Switchblade Romance

R

Released Jun 10, 2005

1h 29m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

List

41%

132 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A beautiful young Frenchwoman, Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco), travels out to the country to visit her family and brings along her friend Marie (Cécile de France). Soon after they get settled in the secluded home, Alex's parents are brutally attacked by a psychotic truck driver (Philippe Nahon), who proceeds to stalk the two women as well. When the killer kidnaps Alex in his truck, Marie hides in the back to try and rescue her, but the bloodshed is far from over.

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Critics Consensus

There is indeed a good amount of tension in this French slasher, but the dubbing is bad and the end twist unbelievable.

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Joshua H

While it does have some intense moments, the ending completely ruins it and makes the whole thing confusing.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/11/24

Full Review

Jay H

A great movie... until it isn't. The third act plot twist is unnecessary, it's stupid, and it's incredibly offensive. A shame; everything up to that point is a horror fan's dream.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/24

Full Review

Jake D

Look, there's a competent, if by-the-numbers slasher here, at least on paper. Closeted lesbian Marie goes to her friend Alex's secluded country house to study, masturbates while listening to Runaway Girl (which is better than the heavy use of Muse later on, but not by much), then watches Alex get kidnapped as her entire family is murdered. The rather predictable twist is, of course, that Marie is the serial killer, who just wants Alex to herself. Directed by someone who cared about continuity or competency, this twist might work, even with Marie following the serial killer's truck in a different car, or killing the serial killer before going to free Alex. Instead, the serial killer is introduced early on in a scene in which he orally copulates with a severed head, Marie dreams the climax of the film down to the scared cigarette-smoking Frenchman in the car, and after the reveal we continue to swap between Marie and the serial killer in a way that kills the tension and makes for a distracting rather than disturbing finale.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/24/24

Full Review

PÃ©ter K

I have seen my fair share of horror movies, from David Lynch to Blumhouse productions. I have seen a LOT, and let me just say. This movie is better than 99.9% of the popular horror movies of today. Like IT and The Nun and all of these, boring, big movies are absolutely nothing compared to this! It's the best thriller/ psychological horror movie I've seen... It has a huge plot, that literally no one expected... I honestly don't get why some ppl hate this movie so much, when it is a masterpiece. Altho I will have to say, the music could have been better in quite a few parts of the movie, because most of the music was just the most "generic annoying eerie sound.mp3" and in some part the music was either pretty quite or almost even absent! But yeah, that's my take on the movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/31/23

Full Review

K B

High Tension is a masterpiece of suspense, thrills and unforseen plot twists. While some may say there are plot holes in this movie, I personally find that these are their failed attempts to see those moments as memories of what the killer has done to their past victims, not moments that are happening in reality at the same moment as another moment of reality. In this way, I find that this movie is a beautiful kaleidoscope puzzle, whereas the more you watch it, the more you see how much planning and detail the killer went through and how aware this person was of every part of themselves. The choice of the killer may be seen by some as homophobic but I personally find the twists and turns this movie takes fresh and original, never replicated with quite the same thrills or success, even two decades later. The total commitment to the role that every character in this movie plays makes it unnervingly captivating and unflinchingly real no matter how many times you watch it. If you want a movie that will make you think, one where you must watch it again and again to find all the little clues and foreshadowing that drips in every word of dialogue and every shocking shot of showmanship by this she-devil, then I promise you, this move is a must watch and a hidden gem that never gets old. High Tension will be a movie to watch for even more decades to come.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/24/23

Full Review

Maxiquick F

Ugh, i hate horror movies, and i dont like bloody gory movies until i am a adult atleast 21 years old

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

06/14/23

Full Review

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Alexandre Aja

Director

Cécile De France

Marie

Maïwenn

Alex

Philippe Nahon

Le tueur

Franck Khalfoun

Jimmy

Andrei Finti

Le père d'Alex

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

Not only is it an assault on the senses, the film is so narcissistically nihilistic the only ones sure to get a kick out of it are members of the Manson Family fan club.

Rated: 1/4

Dec 13, 2005

Full Review

Nell Minow

Movie Mom

The ultimate rescue, however, comes when the credits roll and the lights come up.

Rated: C

Jun 14, 2005

Full Review

Peter Debruge

Premiere Magazine

Rated: 2/4

Jun 14, 2005

Full Review

Paul Lê

Bloody Disgusting

It completely unsettles the viewer like anything else to come out of the New French Extremity. The only difference is High Tension achieves its goal in the most unexpected way.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 21, 2023

Full Review

Anton Bitel

Projected Figures

Aja is clearly an immense talent to watch, as he both displays a thorough knowledge of horror tropes past, and remixes them into a squirm-inducingly difficult viewing ordeal that is psychologically if not quite narratively satisfying.

Feb 14, 2022

Full Review

Micheal Compton

Bowling Green Daily News

A very effective French horror film that takes a simplistic premise and milks it for every ounce of suspense possible.

Rated: B

Nov 19, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

A beautiful young Frenchwoman, Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco), travels out to the country to visit her family and brings along her friend Marie (Cécile de France). Soon after they get settled in the secluded home, Alex's parents are brutally attacked by a psychotic truck driver (Philippe Nahon), who proceeds to stalk the two women as well. When the killer kidnaps Alex in his truck, Marie hides in the back to try and rescue her, but the bloodshed is far from over.

Director: Alexandre Aja
Screenwriter: Grégory Levasseur, Alexandre Aja
Distributor: Lionsgate Films
Production Co: EuropaCorp, Alexandre Films
Rating: R (Language|Graphic Bloody Killings|Sexual Content|Terror)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: French (Canada)
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 10, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 22, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.6M
Runtime: 1h 29m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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