the mental hospital. For all we know, she could've climbed a tree, fallen out, and hit every branch on the way down. We don't know because we only saw the story from her twisted viewpoint! Its as plain as day.

 

For all we know this was the sequel to Tron then. I'm sick and fucking tired of these "altered viewpoint" films like Fight Club where you're lead to believe one thing and then you get your pants wipped down when you're not looking. You know why a lot of people saw it coming in this one? Because we've been taught a new trick to watch out for. I was one of the naieve ones I guess, who gave this film the credit for having the balls to tell a story. Tell the fucking story straight and if it's not worth telling, if it's been done before, if the only way to make it "different or original" is to pull one of these rabbits out of your ass, then don't fucking tell it at all...

 

I agree with Mok about the neverending supply of "twist endings" that promise to blow you out of your seat. IDENTITY, anyone? It's become expected, and therefore tiresome. And why advertise the twist? It much less effective if you know it is there and spend the entire movie trying to be the first to have it figured out.

But I enjoyed HIGH TENSION anyway, with all its "twisted" flaws in the Land of Logic. It had style, it looked good, it gave me a fun ride...not many others can make this claim. Not in a long, long time. Maybe I'm just not critical enough??

 

Yep I would definately agree there, I think that's why I hate the cop-out idea for the ending so much.

 

Yeah, it would have been just as much fun if they'd played it as a straight-up slasher flick.

 

I just finished watching this an hour or two ago. There really isn't much I can add that Mission_Code_Z and Onebyone didn't already say about why the ending works and why it totally worked for me. No need to be redundant, I say, especially when it was said so eloquently before me.

I absolutely LOVED this movie, and will be pushing for it to be on the viewing list at the Halloween party I'm going to. :evil:

 

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I loved it and I didn't even know there was going to be a twist ending because I refuse to read past thread titles of reactions to movies I haven't seen yet. Maybe that's what blew the movie for some of you... I agree with everyone here who felt the ending made complete sense. as for the haters: how would you have ended the movie? The killer tortures and kills Alex and then Marie gets revenge? Boring... and it's already been done...

The movie is much more interesting and psychologically complex the way it is.