Two close college friends, Marie (Cécile De France) and Alex (Alexia Maïwenn) make a rural retreat to Alex’s secluded family farm in search of some peaceful study time and find anything but in this eagerly anticipated French slasher flick from director Alexandre Aja.
For a genre that likes nothing more than a spot of blood-spilling, life-force ending, artery severance, the slasher genre has maintained incredible staying power not to mention a firm fan-base amongst the fickle horror buffs. Currently in mid renaissance, the horror genre seems to be going full circle. Post-parody glut, teen stream and pointless remakes galore, there has recently been a move towards a distinctly more serious effort to put horror back in the media consciousness. Well placed in this gently creeping generic resurrection zeitgeist, Switchblade Romance makes its own heartfelt bid to win over some old fans and even glean some new ones. So, with all the underground hype, is this modern recreation of a classic formula on the bleeding edge or just a fading pulse?
“I’ll never let anyone come between us anymore” plea’s the traumatized and horrifically scarred Marie as she leads us into a morbid recollection of gruesome events gone by. As is fitting for such a physical film, the opening scenes of carefree friends cut with our first foreboding glimpse of the killer, serve to set the scene as a killing ground as we are soon made aware that this film is unencumbered by plot. This is a film about killing. Killing and survival and nothing more. Like a heartbeat, Switchblade Romance, or Haute Tension (High Tension) as it is known in its mother tongue, pounds with the most primal of instincts. Credited only as Le Tueur (The Killer,) Philippe Nahon provides a monolithic presence as the murderous figure who, dressed in grimy overalls and cap, slaughters Alex’s family one by one as if it’s his job. Like a juggernaut of death, he wields his razorblade with all the expertise and speed of an executioner, only his vile grunts belie his pleasure. Though it is when heroine Marie makes the unenviable choice to pit herself directly against The Killer that the film really kicks in with the High Tension of the title.
Marie admirably picks up the Last Girl baton handed down from a legendary heritage of some pretty tough competition and flicks one bloodied finger at the lot of them as she turns on her bare heel and leaves them all behind for a class all of her very own. It is De France, therefore, whose stellar performance as the tomboyishly tough force to be reckoned with rules this particularly horrific show. Though Maïwenn and Nahon put in perfectly cast performances as wretched and morbidly driven respectively, and Aja’s direction carries the film with all the desperate energy of a victim’s fight for survival, it is the score with which De France must share her glory. Rarely silent, it grinds like audible adrenalin. From ambient hums to industrial throngs it wafts infectiously over their claustrophobic seclusion.
The only downside to this otherwise stunningly superb slasher film is the unfortunate ‘twist’ ending. Who knows what possessed writing duo Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur to retreat from the fantastically effective simplicity of the entire film and do an about-turn, throwing pretty much the entire premise out of the window. Not only is this ending absolutely unnecessary, but it also has the peculiar effect of self- mockery. Similarly, though knowingly reminiscent of its classic predecessors and maintaining generic conventions, the film on the whole is brazen in its fresh approach…that is until the final scene which bizarrely descends into such cliched drivel it’s almost offensive. But even if the pay-off leaves you feeling short-changed, the ride you’ll have will be well worth it. This film is the rare thing of a treat that a disappointing plot cannot detract from. As Marie repeats once more to encapsulate her terrible tale, “I’ll never let anyone come between us anymore,” this time these words fall as if in promise from the genre itself to its faithful audience that it has returned in such awesome style to set the standard for which all others must now follow.
A delightfully thrilling treat for horror fans to revel in. Switchblade Romance is a razorblade’s cut above the rest, sweeping with brash ease to take its rightful place amongst the genres classics. An infuriatingly close 9/10, this film is almost slasher perfection.
