User reviews

This is a disturbingly twisted, absurd yet original movie ... and it is the first of three! Made on a miniscule budget, The Human Centipede gives its audience some truly horrid moments. Two young (and annoying) American girls are in Europe and headed to a club when their rental car blows a tire in the middle of nowhere after dark (in these types of horror films -- surprise, surprise!). Needing assistance, they seek out the nearest shelter ... which just happens to be inhabited by Dr. Crazy-Psycho-Sick-Brained-Bastard. Offering the girls water while he "calls" for help, he has secretly drugged them to get them where he wants them (them along with another unfortunate third).

From the VERY literal and non-misleading title of the movie ... one can pretty much assume what he wants them to become. This is one of the sickest movies I have probably ever come across, and yet ... it is watchable -- highly watchable (as one continually asks themselves WHAT is coming next?!).

German actor Dieter Laser plays the mad doctor (who was world-renowned for separating Siamese twins) very well as he is most-convincing as a warped genius (who has LOST it). He may play for some slight camp ... but in this movie its allowed to work. There are many, many, many plot holes (or craters) here and there throughout the movie, but they can be overlooked because something with a title-like-this is given some liberties.

While this film was titled specifically for the curious-minded, it is not for the feint of heart or queasy. Disturbingly twisted and absurd, The Human Centipede is not a film that one will quickly forget.

This movie is trash. It's a sick fetish-fueler for some weird cult to get off to. The plot is non-existent. If you want to know what this movie is about in a nutshell, here are some key plot points - mouth sewn to anuses, swallowing feces, and humans turned into slaves without dignity. People will say it's an original idea, but OF COURSE IT IS. It's never been done before because NO ONE HAS THOUGHT OF SOMETHING AS SICK AS THIS YET. After watching, I felt like I needed counseling, or something to make me forget the entire concept. On top of that, there is pathetic dialogue, acting, and directing. The movie literally ends without anything resolved and you just think "What was the point of this?" There's no greater idea, or hidden metaphors. The movie is about swallowing feces. DO NOT WATCH IT.

Some movies are so much talked about, you have to see it. This movie was made popular through the animation series Southpark. In the episode called "HumancentiPad", season 15 episode 1, Stan was connected to an Ipad the same way. After this episode aired, everyone was wondering where Southpark got their inspiration, well, the movie called "The Human Centipede". And the movie went viral and became a cult hit overnight. Yes, the acting is bad, but on the other hand, the effects are nice. Yes the story is thin, but on the other hand it's easy to follow. Yes, it's more gross then scary, but on the other hand, it do got it's scary moments. If you really want to see the most gross, intense, well made movie ever, you have to see Martyrs (2008). See, the Dutch movies always are recognizable because they have something different, and that makes them always enjoyable.

"The Human Centipede" will definitely repulse most of its viewers. It's not so much as gore-filled as say, "Hostel" or "Zombie", but it's the idea behind the movie that will leave a lingering, nauseating feeling days after you've seen it.

The story is simple: 2 American girls on vacation in Germany are invited to a party. They rent a car and on their way they get a flat tire. Unable to fix the problem by themselves they walk in the middle of the rainy night and arrive at what looks like a decent, upper class residence. A creepy old man let's them in so the girls can use his phone. Right from the start we know this guy is evil through and through. It seems the German guy is a respected surgeon, known for his "siamese twins" separation procedures. But the guy (who is ironically called "Josef", a nod to the angel of death himself: Josef Mengele)wants to try a new surgical procedure on the girls and with the help of another victim (a Japanese guys), he will create what he dubs, "The Human Centipede".

No explanation is given as to why this Josef guy wants to do a procedure that serves no purpose at all (unless he wants to sell freaks to traveling circuses), nor any background is ever mentioned or hinted at (it seems the director wanted to avoid any audience sympathy for this deranged doctor). Still, "The Human Centipede" remains a harrowing experience to watch.

When the movie was over, all I could think of was that the girls would've save themselves from A LOT of trouble had they known how to change a flat tire. Sure, they were going to a fancy party, were all dressed up and stuff but they never ever checked for a tire replacement in the trunk. They thought it would be "much easier" to walk in the middle of the night with the pouring rain on them in a country where they barely knew anyone or the language.

If it was me directing, I'd call this flick, "The Flat Tire"!

It is very difficult to review a movie called The Human Centipede (First Sequence). There is little chance one will be lured to a viewing under false pretences so if a movie delivers what you expect, is it not then an undisputable success? Yes and no as the film is a struggle between concept, execution and nausea but what is admirable, in addition to its fearless boundary pushing, is its restraint. Yes you read that correctly, restraint. Contrary to so many of the torture porn films that try to punch up the shock value through sadism The Human Centipede has almost no blood and lets your imagination fill in the horrific blanks.

If you know nothing about this movie, allow me to enlighten you. The film revolves around a deranged surgeon who propels the old hallmark of a 'mad doctor' to delirious extremes. He kidnaps people and sews them together mouth to anus (yes you also read that correctly). Through that procedure which involves removal of the teeth and stitching together the skin of the forward and rear victim, the gastric system is thereby connected. This combined with slicing ligaments in the knees to prevent erect walking and you got yourself one human centipede.

Likely, your mind is already made up on if you want to see this movie; you are either intrigued or repulsed (likely both). What elevates The Human Centipede from its high concept is the tension, the elements of pitch black humour, the subtle skewering of horror conventions and finally the performance of the main villain. The good Doctor Heiter is played by German Dieter Laser (or as I like to pronounce in a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, 'Deeder Lazer') and he is truly terrifying; icy, ruthless and completely unsympathetic towards his captives. He has no motives behind his motives. His drive to create this abomination stems from the death of his '3-dog', which I'm sure you can fathom what that entails, but his desire to attempt anything in this realm to being with is never explored.

The Human Centipede is directed by Tom Six and the man knows how to terrify and disgust in unison. The movie does lose some of its momentum around the ¾ mark but bursts back to life at the finale. The final scene is perhaps the most powerful and affecting in the entire movie and stayed with me far after the initial shock had faded. The slogan for this movie reads '100% medically accurate' and while I'm unsure of the validity of that statement it really stands as a moot point; plausible or preposterous, The Human Centipede does its job the best since the original Saw.

Tom Six is already planning a sequel entitled The Human Centipede (Full Sequence). The dark cloud that looms over this project will be the tendency of directors to try an one-up their originals, usually through increased gore, instead of expanding upon the elements that worked, such as the tension and the allowed space for the viewers mind to go wild. Necessity of a follow-up aside, this is one of the single most brazen and memorable works of horror in many years; see it if you dare.

Read my review of the sequel: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1530509/reviews-106

Motto: "Behind every great man, there are two great women." 'The Human Centipede' gives the viewer a voyeuristic glimpse of the life of hobbyist Dr. Joseph Heiter whose ambitions are both exotic and daring. In the opening scene we find Joe sobbing about his failed past projects. We watch and feel Joe's strength as he makes the decision to put the past behind him and to face the future with renewed optimism. But, as Joe soon finds out, a hobbyist's life is not easy. The next day, Joe learns that a true hobbyist has to make great sacrifices, if he is to complete his project in the best possible way. The enfolding scenes serve as a reminder to all of us that a passionate man does not settle for less than perfection. Joe rests at nothing, does not sleep, and does not eat until his project is finished.

After what is truly a great start of his project, we follow Joe as he is dealt a setback and faces it heads-on. Fearing for the worst, in an exciting turn of events, Joe's inventiveness ultimately gets him back on track. From there on, he is heading straight for success. When the last part of his project is finally completed, we experience Joe's intense fulfillment through a rare display of affection (while he is a passionate and intense human being, Joe is not a people's person). In an emotional scene, we find Joe celebrating his success and taking pictures of his accomplishment. In a particularly gripping moment, Joe holds up a mirror to his project, as if for it to see its own beauty. The scene concludes with Joe lifting up the mirror like a trophy—an obvious tribute to the many successes of the German football team.

But his success is short-lived. It all starts with a phone ringing. Before Joe realizes what is going on, agents of an intrusive government are at his doorstep, threatening to jeopardize all that Joe has accomplished. Will the forces of bureaucracy prevail, or will Joe conjure up a clever plan to save his project, his spiritual livelihood? You will have to see for yourself.

The international cast delivers an enticing performance. No one plays a German like Dieter Laser (Joseph Heiter). Watching Ashlynn Yennie's convincing characterization of an American tourist (Jenny), it is hard to believe this is her debut role in a motion picture. It is a privilege to see Ashley Williams perform as the character Lindsay. Even a novice viewer should be able to recognize her extensive background in theater and musical theater and her world-class training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Last but not least, although he did not speak any lines in a language that I could understand, I think Akihiro Kitamura played the part of some Japanese guy wonderfully.

All in all the film makes for a promising start of what should proves to be an exciting franchise not unlike such hits as Look Who's Talking Now and Harry Potter.

Viewer discretion: some scenes graphically depict the consumption of alcohol. Furthermore, the word 'ficken', a German verb, is uttered early on in the film. Finally, throughout the film brief flashes of nudity (nipple slips) can be seen.

Wow, what a pointless and redundant film.

It would seem word of mouth has spread into the anus of the internet and shat out this crap film.

Despite the hype, the Human Centipede does nothing interesting with its premise or characters - its almost as if Six thinks the *concept* can do most of the leg work for him.

And apparently those taken by the original concept require little else from a film - like working through the implications of its own premise or delivering an experience that can stand on its own feet.

Take away the striking *image* of three people turned into a human centipede, and you are left with an indistinct film with few thrills.

The mad scientist trope barely transcends hackneyed cliché, and the film completely squanders a great opportunity for subtext: what (for example) is the meaning of a male Asian as the head of the centipede and/or what does two American women following him mean?

The plot is threadbare and takes the path of least resistance - the pointless film leads from point A to point B. Despite the 'logical' (linear) approach of the 'narrative', the characters motivations generally defy logic and rational explanation.

Unlike great horror movies, this film literally has nothing to say about modern culture, gender roles, human fears or scientific hubris.

Even worse, the cheap thrills are standard fare. The only thing that can be said in its favor is that some of the images (creep in the car, the centipede itself) are perversely funny.

The film fails to suspend disbelief or encourages identification with its own protagonists either. Instead of (say) feeling sorry for the two female characters in the film, you pity the two female *actresses* playing bare breasted women on all fours and eating crap in the form of Six's 'script'.

Dieter was typically creepy as the mad scientist, but he can do this stuff in his sleep. Anyone familiar with his work on Lexx knows how remarkable he can be - his Mantrid is amongst the great scifi villains. And the image of Mantrid's floating head on a jar remains much more incisive than anything on display here.

I finally got around to seeing this film and frankly I was not shocked; probably because I had read about its grossness far in advance. What I wasn't prepared for was the fact that a large part of the grossness was not actually shown, but rather spoken of and indirectly seen through bandage attachments. At some points it was very Hithcockian in the fear was instilled indirectly. Graphs showed how the surgery would be accomplished; only bits of the surgery were actually shown; the graphic defecation scene was verbalized and intimated. Very Hitchcock were the master of suspense a tad more mad. However, the scariest part of the film was Dieter Laser's performance. I can't recall ever seeing a mad scientist on film that projected madness and insanity as deeply as Mr. Laser……..Every time he was on screen you could feel your skin crawl with fear. Brilliant performance, mainly because it went to the edge of "over the top" but never actually got over the top. I've also read reviews which damned the actresses for not being "good actresses". A bunch of hooey for sure from those observers. I'd like to see them top the girls "tongue in cheek" performances. I never for a moment didn't see fear in their eyes, which btw is also another means of showing more fear than the actually surgery which was done while the cast was under anesthetics. In the beginning of the film you could feel the chemistry of the girls as they giggled about in their hotel room. A definite chemistry; one which would be needed as they got closer to each other at the Dr.'s house. Hats off to this film for sever reasons; suspense, fear and scare without an overload of blood and gore as in other films. Think of the Akitamura's job of convincing us that he was frightened, angry and scared in his native Japanese tongue, while again having tongue in cheek fears to contend with of his own character. Bottom line: An original, at the edge, horror film. Where does on go after that…..kudos to the cast for braving out a fully developed and overly imaginative film………..and to Mr. Six for following through. Can you imagine the sales pitch he had to prepare? Besides, our news media shows more graphic crap than this on their 24/7 newscasts (eg. There was more gore with Kadhafi killing, etc.)

EPIC FAIL.

I wasn't expecting much when my friend talked me into watching this one but this movie isn't just bad, it is without a doubt the most horrendous film I have ever seen. The only reason I even kept watching to the end was to see just how much it would suck so I could come online and rant about it. I love horror movies, and can put up with more cheesy, idiotic ones than most people, but The Human Centipede takes the cake as the most painful to watch, pathetic example of a movie that has ever been made. I've seen porno movies with better acting, and nothing about this movie is suspenseful or terrifying, just shock value grotesque scenes in a ridiculous plot that never develops into anything interesting for even one minute. I feel sorry for the no name actors that chose to be in this film because their careers all ended here. Do not waste your time watching this crap, you will be very disappointed. I would have given it zero stars if I could have.

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE) is probably the most awful film I can think of that's famed for its notoriety. The whole concept of the film is some huge gross-out thing about a mad scientist creating a human centipede out of some unwilling test subjects, and that's all there is to it.

It's not enough material to sustain a genuine running time, so we get lots of dull scenes elsewhere. There are random murders, some scenes of over-acting, repetitive escapes and captures, and some bad acting on the part of the participants. The whole 'human centipede' stuff is played for maximum revulsion with some truly gross moments that are designed to test the strength of one's stomach.

It's not that this film is extremely gory, because it isn't; it's just that the concept is so off-putting that it's hard to think about it without being repulsed. I guess that's the hook. In any case, as a film it's a complete failure, the worst type of 'torture porn' that I can think of, and I hated every moment of it.

Skip this movie. I watched it just to see if they actually did a movie based on some nut job sewing three people together ars to mouth. They did. They really did it and it is awful. I'm certain there are people out there that have been waiting for this subject to be delivered on film so if you are one, here you go.

There is no twisting storyline. There is no plot. There is no acting. Just a nut job sewing three people together. I may never be the same again after watching this cinematic abomination.

Run from it. If a friend suggests watching it end the friendship. It's that bad. It should get zero stars it's so bad.

A lot of "free speech believers" claim this movie should be banned. That fact alone garnered an additional star from me.

Mr. Laser is a phenomenal mad scientist. He barely even has to act. His face alone is enough to creep you out.

The concept is twisted and the execution is depraved. If you've seen films like Hostel or Salo, and not freaked out or fainted, don't expect to see something worse. The gore in this one, for the most part, is implied. This low-budget gag-fest does a great job of giving you just enough indications to keep your mouth open and your eyes glued.

Aside from Dieter Laser, the acting in this film is atrocious. The two lead females are two of the most annoying characters (prior to both of them not being able to talk) I've seen in a long time. To be fair, they do a decent job of on-screen crying and looking really scared. The Japanese guy is decent, and has a really well-acted scene at the end.

Overall, this is a decent low-budget horror flick with solid scenery and great usage of lighting and atmosphere. The centipede is twisted enough to keep a horror fan's interest, but not so over-the-top that it looks cheesy. Anybody that says any film should be banned should re-evaluate their values. This is fiction and everyone has a voice....even if it's one you don't like. Really this movie is a 5/10 or 6/10 if I'm feeling generous, but because it has offended so many mainstream movie-goers so badly that they feel the need to sign up on IMDb and WARN the world and call for a ban....it gets a 7/10.

HERE BE SPOILERS.

I'll be honest - the only reason I got this movie was because I was intrigued by the gruesome concept. So I watched it the other day, and was left feeling dirty, ashamed of myself, bored, and disappointed. There was very little in the way of scary moments in this film other than a few escape attempts by the victims. I found myself squeamishly anticipating the capture/torture/operation of the victims, but even that was a letdown, and once the centipede is created, it just gets boring.

This was essentially a low-rent version of Silence of the Lambs; a guy kidnaps people and puts them in his basement where he turns them into a perverse personal art project. This movie, however, has horrible acting and implausible situations.

The American chicks were so dumb and annoying that by the time their mouths were sewn to each other's asses, I was glad just to not have to listen to them talk any more. The cops were bumbling and stupid - what police officers would accept a drink from a possible murder suspect? And the weird scenes of the doctor training the centipede like it was a pet dog...was that supposed to be funny? It was just off-color and weird.

Bad, bad movie. Tom Six - you suck.

Okay, American tourists with a car that breaks down - of course they go wandering through the dark German woods (you could play a drinking game and have to take a shot every time they say "Lindsay" and "Jenny" to each other - you'd be wasted) - and they come about a remote house and wouldn't you know it - just their luck - the house belongs to a complete nutjob surgeon who used to separate conjoined twins and now is obsessed with stitching people together. I'm no doctor, but there seem to be major flaws in his medical design - oh well. The film is kooky but well made, the lead guy (who looks a bit like Lance Henrickson) gives 100% and is fine as the mad doctor but the whole concept reeks of teenage boys getting stoned for the first time and playing a game - let's come up with the grossest thing that could be done to you in surgery. That's what it plays like - a teenage boy horror/fantasy/gross out. But with films like Saw and Hostel, it was only a matter of time before there was something like this and before long, they'll be other weird concepts that will try and top this one. Look out for ManBaby - see we sew a baby on the back of a guy who hates kids! It's creepy and it's funny! Hoo boy. Of course there's an itch to see something like this - the same itch that made people pay money to go see a freak show back in the day.

I think people only rate this in a wrong way because of its disgusting and horrific elements. But I must say I couldn't look away. The acting isn't very good and the shots composition is quite boring. But you can clearly tell there was some form of "passion" behind the film and it was super entertaining and how a horror film should make me feel.

-Watched it for the first time yesterday with my gf, didn't know what to expect. Certainly didn't expect to laugh as much.

-Also we were both genuinely interested about how the experiment would work. Had a few tropes, two teenagers and a cabin in the woods kind of thing, but it worked fine.

-Remember this is a bargain basement movie, it did a good job, well done guys. Just get past the first 5 minutes of hammy acting and the rest is quite enjoyable indeed.

-Contrary to popular belief, very little gore, more the suggestion of torture and violence, but that is often way more chilling.

I have heard LOTS of things about The Human Centipede. Lots of negative things and lots of positive things, and I have to start off with what is easiest.

For all of it's premise, honestly, the film was not AS gory or sick as I imagined. Honestly though, I am glad. With a film like this it's hard to review properly because it's almost as if a film like this will exist whether people hate it or not. I mean, it's meant to disturb. BUT one thing has to be said, the film was, surprisingly, very well-made. I expected a 'shocking' and nasty B-grade horror. The only B-grade aspect of the film was the performances from Ashley Williams and Ashlynn Yennie. When I first saw them on screen they come off very phony and unlikeable, especially when they were chit-chatting about usual chatter. BUT even their performances, as they became more and more scared, actually worked, and dare I say it, pretty fantastic for a film like this. I don't know if it was actually acting or what, but one could really feel for their physical and emotional distress.

Surprise after surprise, the film has one central fantastic performance, and that is from the twisted Dieter Laser. Like I said before, the film didn't only concentrate on shocking us, but it also showed us a lot of this man's twisted mind. Also, the lack of music helped build real tension.

Ultimately, I actually have to recommend this film. It's VERY well-made and has one terrific performance, and the film itself, for all its sick premise, at least isn't a sequel or a horror remake. It boasts originality, although it doesn't do anything completely original regarding how the premise works out, The ending is also brutal, and I am sure it will linger in the mind. Still, it's hard to really 'love' a film like this. Compared to Saw, it is actually a 'better' film.