Haute Tension (2003)

“Haute Tension” is a gruesome French horror film from 2003 that has a few major plot holes and a bit too much violence than is necessary. The movie was pretty interesting until the plot twist is revealed at which time the viewer (me!) is left with a feeling of “oh, that’s it?” With its weak story line that makes the movie feel shorter than it is this film is really just a fancy, slick slasher film that has some unique death scenes. This is not a bad thing as the director, Alexandre Aja, shows a lot of promise and has gone on to direct several other horror movies that I intend to see. And for the record, I am never comfortable with scenes that include realistic violence against children; luckily the one that is in the film is quick and the violence is merely implied and not shown graphically as all of the others are.

Marie and Alex, her best friend, are going out to the country to study for the weekend. Alex’s family has a large house which they recently bought and it’s the perfect place to get away and focus for a while. After meeting the family and settling in for the evening, Marie goes out for a smoke. When Marie is preparing to go to sleep, a stranger comes up to the house and begins a violent and brutal attack, killing the family and tying up Alex. Marie is able to hide from the assailant and watches him kill Alex’s mother and brother. She finds Alex and tries to untie her but is unable to. Marie is able to sneak into the stranger’s truck after he throws Alex into the back. The three end up at a gas station where Marie tries to get help but the stranger kills the attendant. The stranger drives off without Marie who then steals a car to follow. The stranger notices Marie and forces her vehicle off the road; now that he knows about her, Marie is forced to run for her life and eventually fight for her life in order to save her friend.