Horror Poster: Human Centipede 2
I will be analysing the cleverly titled Human Centipede 2, the second instalment in the series that can only be described as “sick and twisted.” Although an official poster crawled onto internet, the BBFC refused to give it a classification – regardless of any edits made. As a result of this ban the BBFC faced a backlash of complaints, claiming the film had artistic merit. However the BBFC simply stated “There is little attempt to portray any of the victims in the film as anything other than objects to be brutalized, degraded and mutilated for the amusement and arousal of the central character, as well as for the pleasure of the audience”. Its status as one of the few 11 films to be banned by the BBFC was overturned in October 2011, only on the condition that 32 cuts were made.
The film was produced and directed by Tom Six and does not feature many high calibre actors, in fact the most renowned actor out of the lot is Ashlynn Yennie who played Jenny in the Human Centipede 1 (First Sequence). It was distributed by Bounty Films and made mere $108,498 at the box office. A third Human Centipede (Final Sequence) is in production and will be the last film in this odd series.
The Human Centipede 2 is a sexually twisted horror film which borderlines gore. The plot follows Martin Lomax, an underground car park worker who was sexually abused as a child and isn’t the most ordinary of people. He watches the first Human Centipede and begins to recreate the experiment, only with a dozen people (hence the term full sequence). Much of the film is Martin kidnapping, beating and torturing his victims.
Even though the poster reveals details of the film and essentially depicts what the movie is about, it is more of a teaser poster in the sense that it doesn’t reveal when the film is coming out. Furthermore the centipede design on the poster shows far more than 12 people, different to the amount in the film. This could have been to ensure that the nature of the film seen in the eyes of the public was as disturbing as possible, or simply because they originally intended to use that many test subjects.
The Human Centipede 2 poster gives off a very grungy, dark and atmospheric aura. This is done through an excellent use of low key lighting and staining the picture with thousands of white lines and blurs, thus connoting a sense of harshness and making the poster appear to be crumpled up and old. Moreover almost the entire film is shot in black and white, showing that the poster has continuity with the movie. The dark, drab and eerie colours fit perfectly with the creepy nature of the film and the blood stained corners connote the suffering depicted in the film.
The bodies are extremely pale white which can be seen to connote death, especially in certain Asian countries where white symbolizes death. It relates to the subgenre J-Horror where essentially all the antagonists are pale white with black hair, exactly what the bodies in the poster look like.
The tagline “100% Medically Inaccurate” relates to the first film, where the tagline was “100% medically Accurate” due to the one digestive track the 3 victims shared. This new tagline portrays how much more insane the sequel is. If the first Human Centipede was seen as one of the most gruesome films of all time while staying true to medical accuracy, then imagine how gruesome the sequel will be without having to abide by medical accuracy. Without medical accuracy to land Tom Six’s insane ideas, he is free to go mad with the gruesomeness.
The typeface fits the generic horror movie harshness with some inspiration taken from a few Saw posters. The metallic feel to the writing and sharpness of the edges clearly represents the knives used to conduct the experiments. Furthermore, on an almost entirely black poster the bright, white sans serif font really sticks out. The tagline is slightly darker giving it a grungier feel, which is very suitable when considering the film in question.
Finally I believe this is a very effective teaser poster that seems to rely on the infamous reputation of the prequel in order to sell. It helps by having a ridiculous version of the human centipede, which will catch everyone’s out merely through shock. It has a clever tagline and the colours, effects and minimal use of lighting all help sell the idea that this is a very disturbing film.
The film was produced and directed by Tom Six and does not feature many high calibre actors, in fact the most renowned actor out of the lot is Ashlynn Yennie who played Jenny in the Human Centipede 1 (First Sequence). It was distributed by Bounty Films and made mere $108,498 at the box office. A third Human Centipede (Final Sequence) is in production and will be the last film in this odd series.
The Human Centipede 2 is a sexually twisted horror film which borderlines gore. The plot follows Martin Lomax, an underground car park worker who was sexually abused as a child and isn’t the most ordinary of people. He watches the first Human Centipede and begins to recreate the experiment, only with a dozen people (hence the term full sequence). Much of the film is Martin kidnapping, beating and torturing his victims.
Even though the poster reveals details of the film and essentially depicts what the movie is about, it is more of a teaser poster in the sense that it doesn’t reveal when the film is coming out. Furthermore the centipede design on the poster shows far more than 12 people, different to the amount in the film. This could have been to ensure that the nature of the film seen in the eyes of the public was as disturbing as possible, or simply because they originally intended to use that many test subjects.
The Human Centipede 2 poster gives off a very grungy, dark and atmospheric aura. This is done through an excellent use of low key lighting and staining the picture with thousands of white lines and blurs, thus connoting a sense of harshness and making the poster appear to be crumpled up and old. Moreover almost the entire film is shot in black and white, showing that the poster has continuity with the movie. The dark, drab and eerie colours fit perfectly with the creepy nature of the film and the blood stained corners connote the suffering depicted in the film.
The bodies are extremely pale white which can be seen to connote death, especially in certain Asian countries where white symbolizes death. It relates to the subgenre J-Horror where essentially all the antagonists are pale white with black hair, exactly what the bodies in the poster look like.
The tagline “100% Medically Inaccurate” relates to the first film, where the tagline was “100% medically Accurate” due to the one digestive track the 3 victims shared. This new tagline portrays how much more insane the sequel is. If the first Human Centipede was seen as one of the most gruesome films of all time while staying true to medical accuracy, then imagine how gruesome the sequel will be without having to abide by medical accuracy. Without medical accuracy to land Tom Six’s insane ideas, he is free to go mad with the gruesomeness.
The typeface fits the generic horror movie harshness with some inspiration taken from a few Saw posters. The metallic feel to the writing and sharpness of the edges clearly represents the knives used to conduct the experiments. Furthermore, on an almost entirely black poster the bright, white sans serif font really sticks out. The tagline is slightly darker giving it a grungier feel, which is very suitable when considering the film in question.
Finally I believe this is a very effective teaser poster that seems to rely on the infamous reputation of the prequel in order to sell. It helps by having a ridiculous version of the human centipede, which will catch everyone’s out merely through shock. It has a clever tagline and the colours, effects and minimal use of lighting all help sell the idea that this is a very disturbing film.