The new Human Centipede Blu-ray set is here, whether you asked for it or not. The controversial trilogy can now be bought as a limited “Tom Six Edition” Steelbook, boasting more than 7 hours of footage total. You may want nothing to do with this release, but with the pack being sold exclusively from Six’s website for the hefty price of €52.99 (US$61.64), the director’s banking on there being some pretty dedicated shock junkies in his fanbase.
He took to Twitter earlier this week to announce the arrival of the set, saying:
“Watching the complete 4.5 hrs movie centipede is the ultimate pede experience. Check out the only box in the world that has them connected with different ending!”
The Human Centipede trilogy has an overarching structure that mirrors the perverse premise at its core, with each film existing as a mere work of fiction in the movie that follows. The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence), for example, opens with its main character watching the 2009 original, and The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence) begins, in turn, with a viewing of the second installment. An alternate ending for the third film’s home video release found a way to bring these events full circle, and it could be this final twist that Six’s tweet is referring to.
The pack’s webpage breaks down the discs as follows:
“Disc 1: The Movie Centipede (part 1, part 2 and part 3 connected)
Disc 2: The making of part 1, The making of part 2 (new), The making of part 3, The Human Centipede 2 in FULL COLOUR, Tom Six home video: Decaying in Style, Deleted Scenes and Paintfarts clip”
In related news, Tom Six’s next project, The Onania Club, seems on course for release late this year, and based on the psychological horror film’s uncomfortable first teaser, the director isn’t done with the shock tactics yet. Whether this upcoming flick will have the cultural impact of The Human Centipede remains to be seen. Anybody can be gross, but it takes a certain mixture of imagination and luck for the grossness of your work to still be widely remembered and referenced almost a decade later, for better or worse.