The Human Centipede : Ashley C. Williams, Dieter Laser, Tom Six

Equal parts Cronenbergian body horror, perverse fetish film, and E.C.

Comics-style gross-out, The Human Centipede is Dutch director Tom Six' s uniquely macabre endurance test for fans of modern fright fare.

What's surprising about the picture isn't the premise--its story, about a madder-than-mad doctor (German actor Dieter Laser) who unites two American tourists (Ashley C.

Williams and Ashlynn Yennie) and a Japanese counterpart (Akihiro Kitamura) in a hideous surgical procedure that creates the title monstrosity, was broadcast in detail across the Internet prior to its international theatrical screenings--but rather, the degree of reserve Six applies to depicting every excruciating detail.

That's not to say that Human Centipede is a bloodless affair, but Six relies more on the physical endurance and talent of his actors to present the mortal terror of their predicament, which in turn offers a more terrifying experience for the viewer than anything dreamed up by a special effects team.