An extremely well-made, very grisly and ultimately dishonest slasher film that's too clever for its own good.
High Tension
Hearts will bleed.
2003 · 1h 31m · R
Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Directed by
Alexandre Aja
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High Tension
Overview
Best friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a quiet weekend at Alexia's parents' secluded farmhouse. But on the night of their arrival, the girls' idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror.
Director and cast
- Alexandre Aja Director
- Cécile de France as Marie
- Maïwenn as Alexia
- Philippe Nahon as The Killer
- Andrei Finti as Alex' Father
- Oana Pellea as Alex' Mother
- Marco Claudiu Pascu as Tom
- Franck Khalfoun as Jimmy
- Jean-Claude de Goros as Gendarmerie Captain
- Bogdan Uritescu as Gendarme
- Gabriel Spahiu as Man in the Car
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Director Alexandre Aja, who wrote this with Gregory Levasseur, doesn't have a gift for horror suspense so much as a compleat geek knowledge of all the superior scare flicks that have preceded High Tension.
You have to give it to the filmmakers for their contempt of convention: no foreplay, no teasing, no steady buildup of dread, just a knock on the door and the slaughterer is there.
A lame exercise, delivering shameless thrills at the expense of logic and genuine suspense.
Very bloody, sometimes difficult to watch and sometimes just tiresome.
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