10/15/2011
When the original "Human Centipede: First Sequence" came out in 2009 it instantly becomes a cult classic. You can see my review here. Disgusting, wrong and sadistic are only a few of the nicer words critics have called it. Director Tom Six is quite the showman of shock, having the audacity to create two of the sickest "mainstream" films in recent history.
Of course, with any sequel, it needs to be bigger, bolder, and shockier (yeah, I made that word up). Since the great Dr. Heiter was killed at the end of the first film, we get a new protagonist in the form of Martin, a short and very rotund man who has lived a very disturbing life. He is mentally handicapped and was severely abused by his father, his therapist has dreams of raping him and his mother even tries to kill him. Martin seems to get by with an obsession with the original Human Centipede film. He plans to create a centipede of his own but with twelve people instead of the original three. Martin works as an overnight parking garage attendant and knocks out a bunch of people and keeps them in a warehouse. While Dr. Heiter was a skilled surgeon, Martin is quite crude in his methods.
Every aspect of this film has been designed to shock and disgust to the highest degree and some scenes are just so outrageous you might find yourself chuckling. Martin is spectacularly realized by actor Laurence R. Harvey, his name could be an alias since anything about him is hard to find, and there was another somewhat famous actor named Laurence Harvey in the 1950s and 60s. I don't remember Martin ever saying a word, but his character and mannerisms are just so perfect for this role. He is creepy, disgusting, dirty and utterly insane. In a very interesting twist, Martin is able to get one of the actresses from the first film to show up at his warehouse with the promise of auditioning for a Quentin Tarantino film.
Director Tom Six also had the grapes to present everything in black and white. He knows how to push peoples buttons and everything is planned out to give a certain effect. This movie is quite hard to watch even when you know what you're in for, and for people to pay money to see it, I'm sure it brings a huge smile to Six's face.