THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE III (FINAL SEQUENCE)


US, 2015, 102 minutes, Colour.
Dieter Laser, Laurence R. Harvey, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Clayton Rohner, Brie Olsen, Eric Roberts, Tom Six.
Directed by Tom Six.

The two Human Centipede films, written and directed by Holland-born, Tom Six, were well received by horror fans – but considered for too much in their conception, the visualising of the process of making human centipedes, reactions of revulsion and disgust at the physiological consequences to appeal to mainstream audiences.

For this Final Sequence, writer-director Tom Six has transferred to the United States with a prison setting.

It has to be noted that the fans of the first two films were not impressed by this one.

The governor of the prison is played by Dieter Laser, the doctor from the first film. Some sequences at the opening of the film, especially of gross sexual behaviour and abuse of the secretary (and there is more of this throughout the film, eliciting more disgust in response) give a tone to the film and the character of the prison governor. The way that the character is filmed, especially in close-ups and profiles of his face make him look and seem particularly reptilian. And, with his broken accent, often difficult to understand, he becomes one of the strangest of screen characters.

Laurence R..Harvey, who appeared in the second film, is his assistant at the prison. The lineup of prisoners all look from tough central casting with Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister as a key prisoner. The governor is at his wits end as to how to control the prisoners – than resorting to castration with some ugly visuals to go with this decision. And this involves eating.

The assistant comes up with the idea after they have watched the first two films of making a human centipede with all the prisoners. There is a doctor, Clayton Rohner, who has been struck off but finds employment in the prison and who is willing to go along with the experiment.

In the meantime, there are various confrontations with prisoners, shootings, torture…

Then, the director arrives as himself, dark glasses, the touch of Dutch accent, his interest in the response to his films, discussing how authentic the original films were even though using special effects and persuades the governor and his assistant that the physiology and the surgery for making the human centipede is credible.

It has to be said that the human centipede is made only in the last 15 minutes of the film and is not nearly as visually horrifying as in the previous films, explanations with the touch of stomach-turning are given but all the prisoners, an enormous conga line for the human centipede are all dressed in prison uniforms with comparatively few close-ups.

These occur when the overall governor of prisons arrives – and, in fact, it is Eric Roberts in the role. He is presented with a parade of the human centipede, 500 prisoners, is told that this is the solution for all prison discipline, and that very little has been done physiologically to the prisoners so that they will not be in any way deformed on release (and an example is shown). He is repulsed and seems to be expressing many of the sentiments of the audience and their reaction to this kind of procedure and its consequences.

He drives off, the mad governor shoots the doctor, then shoots his assistant, when Eric Roberts returns – a change of heart, endorsing that this is definitely the way for prison discipline and control.

Not really a film to be watched.