High Tension

Solid horror thriller from French director Alexandre Aja. A primarily nocturnal work with sparse dialogue that allows the sound track – which includes many periods of silence – to play a key role in building an atmosphere of nonstop anxiety.

Although the 25-year-old Aja demonstrates a good feel for the horror genre, it’s also crystal clear that he drew heavy inspiration from Italian genre films of the fabulous 1970s, imbuing “High Tension” with numerous touches that recall the works of Umberto Lenzi and Sergio Martino (films such as the 1973 “Torso”). We also can’t overlook the fundamental contribution of makeup maestro Giannetto De Rossi, whose prior partnerships with Lucio Fulci and Antonio Margheriti made cinematic history.

Another characteristic “High Tension” shares with the “spaghetti thriller” lies in its clear intent to focus primarily on the look and feel of the film, relegating the story’s plausibility to something of an afterthought. Along those lines, the preposterous final plot twist is a blatant slap in the face of logic and has engendered some rather critical reactions among a considerable number of viewers who’ve accused Aja of pulling a fast one.

A very good cast: Cécile De France is convincing in the tricky role of the repressed girl, but it’s Philippe Nahon who steals the show in the role of the lunatic “du jour”, a taciturn madman with a constantly sweaty face who runs around perpetrating unspeakable atrocities (the opening scene when he’s masturbating with a severed human head pretty much says it all).

Bizarre soundtrack that ranges from the English progressive/alt-rock band Muse (“New Born”) to the best-selling Italian melodic pop group “I Ricchi e Poveri” (“Sarà Perché ti Amo”).