re:mote voices

Title: Switchblade Romance [Haute Tension ]
Cast: Cécile De France, Maïwenn Le Besco, Philippe Nahon
Director: Alexandre Aja

A psychotic killer arrives at a remote French farm, killing the entire family in a brutal manner, except for the daughter. The daughter he shackles and loads into the back of his van with the intent of a more sustained and ongoing abuse. But the killer doesn’t know that the daughter’s friend is also in the house. The other girl having managed to hide from the killer sets out on an emotional roller coaster as she attempts to rescue the killer’s prisoner.

Switchblade Romance is a film of two halves, kind of. Extremely stylish, director Alexandre Aja combines striking visuals with a calculated and resonant soundtrack. From the beginning we have the night falling, and the way that plays with the light, mixed up with the kind of lush white noise you might get from someone like Autechre. The action/plot is straight forward – you have two girls, Alex (Maiwenn) as captive and Marie (Cecile De France: Euro Pudding, Around The World In 80 Days) as her friend – then there is Phillippe Nahon (Seul contre tous, Le Pacte des loups, Irréversible) as the deranged killer.

The results thereby are stripped down, focusing on the cinematic quality rather than narrative depth. Providing a great deal of intensity and tension as the killer starts to realise that Marie is out there and as Marie tries to remain undiscovered while not losing Alex. A highly effective, brutal slasher movie.

That is until the end. Actually there are kind of two endings. The first one, being the one that makes some sense within the context, and where the film really should have ended. Then the stupid one, which doesn’t make sense, and could almost be said to ruin the entire film.