An alternate review of 'The Human Centipede': How far have we evolved or not?

Where do we as human beings rank among other species? One recent controversial, gratuitous horror film, The Human Centipede, could be viewed as a parody of the human condition. The film is set in present day Germany with a deranged surgeon known for his work on separating conjoined twins. At some point, he withdraws from his professional work to focus on an experiment: artificially conjoining animal and human subjects to create a centipede.

As the film opens, two American female tourists decide to travel to a nightclub. While driving down a secluded rural road, their car hits a bump that leaves them stranded with a flat tire. They finally see a light through the dense wooded region and see a house. Upon arriving, they meet a stoic, expressionless man who shows no interest in their accident.

The viewer can be quickly alarmed by the doctor's aloof behavior, as the women become more uncomfortable amid his presence. As expected, the uncomfortable, awkward conversation leads to a series of bizarre events, leaving the women completely helpless to the psychopath's actions. They're drugged, shown a slide show presentation on how the human centipede is formed, have their tissue surgically removed where bone and tissue can meet, and eventually are conjoined as a human centipede along with a young, Japanese man.

This dark, lurid film is shot with dim lighting. Camera shots zoom in on the surgical procedure, showing the doctor stenciling an outline around the jaw and knee cap areas and cutting open skin with a knife. His nervous anticipation to finish what appears to be a long awaited experiment for him can be seen by sudden, involuntary body quivers. Once the experiment is completed, he revels in his masterpiece and has his subjects treated akin to dogs.

Although the film's grotesque nature can easily be viewed by the average critic as over-the-top nonsensical violence, how does this relate to our condition? What do we really want to see in our everyday lives? Does tragedy and horror fascinate our imaginations? According to the corporate-owned media, yes it does.

Turn on a cable news network on just about any given day, and it plays out like a horror film. Segments feature inferences on what could happen if polticians vote a certain way and how that vote could leave us penniless one day, natural disasters, protests turned violent from excessive police or military force, a suburban child suddenly has gone missing as family, friends, and authorities frantically search to find him or her, mangled vehicles after a car accident that leave those involved seriously injured or killed, and a murder mystery quickly catches the audience's attention to play it out for the next few weeks. We kill more of our own than any other species on the planet. So, one can question how a film like this really taps into the deepest recesses of our primal instincts or has us rethink how our voracious vicarious appetites for death and destruction can be tamed.