There’s horror fans and then there’s horror fans who revel in the most depraved and disgusting visuals their eyes, minds and stomachs can handle. I’m not typically in the latter bunch but every once in a while a movie comes along preceded by a reputation and hype that makes me helplessly compelled to watch it. The Human Centipede seemed like something that wouldn’t let me ignore it.

I was a little nervous as the movie started. After seeing the trailer I wasn’t entirely sure how graphic the movie would be and how much I could take. Sometimes my level of curiosity seriously outweighs what I can actually stomach. The internet has taught me that valuable lesson many times over. Dutch writer/director Tom Six took the “what’s suggested is worse than what you see” approach. Does that make the movie more appealing or does it fall short of staying true to what it wants to be? Read on to find out.

[For those of you who might not want to hit the jump for fear of seeing or reading something gross know that I've only included two still frames from the movie, both of which I consider SFW and non-graphic. I've also excluded any graphic or disturbing details.]

In the opening scene we’re introduced to the crazy and creepy Doctor Heiter. He’s sitting in his car at a German truck stop sadly looking at some pictures of a previous “experiment” and waiting to prey on the next trucker that comes by. Soon we’re introduced to two airhead American tourists planning to go out with a waiter they met earlier. On their way to a club their car pops a tire leaving them stranded on a road in the middle of the woods with no cell phone reception, naturally. For some reason they go traipsing off into the dark woods instead of sticking to the road. This conveniently leads them right to Doctor Heiter’s doorstep where they shout and pound on the door like any normal human would do. It’s not long after they’re let in that they find themselves all Rufied-up. They awaken strapped to a hospital bed.

Heiter already has a third victim in his possession but unfortunately for him his tissue is not compatible with the two American girls so he’s got to go. After a third victim is acquired he explains that he is a renowned surgeon specializing in separating conjoined twins. He has grown bored of this and instead developed a reverse process. As their fate starts to sink while he administers anesthesia one of the American girls attempts to escape. She manages to get away but, of course, she is recaptured and prepped for the procedure.

As the surgery scene began I could feel myself starting to tense up and squirm, expecting the worst. What transpired was graphic at times but not in any of the exploitative ways you would expect. After the surgery is complete Heiter starts attempting to “train” his creation to do simple tasks. It was at this point I started questioning if writer/director Six had any idea how to end this razor-thin story.

I don’t think there’s anyone who would watch this movie without having some previous general idea of what happens. Your imagination is already working before the movie starts. It never got nearly as bad as what I thought it might show. The actual, in-your-face exploitation is thankfully left to your imagination.

The movie’s slow pace and flashy acting by Dieter Laser, playing Doctor Heiter, tries to be reminiscent of early Cronenberg but falls short. The story makes a fleeting attempt to address Germany’s invasion of Holland and the Nazi medical experiments during World War II (Heiter even wears knee-high black leather boots at one point) but really ends up not saying anything at all. When your movie is solely based on an audacious idea aimed to make an audience uncomfortable you don’t have much room to bring up political issues. The message, a tired one at that, is completely lost (if it was ever intended at all).

Even if you don’t care about substance in your horror movies The Human Centipede still won’t completely satisfy. Your own sense of anticipation provides more tension than the movie itself. The gross-out factor is pretty low since the movie lets your imagination control that. Nothing particularly gory happens, as there’s not a flowing river of blood or crazy death scenes. The Human Centipede tries to straddle the line between passing itself off as art and emulating a Japanese-style “extreme” horror film. It should have committed one way or the other.