Alexandre Aja’s Haute Tension (released in the UK as Switchblade Romance for some reason) is an intense and striking horror thriller, reminding me of the old Robert Fuest movie And Soon The Darkness. Aja ratchets up the tension as two young girls wander about the French countryside, and it soon becomes painfully clear that what he’s doing is not remaking a cosy old Hammer thriller, but relocating ’70s US rural backwoods horror to an equivalent Gallic setting.

In particular, he takes Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre aesthetic and mixes it with an FPS-style array of weapons to beat the cast and audience to a gory mess. As you might have read, there’s an outrageous twist in the last ten minutes which stands the whole story on its head. Looking back, it makes no sense, even though it can be seen coming to some extent, and it also seems to have annoyed a few people in terms of the implications for the movie’s sexual politics.

Still, you shouldn’t let that put you off seeing the movie, as it’s nicely shot by Maxime Alexandre and beautifully paced. Cecile de France is excellent as the heroine, Maiwenn Le Besco screams well and Philippe Nahon cuts a frightening figure as the bloke in overalls with an extensive array of tools, even if it can hardly be called acting. And don’t worry about the subtitles as there’s virtually no dialogue.

Mild Peril Rating:

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Tags: Euro