Genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama, Horror, Psychos, Gore, Disturbing, Surreal, Love, Experimental, Escape, Suspense, Slasher, On The Road
Tagline: Hearts will bleed.
Plot: In the 1970s, moviegoers reveled in a new sub-genre of horror films that were low on plot, required only the most basic acting skills, and called upon dumb teenagers to die onscreen deaths in a multitude of strange and horrific ways. The slasher movie was born, and with it came classic features such as THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, HALLOWEEN, and FRIDAY THE 13TH. The genre enjoyed a postmodern revival in the late-20th and early-21st centuries with films such as SCREAM and SCARY MOVIE, but French director Alexandre Aja (FURIA) hauls the slasher film back to its roots with his gore-addled romp HIGH TENSION.Like the most effective additions to the genre, HIGH TENSION's plot is elemental, and simply serves as a springboard for Aja to deliver lashes of blood and guts. Alex (Maiwenn Le Besco) and Marie (Cecile De France) are two teenage girls who head out to Alex's family home in the French countryside. Once there, their idyllic and peaceful time is abruptly disturbed when a maniac breaks into the house and butchers Alex's parents. The shadowy figure captures Alex and throws her into his van, while Marie escapes and sneaks into the vehicle in order to save her friend. By affording very little screen time to the unhinged protagonist who attacks the family, Aja creates a genuinely
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 The people behind this film were on the brink of something groundbreaking: taking the slasher film, a concept that outwore its welcome long ago (let's face it folks...), and turning it into something new, fresh, and exciting. Putting an unique spin on a tired sub-genre is the kind of thing we need more of these days and, dammit, these people almost had it.--Mike Skinner (Diabolical-Dominion.com)
Haute Tension is a horror film of the highest calibre, a terrifying bloodbath and one hell of an entertaining popcorn flick.  -- (TheVideoGraveYard.com)
Up until the big reveal, one could argue that Haute Tension is a well-done slasher movie that plays the material straight without ever once winking at the camera. And while the movie believes gore is more important than actual scares, it gets serious cool points for being truly suspenseful. It's just too bad that the twist so severely undermined everything that came before it.--Christian A. Dumais (Creature-Corner.com)
Alexandre Aja has given us the most visceral, primal and brutal piece of cinema in ages. It will keep you on the edge of your seat from its start right up to its shocking revelation.  --Mike Pereira (Bloody-Disgusting.com)
Haute Tension is a complex & intelligent horror, deceptively hiding behind the front of a brutally intense slasher flick. Beautiful, genuinely scary & utterly remorseless in its psychopathic intensity, Haute Tension is one of the most satisfying exercises in pure horror for far too long. Horror movie of the year? Horror movie of the decade, more like it. Unmissable. --Suspiriorium (horrorview.com)
A gory surprise. Lots of blood, gore, and excellent tension between the heroine and killer in the flick. I would have given it an 8-rating, but the ending had to ruin it for me. Recommended none-the-less. 7/10--FrighT MasteR (UHM)
The film revels in blood and gore, but this is not just a run-of-the-mill splatter film. There's a lot of intelligence in both the script and in Alexandre Aja's direction. The cinematography and music score are edgy...For those who enjoy horror films anddon't mind copious quantities of red-dyed fluids, this one is not to be missed. It's a triumph of the Grand Guignol.  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews)
The philosopher Thomas Hobbes tells us life can be "poor, nasty, brutish and short." So is this movie. Alexandre Aja's "High Tension" is a slasher film about a madman prowling a rural area of France, chopping, slicing and crunching his way through, let'ssee, a body count of five or six people, including a small child that the film does not neglect to show crumpled and dead in a cornfield.  --Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
...Switchblade Romance is a perfectly enjoyable and well-executed (sorry) example of foreign cinema. So successful is it at delivering in its genre, that I couldn't be more excited to see Aja and Levasseur's retake on The Hills Have Eyes, a project they're currently scripting. If this film is any indicator, this is a pair that knows their horror. 73/100--Joe Utichi
HIGH TENSION has been trimmed from its original European release, in order to garner an R rating rather than the kiss of death that was the original NC-17. All in all, it hardly seems to have been worth the effort.  --Andrea Chase (Killer Movie Reviews)
The end result is a flick that's hardly a classic (and it's far from the most unique story ever told), but one that should absolutely have the Gorehounds squealing contentedly with delight. And there's that "one" moment...the one that will cause huge debates and internet discussion for months to come...but I can't say any more about that...not until everyone else has the movie, anyway.  --Scott Weinberg (eFilmCritic.com)
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Haute Tension more then delivers on its title by, more often than not, focusing on the suspense of the situation, although most may only remember its bloodletting.  --Erik Childress (eFilmCritic.com)
High Tension is a very polarizing film: people either absolutely love it, or completely dismiss it as pure garbage. In the showing I went to, there were a grand total of four people. Two left midway through the film. I’m not sure if it was because they hated the film or couldn’t take the realistic gore effects but one thing remains clear… High Tension will likely (and deservingly) achieve cult status in no time at all.  --'The Horror Guru'
High Tension is a serious and somewhat successful attempt to make a fresh and original horror film. It builds on horror film history — not stealing from it, but standing on its own two feet. --Dale Wilson
'High Tension' is a horrifying, bloody mess...  --Wesley Morris (Boston Globe)
There are, of course, lovers of cheesy, poorly crafted horror flicks, and they are the audience for this slender example. I wish them whatever fun they can wring from the tensions provided. Thinking back, the highest tensions that I felt came from the crackling lights behind the main titles.  --The Filmiliar Cineaste
Haute Tension is a decent genre film with a cop-out twist or if it’s a sublime horror movie that manages to fool even its own audience...However, there’s no denying this film is intense, brutal, and lovingly filmed. That is also inspires debate and conversation is the proverbial icing on the cake. --Mike Bracken
See High Tension if you like a movie with no real expectations. You’ll be let down by the blockbusters I guarantee but this one is one you can just go for a good movie, a touch of old, new, and a bit too much, but never as much as those. A simple, good movie you’ll be happy you saw. A---Alexis Tuminello (TheCinemaSource)
won’t speak in any detail about the final twist, but it stings like a slap in the face. Take a step back, and it’s puzzling. Take another step back, and it’s just stupid. Take another, and it’s actually quite offensive, If M. Night Shyamalan’s movies piss you off, you haven’t seen anything – and his twists actually make sense.  --Brian Buzz Juergens (Bloody-Disgusting.com)
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