High Tension (2004)

Director: Alexandre Aja
Cast:
Cecile De France/Marie
Maiwenn Le Besco/Alex
Philippe Nahon/The Killer

Plot: Two college girls (hehe, yeah right) are traveling to a secluded house in the middle of nowhere to visit Alex's family to have some nice study time. But when a raving psycho killer butches Alex's family and kidnaps her it is up to Marie to chase after the killer to save her best friend. Will she get to her friend in time or pay for it big time.

Review:
Warning: This review will be mostly gushing! This IS my all time favorite movie. So don't expect too much criticism, if any at all.
Now that that is out of the way. I still remember watching this film in 2005 (or was it 2004). I was 14 and this was towards the earlier stages of my obsession with horror films. I remember getting into all the old horror films from the 70s and 80s and I worked my way through the ENTIRE horror section at Blockbuster, until there was nothing left. But sadly there weren't too many horror films in theatres (well good ones). Then this French film came out of nowhere to bitch slap me across the face, kick me in the balls, and spank me until I called my Mommy.
This film IS an exercise on suspense and tension. From the first frame until the final second (those final frames were AMAZING) I was on the edge of my seat praying that the two girls survive. I was biting my nails in anticipation. Alexandre Aja started off on the right foot by giving us two likable women to root for. Marie was intelligent and was bad ass. Alex was more of a crier...but she spent most of the movie chained up in a van, so can you really blame her? Once the chains came off, she became a fighter as well. The tension was jacked up because I WANTED these girls to survive. I cared about them.
Then we have the killer. He was one scary fucker! He legit terrified me in an old pervert kind of way. I wound't want my worst enemy around this man...okay that is a lie. I'd send them into the back of his van in a heartbeat.
What set this slasher apart from others as well is how it isn't just dumb teens running through the woods (although I DO love those films). It's a family that is being slaughtered so that jacks of the stakes as well. They even have the balls to kill a child. I love Alex Aja. I think I want him to marry me...just saying. He must have HUGE balls to make a film like this.
Speaking of the Aja, his directing was...mind blowing. The film FELT like it was from the 70s. It was gritty, disturbing, and not since John Carpenter has a man been able to generate so much suspense and tension. I think this film almost gave me a heart attack by the end.
The deaths were brutal, violent, gory, and bloody as hell! The movie was messy! That's a good thing! Not many films can balance gore and suspense. They either go for the scares or the gore. This film went for both and it MORE than succeeded! The gore actually HELPED the movie.
To go along with the three amazing characters, we got three amazing actors. Phillipe Nahon (sorry if I spelled that wrong) was terrifying as the Killer, while Maiwenn was heartbreaking as Alex. I really felt for her and would never want to go through what she went through. But the actor to impress me most would have to be Cecile De France. She reached so many emotional levels that many actors/actresses in horror couldn't pull off and she reached them. She wasn't the MOST developed character, but she was so easy to root for and she is one of my favorite heroines. Plus she ain't bad to look at.
Anything else I can say? What about the soundtrack! One word: Brilliant. This is the movie that also introduced me to my favorite band, Muse. The score was brilliant and helped add towards the tension. I really wish this was released on CD. I'd buy it!
To wrap this all in a nice bow, we got a bloody and scary as fuck horror/slasher film with a likable heroine and great scares.
But I just want to note one thing. Many people do not like the ending. I'm NOT one of those people. I love the ending, because it elevates it from a simple slasher film. It becomes something more psychological and I love this film, ending and all.
If I had to REALLY nitpick, the guys were NOT that great looking. There wasn't one in sight. Couldn't they have given Alex another brother, maybe a cute one...in his mid to late twenties or so...with a great body and glasses =P lol JK The dudes and lesbians got a GREAT looking heroine in Marie, but the ladies and us gay dudes get shite. But that is just nitpicking. Eye candy doesn't make a good movie.
Again, I LOVE this movie! It's a blast from beginning to end and is scary as hell. If you want to be scared, I say watch this French masterpiece (yes I called it a masterpiece, sue me!).

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10