High Tension - How Aja wanted to end it (untagged spoilers)
 

Get your guns out!!! Start bitching!!! Here's some interesting news on how Aja originally wanted to end it:

http://joblo.com/arrow/

As THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake is gearing up for release, director Alexandre Aja has been making the interview rounds as of late, talking about everything from what to expect from his new film to what his future projects will be. Today CHUD's interview with Aja scored a little more information- like what the hell happened at the end of HIGH TENSION.

I for one loved TENSION- thought it was a quality slasher film, and I even dug the twist ending- I had no problems believing it, and enjoyed screaming to myself 'what the f*ck???' as the credits rolled. Yeah, it was one helluva ending. But others don't seem to take my view, going as far to say the ending ruined the movie. Here's some interesting tidbits on why the ending was the way it was, straight from Aja's mouth....

It’s kind of funny because the first draft of the script, the script we wanted to do, had the same twist but just in the final minutes. You started the movie in the hospital room and she’s telling the story and then you come back to the hospital room in the end, so you have the feeling that the killer was the killer, but then the doctor brought a VCR into the room, watching the security video from the gas station and you realize she axes the guy. That was the final twist, and the twist was only saying, ‘OK what you saw was her vision of the story and the truth is another movie.' The producer, unfortunately, asked us to give up the last scene in the last reel, and I think that’s where everything became more fragile.

Whoa Nelly! I think I'd be scratching my even MORE if that was the twist they stuck with! But you know what they say, sometimes being simple is better. Or something like that. Too bad they can't recut the film like that- just for shits and giggles- it'd be interesting to see how that version played out.

To read more about Aja, including his upcoming BLACK HOLE project, go ahead and click HERE, and prepare to die first next Friday as HILLS hits theaters everywhere.

I don't understand. Was he saying that basically everything happened as we know it to be we find out in the hospital instead of in the arboretum?

Sort of, give it more of an "interpretation" ending than a set in stone "She was the killer, yes, and this is how she did it.".. at least thats how I Figure it.

Did he have any comment on the fact that the whole first hour of the movie was plagearised (sp?)?

no thanks - I'll wait for the NC-17 version of 'Hill's on home video - and not see this in the theatre.

I couldn't get into this film, despite how much this board loves it. After the screwing around at the gas station, both my girlfriend and I gave up, shutting it off.

I also don't see that would change anything. The video would still prove she did it all, right?

probably not because it wasn't. if you think it's plagarizing "intensity" you probably never read the book. :/

That probably would have been better, but I dont think it would have changed it much...Would have just maybe sparked more discussion about the ending.

On the High Tension DVD he explains that Luc Besson asked them to make this change in order to get the film produced. I actually prefer it this way.

Count me in as another fan who didn't mind the ending. The more I watch it, the more I enjoy the ending. I love the idea that she's making the entire thing up and that they didn't even know each other, she's just some stalker who falls for the girl and makes up this whole story in her head. Sick stuff.

Not sure if that would have helped. Still a bunch of lies. Kiss my ass, Aja.

i couldn't bring my self to read Intensity after a few pages but i did watch the first half of the made for tv movie (again i had to give up on it.)

from what i did see though:

girl is staying at her friends house for vaction or some reason.
kill shows up and kills the whole family except for the girl and her friend. the friend is taken alive in the killers van. being an unexpected guest of the family, apparently the killer never expected her to be there. she sneaks into van to free her friend when the killer drives off. kill stops to get gas, she sneaks out and gets into the gast store. kill thinks something is "off" and kills the guy or two who work there." that's as far as i got, with it, but it seems dead on. however, i thought i heard he did have the rights...?

in the book, the friend is takeen to the RV dead. china doesn't know she's dead until she sneaks on board. oncce they get to the gas station, she sneaks off with the knife, but leaves in under the rv. she goes in the station for help but the attendants die. before they die the killer tells them he has a little girl at his house he's going to kill. rather then get ploice she decides to follow the killer to the house. before she gets there she crashes her car and sneaks back on the rv. the killer sees her but does nothing, he's intriqued. at the house she sneaks out and finds the little girl in the basement. the killer finds her to and bounds her to a chair and leaves. she breaks free and gets the girl out of the house and on to the rv. she drives out, sees a cop and flags for help. but the cop is the killer.

aside from the opening premise and the gas station scene, almost everythign is different.

Perhaps had you tried to be romantic in a more conventional (or at least clean) place your plan could've come to fruition.

I liked this movie until the end. It completely ruined my perception of this movie.

However, that other ending probably would have worked on a pure shock level and not left the biter taste in my mouth.

i think people wanted to watch this movie as a straight up slasher/killer/suspense film and the fact that it's actually a psychological thriller ruined it for them. as i've said before, i loved it.

no, i love a good psychological thriller, the problem with HT is that it wants to be both, and it can't. it's a great slasher flick until the ending, which completely ruins everything that preceded it. the ending blows so many holes into the previous 75 minutes that the movie becomes an unintelligable mess.

That's a lot of stuff to rip off. It's not like they just ripped off one scene, there are a lot of similarities in the first part of the film. I don't mind, I like both films, it's just weird how similar they are.

if you find plot holes either a) you didn't understand the film, or b) you do understand the film but refuse to answer your own plot hole questions, i.e. you want it spoonfed.

It doesn't blow holes into the film because of this: At the start of the film, Marie is talking to the police, telling her story. The entire movie is Marie's false story to the police of what happened. It's her version of events, how she explains them. She is N-U-T-S. The End.

I'll reiterate what I said in the original thread for this film: the fact that the poorly told, hole-filled story came from the mind of a crazy main character doesn't negate the fact that it's a poorly told, hole-filled story.

-JP

Maybe the crazy main character tells poor stories, thereby making everything intentional. Oooooohhhh!!!

i'm sorry but anyone who says there are plot holes didn't understand the point of teh movie, you as a viewer are supposed to decide what's true, what's partialyl true, and what's a complete lie. it's not that hard if you look at the clues, well i guess it is for some.

the general audience always need stuff spoonfed. is it that hard to think outside the box or must everything be connect the dots?