Haute tension (2003)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Alexandre Aja

Writers:

Alexandre Aja (writer)
Grégory Levasseur (writer)

Release Date:

10 June 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Hearts will bleed.

Plot:

Two college friends, Marie and Alexa, encounter loads of trouble (and blood) while on vacation at Alexa's parents' country home when a mysterious killer invades their quiet getaway.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Bound And Gagged | Blood | Chase | Villain Played By Lead Actor

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Cécile De France	...	Marie
Maïwenn Le Besco	...	Alexia (as Maïwenn)
Philippe Nahon	...	Le tueur
Franck Khalfoun	...	Jimmy
Andrei Finti	...	Alex's Father
Oana Pellea	...	Alex's Mother
Marco Claudiu Pascu	...	Tom
Jean-Claude de Goros	...	Police Captain
Bogdan Uritescu	...	Gendarme
Gabriel Spahiu	...	Homme voiture

Also Known As:

Switchblade Romance (International: English title) (UK) (DVD box title)
High Tension (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic bloody killings, terror, sexual content and language. (edited version); Rated NC-17 for strong graphic violence.

Runtime:

91 min | Germany:85 min (DVD version) | South Korea:84 min (re-cut version) | USA:89 min (edited version)

Country:

France

Language:

French | English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS (US version) | Dolby Digital (US version) | Dolby Digital EX (original version)

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | USA:R (edited for re-rating) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Australia:R | Czech Republic:15 | Sweden:15 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Argentina:16 | Portugal:M/18 | USA:R (cut) | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (cut) (DVD rating) (uncut) | Germany:18 (SPIO/JK) (cut) | Austria:18 | Canada:18A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Canada:R (Alberta) | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Norway:18 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:Limited (original rating) | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R (edited version) | Germany:18 (cut) | Canada:16+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Alexandre Films

Trivia:

Shot in 36 days.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the car driver is attacked near the end, Alex is showered in blood, including her face and teeth. In the next scenes, her teeth are perfectly white and the blood has dried very quickly.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Marie: I won't let anyone come between us any more.

Movie Connections:

References Halloween (1978)

Soundtrack:

A2

This is scum

Contrary to what many people think, cinema was not originally American. It started in France in the 1890's. For the first half of the twentieth century French cinema was always considered glamorous, aesthetic and prestigious. If you wanna make the perfect paradox, compare that to High Tension. Being un-pretentious was one of the motives that drove the French New Wave in the late 1950's early 1960's with directors like Goddard and Truffaut. The French New Wave was inventive, High Tension is everything but.

After talking about horror for a couple of minutes, the clerk at my local store recommended this to me. It was a mistake to listen to him. High Tension is nothing more than a rip-off of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left, and The Hills Have Eyes. There in no talent going into this picture whatsoever. The acting is bad, the directing is amateurish, and the writing is almost non existent (They pretty much just merged Hooper's and Craven's scripts into one, and took out bits here and there.) Even the music is pathetic. All we hear is a couple of keyboard licks repeated over and over again. John Carpenter often scores his movies like this, but at least he actually makes music using coherent scales and tones. This is just a rubbish remix.

On top of all this, High Tension is not scary. It is extremely dull and pointless, and should definitely be skipped. It is an insult to Horror and to film.