By Stephen Pytak 

    This love letter to slasher cinema has its critics. I'm 
not sure why since it really delivers the goods.
   "High Tension" is basically about two college
students, Marie and Alexia, who go to the country
to study in peace. The locale of choice is Alexia's
parents' home deep in farm land. 
     As night falls, we soon learn Marie's got a thing
for Alexia. It's a secret thing, but it reveals itself when 
we see Marie spying on her friend in the shower, then
fantasizing about her in bed. That scene's a show-
stopper.
     The peaceful weekend is disrupted by a whiskey
guzzling madman who enjoys masterbating with 
severed heads. He wipes out the family in a snap then 
chains and gags Alexia. Marie, meanwhile, struggles 
to avoid detection, and somehow succeeds.
     In an effort to save her friend, Marie sneaks 
aboard the maniac's delivery truck. By then, the killer 
has her in his sights and decides to start playing mind
games.
     This all takes place in an atmosphere inspired 
by some of the greatest horror films of the 1970s 
and early 80s if you count Bill Lustig's "Maniac."
Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre"
and John Carpenter's "Halloween" are a few others.
     Aside from scenes in closets and bathrooms, there
are a few direct homages. One fan online pointed out 
that some of the graffiti in the gas station scene is
word for word the same graffiti on a bathroom wall in 
"Maniac." 
    Despite these nods to the classics, "High Tension's"
stalking, chase and battle sequences stand on their own.
Director Alexandre Aja handled them with an incredible
degree of mastery. To this day, I still think this is his
best film.
     Marie's pursuit of the maniac builds up to an early 
morning showdown in a greenhouse. She gets the upper
hand, after weaponizing a fence post with barbed wire. 
The image of Marie ready to take her turn at bat was 
used on some posters and Internet wallpapers. While
dark, angry and a bit gory, it's empowering.
      The writing, photography and editing are
very engaging and, wisely, don't set the audience up
for the shocking climax.
   There's a twist ending, which I think is what critics rip 
on about. I liked it. Thought it was awesome. I'm guessing 
everyone who's reading this has already seen the movie. 
If not, skip the next graph or two, because here's the
deal:
    In the twist -- which really kicks off a relentless
Act III -- it's revealed that Marie is more than she
seems. She's not the film's heroine, but antagonist. 
She's the one who butchered Alexia's family, etc.,
all in a twisted effort to appear to be the heroine
and win over the girl in the end.
   The madman in coveralls who we see doing the 
dirty work is another side of Marie's personality.
And I can accept that, since everything we're seeing 
in the film is from her POV. 
   The showdown on a rural highway is very TCM 
inspired. But it's fresh enough to stand on its own.
Marie starts up a power saw and chases Alexia,
smashes up a sedan, slices up the driver and gives
her prey a blood bath. The final moments are
adrenaline-pumping, gory, sexy and unsettling.
   "High Tension" is an incredible ride and one of the best
horror films of the first decade of the 21st Century. I'm
sure it's going to be in my Top 10.
   By the way, the flick's also got some great music, but
I don't recall ever seeing an official soundtrack. The 
songs include: "Runaway Girl" by U-Roy and "New
Born" by Muse.
  When the movie came out in 2005, it didn't play at a lot 
of theaters in my area. In fact I had to drive 50 miles 
to see it. And I think the uncut version on DVD is
excellent.
     By the way, I don't want to see a "High Tension"
sequel. That tends to be the trend with anything that
has some spark to it in this age.
    While I enjoyed the director's next effort, a remake 
of Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes," I'm not so
hot on going to see his latest, "Mirrors." Dunno.
Just didn't pull me.