Love the dark and macabre but not much of a fan of gore. I find it tends to detract from narrative and flow of the movie. I hate the pause for the groans or guffaws needed with gore scenes. There are a few cases where they increase the intensity of a scene or the intensity we might feel for a character. I think of the think with Neegan in walking dead. That was effective or the bleeding walls in the Shining but those really iconic moments are few and far between and most of the time. I really feel that gore should be used sparingly. Suspense and psychological ick factors. Now that is works. It sounds like Haute Tension was a winner in these two categories. It sounds like Marie had a fractured personality. Did the movie give any clue early on that this might be the case. Was there perhaps a triggered moment before the main action of the plot took place. I think that might help explain the plot better. Like David Lynch were there little symbolic nuances that might of have tied things more needly together?

Great review.