Haute Tension's one quality element is good gore FX. That's it. And I spent my childhood watching horror films ignoring how bad the FX were. Now I want something more than just gore. Haute Tension delivered nothing but gore and sleaze. And there wasn't even enough gore. It's a dud. And Aja is King of the New Millennium Horror Hacks.
When you direct a better film then you can use the word hack. Hack is a word for people who are jealous of other's successes and wish they done something with their lives. Instead they just criticize others works, even though they themselves have no motivation to do or accomplish anything. Aja is one of the best things in the horror genre right now, and it's not just because he creates great gore scenes. He's a talented director who knows how to stylishly shoot a scene as well as create tension. I love Friday films, but if you think they are better directed then anything Aja has done you are crazy! PS Everyone is open to their opinions, but you really are a negative hater of the horror genre. You are part of the reason that the genre is dying, and nothing but remakes are getting made! It's okay to like more then a handful of films, I promise! Stop being so judgmental, they're horror films for god sakes!
I went Maniac, although on my last viewing of High Tension, I didn't mind it as much as the first couple of times. I still can't bring myself to forgive it for the imaginary truck or the surveillance camera, but a lot of what I thought didn't add up actually was making better sense.
That's your opinion. Here's mine: Aja can build suspense with the best of them. The scene with Cecile de France hiding under the bed while the killer searches the house still has me on the edge of my seat, even after repeated viewings. Equally good is the scene with the counter ticking away at the gas station as Cecile is trying to escape unnoticed. Some people dislike the twist ending. I personally loved it - for me, it works because Cecile establishes such a likable heroine. Seriously, the first version I saw of Haute Tension was cut, and I loved it. Gore is the least important factor in my appreciation of this movie.
High Tension. Maniac is great too. Thing is my girl sits through Maniac and laughs at the clumsiness of it. After 30 minutes of High Tension she got up and was like "I can't take this it is eating my nerves alive." High Tension has problems, for sure (like the ending) but damn, it delivers what the title promises.
I thought Maniac was boring and a little annoying...I may have to give it another chance, but for now my vote would be for High Tension.
Maniac is an 80's Classic, and a personal favorite. HT was really good, but I like Maniac a little bit more.
It's really like comparing chalk and cheese, but I chose Maniac. I do like Haute Tension very much, but Maniac is just such a great, grimy slasher, and Spinell is fantastic in it.
Maniac has fond memories for me as I had to sneak into the theater to see it when I was 14 years old. High Tension was ok but I thought it got too much hype (I bought an import DVD before it came out here) for what it was.
Found this old thread, thought it was a really cool idea for debate. I personally love both films. Seen them both probably 10 times each, give or take. I was obsessed with Maniac as a kid based purely on the shotgun-Savini scene. If you held a gun to my head and asked me to pick my favorite death I've ever seen in a horror movie, I'll probably end up going with that one. My buddy and I would rewind the bejesus out of that VHS tape and watch this over and over again. Brilliant. The other brilliant aspect of Maniac comes with the scenes inside Frank's apartment when he's by himself. Hearing his thoughts, with those mannequins around him....... very creepy, very dirty..... just very very effective scenes in my opinion. I thought it was very unusual watching a slasher movie and spending a good chunk of screen time in the killer's shoes. With that being said.......it doesn't exactly have a ton of rewatch value. It's not a fun movie by any stretch of the imagination. I'll watch it every year or two when I'm in the mood. As far as High Tension is concerned. I think it's a modern masterpiece. I fucking love every frame of that movie. What's scarier than someone ringing your door bell and murdering your family? With zero motive. In the absolute middle of no where. The tone, the score, the violence, it just works for me on every level. I also understand people's opinions regarding the ending. Plot holes you say. I get it. The one scene in the truck with a decapitated head giving a little lap love....... it didn't ruin one second of that movie for me. I mean, it's a movie.....who's to say that really happened? I don't need Shakespearean-esk writing in my horror. I bought the "Haute Tension" dvd version online and at the time the only dvd player I had at my apartment was a playstation 2. It worked perfectly fine until the very ending. At the buzz saw scene it just stopped working! It was fucking with my mind!! LOL So I actually didn't learn the twist ending for another couple of weeks when I obtained another dvd player finally. I wasn't let down. Never understood the complete hate some have for this flick, even if the ending "ruined" it for ya...... like that 10 seconds of story line somehow took something away from the preceding 89.5 minutes.
I've seen Maniac several times. It's not a favorite, but I like it quite a bit. I especially love it's grimy aesthetic. High Tension, on the other hand, I can barely remember. I saw it once and had no interest in watching it again. I remember being struck by two things - that it was a rip off of Dean Koontz's book Intensity (I'm right in that, aren't I? Or did it credit the novel at some point?), and that the ending didn't really make sense (although I agree that it doesn't necessarily spoil the movie).
