The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
IFC Films | Release Date: April 28, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
33
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
4
Negative:
8
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Unlike its obvious influence, the 1999 Japanese shocker "Audition," The Human Centipede has no real-world echoes. It's an only-in-the-movies sick goof. Read full review
80
Village VoiceKarina Longworth
Centipede plays on the notion that the only thing more frightening than death is a state bridging life and death, in which, though one's body is no longer his own to control, the mind remains conscious. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Dieter Laser is grand as the doc, a character Christopher Walken would be comfortable doing, and Akihiro Kitamura provides laughs as the first part of the centipede. Read full review
60
EmpireKim Newman
This will not appeal to everyone, whether it will appeal to anyone is another question. With dark humour from time to time, underneath an extremely repulsive concept, this is a relatively conventional horror movie. Read full review
50
Boxoffice MagazineAmy Nicholson
More of a stunt than a script, The Human Centipede (First Sequence) should get a modest amount of I-dare-you ticket sales, but it's about as mass market as a dogfight. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The only way to react is by bringing a barf bag or a strong sense of gallows humor. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Coprophiliacs looking for a movie that really rings their chimes will be positively tintinnabulating from this arthouse horror number. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Written and directed by Tom Six--who doesn't seem to realize that movie theaters rely on popcorn sales--this nasty stuff plays like a cross between "Saw," "Naked Lunch," and "Bride of the Monster." Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Tom Six's movie has the freakiness and sadism of its genre, but it's so heavy with self-appreciation -- Dude, we had the craziest premise for a movie! -- that it can't lift off into the perverse ecstasy of decent exploitation. That was also the problem with "Snakes on a Plane.'' Read full review
20
VarietyPeter DeBruge
Only real payoff is seeing the monstrosity assembled, and though that will surely earn the Dutch writer-director a cult reputation on the genre circuit, "going there" does not a movie make. Read full review
20
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
Excruciatingly stupid movie. Read full review
12
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Six has now made a film deliberately intended to inspire incredulity, nausea and hopefully outrage. It's being booked as a midnight movie, and is it ever. Boozy fanboys will treat it like a thrill ride. Read full review
0
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
The movie stinks to heaven. Read full review
0
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Crosses the line from horror to just plain sick. Read full review
0
Los Angeles TimesMichael Ordona
There are terrible movies and there are loathsome movies. And then there's that rare breed so idiotic, exploitative and sickening one wishes they could be scrubbed from memory. The Human Centipede (First Sequence) is such a specimen. Would that I had 100 legs to kick it. Read full review
More From This Movie

33 Critic Reviews

4.1 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL