High Tension (Haute Tension) Movie Review: By Adam Mast, ZBoneMan.com

Haute Tension (Ameircan translation; High Tension) is a French horror picture that's been garnering strong buzz since it's stateside debut at the Sundance Film Festival. Many have proclaimed it a striking return to the horror genre, but being a fan of this particualr genre, I can't tell you how frustrating it is when a certain hype surrounds a picture, and when I finally get a chance to see it, it isn't what I hoped for. Last year, the so-called return to form was the dopey Cabin Fever. Clearly, that movie was more funny than it was scary.

Therefore, I checked my expectations at the door when I was invited to a special advance screening of Haute Tension. I decided it best to not get too worked up about it even though I had heard praise from friends who had seen it at Sundance earlier this year. And you know what? I'm glad I did. It made the experience much more enjoyable.

Haute Tension features friends Alex (Maiwenn Le Besco) and Marie (Cecile De France), two young women on a road trip. Their destination; Alex's parents' house, a remote ranch in the middle of the French countryside. Upon their arrival, they are greeted with open arms by Alex's family. Rather suddenly, this happy vacation turns to a horrifying nightmare. During there first night at the ranch, a sadistic intruder breaks into the home and engages in a blood soaked massacre. What follows is an incredibly intense game of cat and mouse, and a taut tale of survival.

First and foremost, let me tell you where I feel director/screenwriter Alexandre Aja and co-writer Gregory Levasseur get this moody, atmospheric, horrifying thriller right. They opt to deliver pure horror. Not once does Haute Tension spend a moment of winking slyly at the audince. Sure, this picture was inspired by everything from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Halloween, but it doesn't pay it's homage in a playful manner. Haute Tension is pure, unbridled terror. When the killer wreaks havoc early on in this movie, I was mortified. Right out of the gate, it was perfectly clear that none of the characters in this movie would be safe, and it was also clear that there would be nothing remotely funny about this film.

Haute Tension is beautifully shot. Aja and crew use their eerie locations to the very best of their advantage (reminding me of both Anthony Waller's little seen Mute Witness and Stanley Kubrick's often seen The Shining). The film is extremely dark and for most of it's running time is overcome by an unsetteling sense of dread. One of my favorite sequences features a character hiding from the killer in a public restroom. It seems no matter where this person hides, the killer is only one step behind them. The entire sequence reminded me of moments of other pictures (Witness for one) but I really got caught up in it. For the first time in a long time, I really enjoyed being scared.

Unfortunately, Haute Tension can't resist treading familiar waters in a final act that sort of hinders everything that came before it. And if you reflect upon the rest of Haute Tension when it gets to this point, you will find that there are several things that just don't make sense. I refuse to give away what I'm referring to (I will say it reminded me of an awful Rebecca DeMornay movie), but upon reading reviews written by others who have seen the film, I find that I'm not alone. When the picture takes this particular detour, I just kind of shook my head. I had a sneaking suspicion early on that the movie might switch gears. A scene at the beginning of the film openly suggests where it might be headed. Still, I had hoped the film makers wouldn't go there. It just seemed like an easy, obvious way out.

While Haute Tension sputters out a bit in the final act, I was still won over by it's sheer craftsmenship. This movie has genuinely scary moments, and on several occasions, I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. And for you gore hounds out there, you'll be happy to know that this movie is extremely grisly. There is plasma-a-plenty.

Haute Tension is a roller coaster ride. A slasher picture executed to near perfection, and not until the end do we realize that this scarefest is trying to give us insight into who this killer is and what makes him tick (something it fails to do as effectively as, say--Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer or Identity). But it in a way, it is that aspect of the picture that keeps it from reaching it's full potential. Not knowing what makes the boogeyman tick is what makes him so scary.

But then, it's pretty hard to deny the overall creepines of this above average horror movie. Even with a bit of a letdown ending, I'm happy to report that much of this flick is what so many other horror pictures fail to be; SCARY!

Grade: B

Adam Mast, ZBoneMan.com