Switchblade Romance [DVD]

The are no spoilers in this review. This is a film that one wouldn’t want to know too much about – not from being forewarned about any shock horror scenes but because it might spoil the whole basis of the film for anyone watching it.Having seen Maïwenn in Polisse (which she also directed), Polisse being a film that I found very memorable indeed, and having seen Cécile de France in numerous films that I have also enjoyed, then when I came across Swithchblade Romance with both actresses in, I thought it should be worth a look.The Horror film genre is not a genre I would normally watch, but this low budget (low budget, as mentioned in the extras) film was quite a surprise for me.Yes there plenty of blood-and-guts as might be expected but there is much more to it than that. It is an intelligent, well made film. The directing (from Alexandre Aja), the acting, the lighting and especially the editing of Switchblade romance have all been performed excellently.As I said Horror is not a genre I would normally watch and aficionados may well look at this film with a different critical viewpoint but for me this was a really good film.With the DVD you get:Switchblade Romance (1 hour 27 minutes)Chapter SelectionExtra Features:Cast Interviews with Phillipe Nahon (5 minutes), Cécile de France (22 minutes), Maïwenn (5 minutes).Special Effects Makeup with Gianetto de RossiPlay film with commentary by Alexandre Aja and Cécile de FranceMaking Of feature (28 minutes)Theatrical TrailersOther releasesThe film and the extra features have English Subtitles. The film with commentary has English Subtitles (for the film) and Spoken English for the commentaries.

Alexandre Aja, a full member of the Splat Pack, cut this in the early 2000's and it more than hints at his later successes such as 'Hills Have Eyes', 'Piranha', 'Mirrors', etc. One or two were remakes but he gave a refreshing perspective to a tired formulae and rightly deserves his high reputation.Extremely gory and not pretty to watch if you're expecting something else with 'romance' in the title. It certainly leaves an unpleasant taste which is probably what a good horror film should do. Called 'Haute Tension' in other parts, the film is in French with English subtitles.Aja can't be set aside by horror fans and his new film, 'Crawl', doesn't have the incumbency of a foreign language, being set in the U.S., and is a film that I'm looking forward to enjoying when it's released.Extras include commentary by Aja & others, interviews, making of documentary.

This, for me, was a great and really involving horror movie. The tension and suspense Alexander Aja conjures up remains constant and sometimes unbearable throughout the movie. No wonder it is called Haute Tension (High Tension) in French.Ultra-gruesome as well with gore sprinkled liberally throughout. It is also the first time in a movie where they actually show a victim being cut up by a chainsaw. (No, the scene where Leatherface accidentally nicks his leg in TTCM doesn't count)Many people derided the twist near the ending, a twist which changes the whole movie and makes a second viewing totally different.I quite liked it, although I agree that it is a bit OTT and unbelievable. But so what? It's only a movie and it was totally out-of-left-field for me. The whole movie reminded me of Dario Argento's stuff for some reason. The initial home invasion is creepy and scary as hell.I wonder how many people know that this movie is based on one of Dean Koontz's books, Intensity?

This is a true work of horror and there is no mistaking that, having read the wikis and other reviews of this movie, both online and in books like Steven Jay Schneider's 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die, it is also an incredibly divisive movie.Part of a new wave of extreme French cinema this movie is horrific in a true sense, there's lots of brutal scenes which are stomach churning or traumatic viewing where you are hoping the camera would just cut away. If I were to compare this to any english speaking world cinematic horrors it would be Eden Lake, which was the same sort of violent, uncomfortable viewing.On the other hand I think I would allow movies like this to be judged worthy of viewing rather than simply some kind of obscene video nasty because it isnt a puerile feature in which killing is casual and leaves the viewer cold, there is barely any character development of some of the victims but their deaths are still shocking and terrible. This is something I dont think that english speaking cinema has been able to manage for a long time, even when it could there is a striking difference, in my opinion, between say Black Christmas and Last House On The Left, and dont get be started on the remakes either.I read that this book was an adaptation of Dean Koontz's Intensity, which is one of my favourite books, although it would be safer to say that it is a rip off because it follows Koontz's Intensity plot to a certain point, faithfully enough with only one major departure, but then goes off in its own direction altogether. The difference between this feature and the one, for TV, adaptation of Koontz's novel (which featured the actor who plays Dr Cox from the TV series Scrubs in a major bit of miscasting) is to say the very least truly incredible. That said it probably does illustrate the difference between really gut wrenching, unflinching horror and the other variety. While in 101 Horror Movies it is stated that this is an authorised rip off on the Wiki Koontz is described as hating it but not wishing to sue because he didnt want to be associated with the film in any way what so ever.The film does feature a twist, which is not entirely unpredictable perhaps by the time the movie reaches that point, although it is surprising that the director choose to employ it. Consequently there are huge plot holes or problems with all the preceeding sequences but I dont believe this ruins the feature, to be honest I do think this is a more traditional slasher, psychopathic killer movie long on gore and shorter on plotting.I recommend this as a true horror then, it divides opinion and I can see why, it is ridiculously violent, it is gory, it is shocking but it isnt puerile and doesnt try to mix up the disturbing with humour and gaffs or anything like that. I dont think there would be a lot of rewatch value in it, it is flawed but not a waste of time.