Tom Six's Human Centipede 3, though being the weakest film in the trilogy, is by no means a disappointment. Tonally it is a mess; the film can't decide whether it wants to be a comment on the justice system in America or a B movie shlock fest or a twisted 80's sitcom. Where the first two films were stylistically consistent; the first a cliche 2000's horror movie and the second a black and white shock fest, this film never seems to find its feet. The comedy rarely lands, the lighting choicing creates a strange cheesy tone and the dialogue see saws from entertainingly bad to just bad. The performances vary in quality also. Dieter Laser as Warden Bill Boss, screams and yells his way through the film to the point where it becomes annoying; starting somewhat entertaining and eventually he just becomes a headache. Not only chewing his way through dried clitoruses, but every scene he is in. These movies arent about subtilty and nuance but the character work here is simply poor. He lacks the intensity and sinister demeanor of which he so brilliantly portrayed in the first film. Laurence R. Harvey on the other hand is a scene stealing charm as Bill's accountant Dwight Butler. Though the accent comes and goes, the characters twisted mindset is so subtly undermined by Harvey's fantastic portrayal of a man struggling to balance keeping his job whilst pleasing his sadistic boss. The less said about Bree Olson's Daisy, the better. As for the infamous human centipede itself, the concept falls horrifically flat, the idea itself is brilliant however the execution, less so. The titular "creature" does not show up until very late in the film and is rather underwhelming when it eventually rears its ugly head. The human Caterpillar on the other hand was chillingly cruel. What saves this film is its sheer vulgarity and reliance on shock factor. A brutally graphic castration, a scolding water boarding session, a kidney rape and the amount of blood shed are sadistically entertaining. Never holding back, the gore and shock comes from all angles and, although somewhat corny, always made me squirm and laugh all at the same time.
In short, if you go into this film knowing it is going to be a poorly written, poorly acted, blood orgy and you are just along for the ride, you will enjoy this 100 minute mess of a movie.
