Movies: 'The Human Centipede'

When asked what I look for in a film, I usually reply that I like seeing something I've never seen before. "The Human Centipede" definitely suffices. A warning to all lovers of shock/gore cinema: You will not be able to "un-see" some of the images in this film. For those who want that experience, I recommend "Centipede" for the sheer audaciousness of writer/director Tom Six's gross-out concept, but not for much else. Subtitled with the telling "First Sequence" (the sequel, "Full Sequence," is already in production), the film begins when two American women get a flat tire on vacation in Germany, and stumble upon the house of a maniacal German surgeon with a sadistic plan. He wants to create the titular human centipede: three people surgically grafted ass-to-mouth, made to suffer a diet of each other's fecal matter. The flimsy plot is rote at best for the genre, and the only reason we care for the characters is because no human deserves this treatment. But for those who revel in such recent shocking, violent and plain old disgusting films as "Irreversible," "Inside" and "Taxidermia," "Human Centipede," though nowhere near as brilliant, innovative or stylish, is deserving of a similar infamy. (Unrated by the MPAA.)

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