High tension

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Movie
German title High tension
Original title Haute tension
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 2003
length 87 minutes
Age rating FSK 18 (heavily abbreviated), SPIO / JK checked: Criminally harmless (abbreviated), indexed (on list B) [1]
Rod
Director Alexandre Aja
script Alexandre Aja
Grégory Levasseur
production Alexandre Arcady
Robert Benmussa
music Francois Eudes
camera Maxime Alexandre
cut Baxter
Al Rundle
Sophie Vermersch
occupation

High Tension (original title: Haute Tension ) is a French horror film directed by Alexandre Aja . Above all, the oppressive atmosphere and the psychological density as well as the brutal depiction of violence have given him cult status among fans of the genre.

action

The students Alex and Marie want to relax a bit, calmly prepare for their exams and therefore nestle in the lonely country house of Alex's parents. It doesn't take long, however, for an unknown sadist to break into her house, who cruelly slaughters her father, mother and little brother, only to kidnap Alex in a wreck-like van. Marie was able to hide, however, and the girl who had been spared sets out to free the friend she herself also loves from the violence of the psychopath . When the killer stops the truck at a gas station, Marie manages to open the locked car door with the help of a knife and to escape into the building unnoticed. Alex remains chained in the van. After the psychopath has cruelly killed the gas station attendant Jimmy with an ax , he continues his journey, initially unaware that Marie is now chasing him with a car. During the chase, Marie is rammed by the killer's truck and her car overturns. She manages to take refuge in a nearby greenhouse, where there is a showdown between her and the alleged murderer. Ultimately, it turns out that Marie is the murderer herself and experiences her own actions as someone else's ( dissociative identity disorder ). She is a lesbian and secretly in love with Alex, but did not confess her love to him. Finally, Marie is admitted to a psychiatric hospital, while Alex gets away with some wounds.

the atmosphere

The soundscape partly consists of minimalist sounds, such as whirring or squeaking. Relatively little dialogue is used, because the film relies on intensive staging and thus transferring the claustrophobic tension to the viewer. The atmosphere is reminiscent of the terror cinema of the 1970s and classics such as Tobe Hoopers The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Wes Cravens The Last House on the Left .

International publications

High Tension was not shown regularly in cinemas in Germany (there were, however, some screenings as part of the Fantasy Film Festival ), as the FSK refused to release the work in all versions presented, and all members of the SPIO have committed themselves to only released by the FSK To publish titles in the cinema. Therefore, the film was released in December 2004 as a so-called video premiere on a rental DVD in a version examined by the SPIO's legal commission ( SPIO / JK ) . Compared to the z. B. the uncut version published in Austria, this version had to be shortened by about a minute.

According to reports, it was initially not certain whether the publisher MC One had adhered to the editing specifications of the legal commission and whether the DVD legitimately bears the SPIO / JK certification mark. This was only confirmed by the SPIO in mid-March 2006.

The JK-checked version was placed on list B of its index by the BPjM on September 30, 2005 . This list contains media for which, in the opinion of the BPjM, additional dissemination bans under the StGB , in this case because of suspected glorification of violence , apply. The DVD was not confiscated nationwide .

A few weeks after the SPIO / JK-tested version, a DVD was released in Germany with the FSK rating No youth release, which had been shortened by another minute. This film version has now also been broadcast on television. In November 2009 this version was also incorrectly indexed by the BPjM, although since the amendment of the Youth Protection Act 2003, media checked by the FSK may not be indexed. Therefore, the index was unindexed a month later.

Unedited versions have been released in Austria and Switzerland by the distributors MC One, NSM Records, and EuropaCorp.

In Great Britain the film is sold under the alternative title Switchblade Romance and has been released uncut there by the BBFC from the age of 18.

In its country of origin, France, the film was released uncensored for ages 16 and over.

Reviews

“With only his fourth film, Alexandre Aja made it very quickly into the highest class of current horror directors. High Tension is the film that led to the modernization of Wes Cravens' The Hills Have Eyes . This fact alone shows what an exciting, nerve-tearing and, last but not least, very bloody horror thriller it is. "

- moviemaze.de

"Exciting, visually extremely drastic psychological thriller with horror elements, which, however, completely loses sight of logic in the surprising final turn."

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

High Tension won the 2004 world's most important Fantasy Film - Film Festival " Sitges Film Festival " in Sitges ( Spain each first prize for the fields): Best Director, Best Actress (Cecile de France), Best Makeup effect .

Soundtrack

Others

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ not indexed according to schnittberichte.com
  2. ↑ High Tension on moviemaze.de ( Memento from September 13, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  3. ↑ High tension. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 

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