From Dark Horizons:

Haute Tension: The movie was originally going to get the NC-17 treatment but Lions Gate Films feels it's better to make edits and have the movie receive the R-rating now. Various cuts will be made and the movie will arrive in theatres on the scheduled release date.


Well it's official, they are going to edit it for an "R" rating!!!! I am so pissed! This is probably my most anticipated movie of 2005! The trailer was awesome, the twist is cool (even if it's not original and has been done to death), and the scenes I've heard about in the movie sound almost unbearably disturbing! But that's not necessarily a bad thing. I was highly looking forward to seeing this baby in theaters and squirming in my seat from being so uncomfortable. I'd be unable to press pause or stop it for a little break like I would be able to at home. I'm not saying I would do that at home, in fact I probably wouldn't, but seeing it in the theater I know I wouldn't. It would have been such a cool event flick to see in theaters with everyone screaming and maybe even crying. It was going to be a blast! And now this crap! I don't want some stupid edited version. It's bad enough it's going to be dubbed in english, but now it's going to be edited? That's even worse than the dubbing, and now we'll have both! How could they do this? I love Lions Gate! They have balls! Actually, they had them anyway. I thought it was so cool they were going to release this in its original form. But now they cave and chop it up! I can't tell you how angry this makes me... I could buy the DVD off e-bay or something and see it in its original form with it in its original language with subtitles. But my DVD player can't play that region. It can only play region 1. Besides, I'd much rather see it for the first time on the big screen. But they're ruining it for me...

This news is so awful!

It's dumb for them to cut it. This movie would do killer business even with an NC-17 rating. The rating would only give it more buzz and make more people want to see it. It would do really well. And then everyone that does see it will end up buzzing about it and saying how disturbing it was (at least a lot of people would), and the word-of-mouth would be hot. You have no idea how many under 17 would be trying to sneak into it. But the ones that are 17 and older would be enough to make it a hit. I don't think this restricted rating would harm it. It would get attention by being the only NC-17 movie besides Showgirls to get released wide. Plus it is being released in the summer, in June, which is a great time for a movie like this. I really hope for a miracle to happen and them to change their mind and not release it in an edited version. You can keep it dubbed if you want, but please at least don't cut it! (However I wish it would be viewable on DVD in its original language if the person wanted - it should at least have that option)

If they cut it they are making a mistake and I will be so damn mad! I'm already really angry, but at least now I can hope and pray (not literally though) that they will change their minds! SOMEBODY FROM LIONS GATE PLEASE LISTEN TO ME AND THE TON OF OTHERS THAT DON'T WANT IT CUT! It is dumb to do this to it! You'll see that it will be a nice hit anyway even with an NC-17 rating! And then it could show that an NC-17 doesn't necessarily have to hurt a movie and we will get to see more movies get released like this. It could start a trend.

I will lose a lot of respect for them if they go through with this!

Let your thoughts on this be heard people! E-mail Lions Gate, the director, etc... ANYONE who might be able to do anything about it! At least let them know that you object and want the original NC-17 version!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Any idea as to what they are cutting? What made this NC-17 in the first place?

i could live with the R theatrical rating if they release it NC-17 for the DVD. That's what they're doing for Land of the Dead.

Alex Aja, the director of the film, was the one who chose to cut the film for an R rating - not Lions Gate. His comments...

"The version of 'High Tension' that you are about to see is a dubbed English translation of the original French-language film, featuring Cecile de France's own voice in the part of Marie. The new version has also been re-edited slightly, resulting in a running time that is about one minute shorter than the original. 'High Tension' was conceived as an ode to the 1970's American horror/slasher films I loved as a teenager; so it is a source of great satisfaction to me that American audiences will now be able to experience the film on the same visceral level as French audiences, without the distraction of subtitles. Every filmmaker hopes that his or her work will be seen by the largest audience possible. Now, as an English language film, 'High Tension' has the opportunity to travel to U.S. theaters. I want to thank Lions Gate Films for making this possible."

I had read that too but I still don't know for sure if it was his idea. I think Lions Gate might have brought it up. But if he did then he's dumb .

While I would like the NC-17 one to get released on DVD, I still don't want it to be "R" in theaters. I want the full experience on the big screen. I'd just buy the movie right now if I had an all regions DVD player. But mine only plays Region 1 DVD's. Besides, I wanted my first time seeing it to be on the big screen.

It's incredibly violent, brutal, and relentless. Toning it down will ruin the effect.

I honestly saw this coming. It's only way they can make a profit, because in addition to having a more accessible movie in theaters, they can get more people to buy the inevitable Unrated version on DVD.

I don't see the big deal, especially when compared to changing a film from R to PG-13. NC-17 to R is nothing.

Plus, the director seems to be in favor of it.

I dunno. I'd be more worried about it if the director was up in arms over it also, like Wes Craven with Cursed. The fact that he's not tells me the film will still be of great quality.

i dont mind those. it means a movie has a chance of actually playing in theatres a lot of us will have access to and therefore, easier for us to atleast view. its not like going from R to PG13.

Shouldn't the title of the thread be changed to "Damn you Alex Aja".

Horrible news. Oh well, at least I'll get to see it in theaters now!

This only gives the movie more chance to succeed at the box office.

Not ALOT of the violence will be removed...only some. It's not as if it's getting cut to PG13.

The main voilence that headlined the movie to begin with is being taken away, so is this basically the same as any other slasher film now? who knows....but i know im getting less anticipated for it since the news.

Hopefully, it'll do better at the box office now, and hopefully it'll come out as NC-17 (full version) on DVD, which'll be good.

So, I guess a screening of the american version has taken place.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/index. ... e=newsfull

"Just got back from a screening of High Tension. I really enjoyed it! Good movie. I'm not sure how the killer's actual voice is, but the dubbed voice of him is pretty cool. I like that the main girl, Marie, actually did her own english dubbing. However, it's strange that she's the only one with the french accent. Everyone else has American accents. The worst one is Alex, she's VERY american sounding and it didn't really go with the setting. The comment cards at the end asked us if we disliked any of the dubbings, or if the dubbing hindered our enjoyment. (It didn't, but i'd like to see the subtitled version) As far as cut violence, I could tell of a cut when the dad got the dresser slammed against his head. It was very brutal, but there seemed to be something missing in my opinion."

I'm assuming the cut to the "decapiated by dresser" scene the reviewer referred to is the geyser of blood that sprays out of the stump after the fact. I figured that would be the first shot to go.

I wish the review went into more detail about the cuts. I mean, if that's the only cut that was made, then this is no big deal.

You should have posted a spoiler warning before that!!!!!


Fuck sake!

Meh. It happens in the first ten minutes. It's not a spoiler.

Can anyone give that twist at the end? In white font would be nice.

Reading some user reviews, and most of them are praising the movie, save for the ending...so, a bit interested.

Here's a spoiler warning for an actual spoiler. Highlight to read.



This is from Hysteria Lives! They've done the best job of describing the ending i've seen thus far.

Marie is the killer! If you haven't seen the film and you just *couldn't* resist finding out what the twist was everyone is talking about then you might be scratching your head (but don't worry, many people are scratching their heads even after they've watched the whole film!). You see, HAUTE TENSION paints itself as a straight-ahead, bare bones horror flick for almost its entire running time, but actually it's anything but. It's no surprise that the Grand Guignol is mentioned so often in connection with this film, as it shares not only the extreme gore of the old French theatre of shock but also its magic of illusion. In fact, the whole film is actually the reimagining of events from the fevered and unhinged mind of Marie as she sits alone in a padded cell.

What's clear is that most of the events of the film actually happened, in-so-much that the murders happened, but it was actually Marie doing the killing - the man in the boiler suit was either a figment of her imagination or a separate fragment of her fractured psyche. The climax's detractors often accuse this twist as coming out of nowhere, but I'd disagree - there are plenty of pointers throughout the film that suggest that all is not as it seems (and they become readily apparent when you rewatch the film). Cleverly, you are led to think that Marie is the final girl of the film because you see her in hospital as her wounds are treated during the opening credits, but in reality she is there because Alex was finally able to stop her during the remarkable power tooled frenzy of the denouement. A major clue is, of course, Marie telling Alex that she had a dream of being stalked by herself, which obviously points to her fractured psyche (and to events yet to come). The film makes it clear that Marie is a repressed lesbian, who lusts after Alex; but it's also clear that Alex has no idea, as she asks Marie when she's planning on getting a boyfriend. Although no clear motive is established for the murders (although the sapphic repression is arguably the key) it is likely that Marie has slipped into madness by the opening of the film, and kills Alex's family because, as is often repeated throughout the film she says "I won't let anyone come between us anymore ...". Because Alex is gagged throughout most of the film what the audience doesn't realise is that she's not scared because the killer may come back to her, but becuase the killer (Marie) is already there.

The way I read it (and, of course, it's wide open to interpretation) was that Marie had two duelling personalities: the sweet, and sane Marie, and her alter-ego, the violent psychopath. The 'sane' Marie perhaps really does believe that there is a killer in the house and tries to escape - and it's this version of events we see for the majority of the film, so even when we think she is following the killer's van she is, in fact, driving it. By the end of the movie the illusion of 'sane' Marie disolves completely, and, as she stands there with buzzsaw in hand, she has finally accepted that she is the killer.

Well, that's how I saw it anyway!

Cheers makeshift! :-)