UPDATE: If you want to check out the NC-17 version yourself, you can buy it on DVD
HERE. Trust me, it’s worth it! I don’t know why this surprises me so much- the boys over at
Dread Central found out that Lions Gate Films, and director Alexandre Aja have decided to cut down HIGH TENSION to an R-Rating from an NC-17 U.S. release.
Now, it makes sense- how many people are going to be able to see a NC-17 flick in the theaters- moviehouses don’t show many NC-17 movies, cause they’re Box Office suicide. But something about this just feels… wrong. Leave it the way it was shown in Europe, leave it the way it was meant to be seen.
Here’s the statement from director Aja: “The version of ‘High Tension’ that you are about to see is a dubbed English translation of the original French-language film, featuring Cecile de France’s own voice in the part of Marie. The new version has also been re-edited slightly, resulting in a running time that is about one minute shorter than the original. ‘High Tension’ was conceived as an ode to the 1970’s American horror/slasher films I loved as a teenager; so it is a source of great satisfaction to me that American audiences will now be able to experience the film on the same visceral level as French audiences, without the distraction of subtitles. Every filmmaker hopes that his or her work will be seen by the largest audience possible. Now, as an English language film, ‘High Tension’ has the opportunity to travel to U.S. theaters. I want to thank Lions Gate Films for making this possible.”
What makes this worse? It’s going to be dubbed! Now, I’ve seen the subtitled version, and trust me- you don’t even realize you’re reading after awhile, the film’s damn terrifying! But I find when a movie’s dubbed, you pay less attention to what’s going on, and more on the dubbing- because no matter how well the dubb is, it never has the same effect.
But I’ll give it for Lions Gate, I’m stoked they chose this movie for a summer release. This is one of the best horror films I’ve seen in ages, and everyone needs to see it. And hey, when it hits DVD, you know there will be an unrated version, and a undubbed version. TENSION hits theaters June 3rd.