The Human
Centipede II (2011) has become one of the most talked about and controversial
films of the year. Alike with the first
in the soon to be trilogy, it is jam-packed full of scenes that will make you
squirm in your seat. Of course we should all know by now that The Human Centipede (2009) is a film
about a German doctor who creates a centipede out of three people, by stitching
their mouths to the anus of the person on front of them. The second film is the
same concept, but this time there are twelve people involved in the centipede.
Also, the creator of this centipede is an overweight man sexually obsessed with
the first Human Centipede film. He is so infatuated with it; there is even a
scene in which he masturbates using sandpaper whilst watching the film.
As soon as the BBFC got their hands on this film, they banned it
in the United Kingdom. Reason being that; “Unlike the first film, the sequel presents
graphic images of sexual violence, forced defecation, and mutilation, and the
viewer is invited to witness events from the perspective of the protagonist.
Whereas in the first film the ‘centipede’ idea is presented as a revolting
medical experiment, with the focus on whether the victims will be able to
escape, this sequel presents the ‘centipede’ idea as the object of the
protagonist’s depraved sexual fantasy”. After a couple of weeks though, director Tom Six decided to give in
and cut the film according to the BBFC’s guidelines. On October 6th,
the film received an 18 rating and had its UK premiere at the Frightfest
Halloween all-nighter in London. After attending this and watching
this film, I thought to myself that it wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be. Evidently,
each audience member reacts differently to the film depending on their own
interests and how desensitised they are to the genre.
To me, A Serbian Film (2010)
was far more shocking than The Human
Centipede II, and one scene even managed to disturb me. Of course I’m talking about the infamous
‘Newborn Porn’ scene, in which an unknown woman gives birth in a grimy room and
then a chubby man proceeds to rape the child – still attached to its mother. The
part that made me feel most uncomfortable was the fact that the mother was
smiling and looked pleased as the man raped her child. Obviously this was one
of the parts that was heavily cut when it was passed through the BBFC. I asked the
main actor of The Human Centipede, Dieter
Laser what he thought on the matter; “all kinds of penetration and rape seem to be
subconsciously more acceptable than poo in your mouth”. Looking back at the history of this genre, what he
is saying is totally true. The only film I’ve heard about that is centred on
faecal matter is Monsturd (2003) – a
straight to video film about a serial killer that mutates into a monster made
of human waste. The subject of rape however, is in countless films - even
mainstream ones such as Kill Bill Vol. 1
(2003), Thelma & Louise (1991)
and Straw Dogs (1971).
The main difference between the two films is that in The Human Centipede II, the protagonist
does not face any repercussions for his actions, whereas in A Serbian Film, the protagonist goes
through a living hell. Milos (Srdjan Todorovic) ends up unwillingly killing
people, raping his own seven year old son and in the end commits suicide,
taking his wife and son with him. To the viewers, this is giving out an almost
positive message that suggests you will pay for actions if you cause harm to
others. The endings of both films are
left open for the viewer to decide what happens next. In The Human Centipede II, the final scene is of the protagonist
sitting alone watching The Human
Centipede, which gives off the impression that the whole film was just part
of his imagination. As much as I’d like to think of this as true, I wouldn’t
experience the full effect of the film if I thought about it in this way.
Even though both are classed as horror films, I think that they
both dabble in the genre of torture porn and exploitation. According to Srdjan Spasojevic
- the director of A Serbian Film, the
film is a metaphor for the struggle of the people living in Serbia under their
government - there is just no hope for the future and no way to escape. This
could possibly be one of the reasons why the BBFC decided not to ban the film,
as it actually had meaning behind all of the shocking images. When I asked
Dieter on his opinion on why The Human
Centipede II was banned, he replied; “Maybe it’s very simple, maybe they are (like me) very
easily disgusted by bodily fluids and excrement but don’t dare to frankly admit
it”. I have to agree with what he is
saying, as when you take away all of the faecal matter in the film, the content
of it isn’t so bad. It just looks like another horror film filled with rape and
bloody violence, nothing exceptional that hasn’t been done before.
Ultimately, the BBFC decided to ban The Human Centipede II because it was likely that it would cause
harm to the viewers. But does cutting just over two minutes of footage make
this film less harmful? Was it even harmful in the first place, and would you
suddenly decide to make your own centipede and rape it after watching this?
That’s up to you to decide.
