Many people have been disgusted, offended and emotionally scarred by the content of The Human Centipede. Reviewers have labelled it as; and I quote: ‘a revolting concept’, ‘sickening without a sense of purpose’, ‘torture porn’ and ‘the worst fucking piece of shit you’ll ever seen in you life’… Okay, I made the last one up, but the general consensus is that people DO NOT like it. Contrary to popular opinion, I feel that Dutch director Tom Six’s intentions and overall message interwoven into the film have been greatly misinterpreted.
I’ve watched The Human Centipede: First Sequence twelve times (and on one of these occasions I have literally been brought to tears by the purposeful gore and sheer artistry). Yes, the film is a bit gory. Yes, it depicts a mad scientist forcibly sewing three people together through their digestive tracts and YES, on the surface this plot may appeal almost exclusively to coprophiliacs and future-sociopaths. The problem is, people are too busy focusing on the literal repercussions of sewing people together anus-to-mouth, which is literally eating shit, that they misinterpret what the actions of Dr. Heiter allegorically represent…
Heiter’s brainchild- the human centipede, can actually be read as a subtle social critique of society’s current obsession with plastic surgery and body modification. Who knows where the next logical step from getting your teeth filed and whisker implants to make you look like a cat could be leading? Tom Six has actually exposed the cultural zeitgeist of people wanting to constantly change who they are and for that I salute him. The character of Dr. Josef Heiter isn’t simply a crazed mad scientist. He’s a misunderstood cosmetic surgeon, driven to the brink of derangement by one too many sets of silicone implants.
The Human Centipede: First Sequence is a masterpiece, a triumph of horror cinema in the realms of Nosferatu (1922) or The Exorcist (1973). You heard it here first.
I’ve been so caught up with the metaphorical message of the narrative that I almost forgot to even mention the superb lighting of the film… Which is spot on from the sickly amber filters; all the way to the retina-burningly bright, pristine whiteness of Dr. Heiter’s surgery room.
Ford Maddox Brown