High Tension

Pros: Great visual style, Gianetto de Rossi gore.
Cons: The plot twist could be a really huge cheat.

Before we get started today, a word of warning. I rarely write film commentary that contains spoilers. I’m a firm believer in the notion that a critic can discuss a film and get the reader intrigued without giving away all of the great surprises the ...

Pros: Very dark and gory...
Cons: The plot twist might work against it...

Spoiler warning—do not read this or any other review of High Tension if you don’t want to know what happens. A relaxing time in rural France turns into a terrifying jaunt through the bowels of psychological hell in Haute Tension (High ...

Pros: The story had promise
Cons: the promise was broken

So… the boy and I go to the family cottage this past weekend for a mini-romantic-holiday-weekend. We get up there, and it’s like a movie: pushing the key into the door, the door pushes in due to the completely broken door frame. Yeah, that’s right, the ...

Pros: It's very gory and has high tension literally, cast is sensational, almost perfect...
Cons: It could have been perfect without the plot twist. It's a huge letdown.

Back in 2003 or 2004, the French got their taste of one of the most gruesome, the most horrifying and the most terrifying movie of the year...called Haute Tension. It was only to be released in France but Lions Gate Films got a hold of it ...

Pros: Magnificent displays of pacing, suspense and nauseating gore.
Cons: Implausible plot holes are unearthed towards the end.

Two female college students venture out on a road trip through the French countryside. With brunette Alexia (Maiwenn Le Besco; The Fifth Element, Forgive Me) navigating behind the wheel, she is certain that a weekend with her family in their ...

Pros: score, cinematography, acting, plot progression
Cons: the big "plot-twist" every critic has been talking about

If you're reading this before the film's release, scanning advanced movie reviews of "Haunte Tension," then you're probably confused as to why critics are having a hard time penning their thoughts about Alexandre Aja's much anticipated graphically ...

Pros: Atmosphere, gore, cast, score, cinematography.
Cons: The twist ending will anger many.

High Tension…isn’t that the French horror film with that twist ending?  Well…yes and perhaps unfortunately, the twist, for some, ruins everything that is great about Alexander Aja’s 2003 film.  This review will ...

Pros: some fitting settings
Cons: plagiarism, weak acting, weak attempt at balancing pointless gore with psychology

I had initially decided to ignore High (Haute) Tension for one primary reason: plagiarism. The first portion of this movie is a direct copy from Dean Koontz’s book Intensity. I didn’t want to support the ripping off of one of my favorite ...

Pros: Really Suspenseful, Great Directing, Well Done Gore, France
Cons: Undeveloped Characters, Maiwenn, Dubbing

I'm going to be brutally honest about the last few years in horror movies: its been terrible. With the exception of a few films, such as Saw and Dawn of the Dead, over the years it seems like each horror movie is getting less original and ...

Pros: Terrifying scenes, tense, brutal
Cons: A completely unsatisfactory ending, probably too violent for the general public

High Tension was a highly anticipated film for me. The credits looked sufficiently intense, the reviews were decent and it seemed right up my alley. Most of the time it was. Brutal, unforgiving and very tense this movie kept you engaged and on the ...

Pros: Good casting and solid performances, the atmosphere and cinematography
Cons: The plot and its complete lack of originality

The movie by several titles: High Tension, Haute Tension, Switchblade Romance… Intensity? Oh wait, that was the book by Dean Koontz. Although if I were to describe the plot of the movie vs. the plot of the book, good luck figuring out which was which. I’ ...

Pros: a few worthwhile scenes, I suppose
Cons: really, there's not much hope for a movie plagiarizing one of Dean Koontz's worst novels

I love nothing more than a good, horrifying slasher movie that enacts catharsis in the best way. But for success, such movies have to make a commitment - not to retreat into artsiness, since art comes at its own pace and its leisure, and just to portray ...

Pros: Scariest movie I've seen in a long time.
Cons: The ending, classic horror movie cliches.

Originally, I did not want to see High Tension. I did not know much about it, but I had seen the poster and it didn’t draw my attention. A friend lent me the movie Crash not long ago, and I decided to watch the trailers in the special features. I watched ...

Pros: Gore, Effects, Acting, Story and more.
Cons: The plot twist ruins the whole thing!

I bought this movie because I heard from a countless number of friends that it was one of the best horror movies ever, and that I had to see it. I also heard that is was the goriest movie ever made. Well I was lied to because there are way better, and ...

Pros: Directing, silent acting, ambient score, suspense, impressive display of gore and memorable death scenes.
Cons: The ending plot twist will ruin the film for most viewers.

Intro - I was looking forward to High Tension. I look forward to any horror film that can return to the great intense and truly engaging horror that films once had like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, A Nightmare on ...