Tom Six on The Human Centipede II and What's In Store for His American-Set Trilogy Ender

The set-up of the sequel raises serious themes, considering social ailments like, for instance, the treatment of the mentally disabled, class conflict, the cycle of abuse. How important was it for you to include those elements in this -- and do they justify the extremes to which your film goes?

No, I don't do it really... what I chose to make Martin a mentally challenged person for is because it makes it so fucked up in your head, as an audience. In Part One, Dieter is really the bad guy and it's bad vs. good. In this film it's messed up. That's really something I aimed to do, because it makes you uncomfortable.

You feel conflicted in your sympathies for him.

Exactly. You think, man, that guy is harassed by everybody and he's not well. But at the same time he's killing people, so what do you think about that? That was really intentional. Other things are less intentional. When you're writing a story, it's based on things you hear from the news or you gather information. It just evolves within the script.

Martin is a security guard who stalks his victims via cameras at work, and the U.K. has that closed circuit television culture where everyone's constantly being watched.

Yeah, definitely. All over the world, I imagine. Eastern Russia...

Why did you pick England as the setting for this sequel?

Because I absolutely love London. I go there a lot. I really wanted to make an English language film, and I wanted the third one to be set in America.

Was it hard to get the star of your first Human Centipede, Ashlynn Yennie, to come back and play herself?

No! She trusted me so much, and she's such a trooper.

Clearly!

She has enormous balls, that lady. So when I contacted her she was very excited to play it, then I sent her the script and she had to swallow a few times, because of what was in it.

It maybe even makes her more vulnerable in the real world, playing a version of herself as the focus of fan worship gone terribly wrong.

Absolutely. But she went for it, and I think it's very cool what she does.

There's a nod to Quentin Tarantino in the film, in that Martin drops his name to lure Ashlynn to London. Where did that come from?

Eli Roth told me that Quentin Tarantino loved the film, and he was making human centipedes by his pool. Not for real, of course, but he was joking around. I thought that was so funny, and of course he's a big name in the industry so if you tell a naïve actress she's going to audition for Tarantino, everybody would fly to go there.

How soon are you starting on The Human Centipede III?

The script is ready, financing is ready, so we're hoping to go at the end of the year or the beginning of next year to scout locations and actors, then shoot in the beginning of next year.

What will the third film say about American culture? Have you immersed yourself in all things Americana?

I'm like a sponge. I watch the news, I'm very interested in books and reading about cultures in general, so I don't specifically study it but I notice things and I have my opinion about it.

It's always interesting to see how non-American filmmakers perceive American culture.

I love America! I really love it. It's not ironic! I absolutely love it here. I think [the third Human Centipede] is going to be the coolest of all three films.

The coolest.

Very cool.

Cool in what way?

I think if you see it, you'll understand.

Will you use similar aesthetics, visually?

No, totally different. Each film has its own different look. It is going to be in color but it looks totally different from the first films.

I'm a little afraid to see some of the things you have in store, in color. The black and white presentation in this sequel helps cushion the blow of what's happening onscreen.

Absolutely. And it creates this strange atmosphere, and that really helps the film. Otherwise it's too much in your face, I think. It blocks away the story. It only becomes gore. I think this really helps the nausea even more. [Laughs]

What are some of your artistic influences? You mentioned Pasolini's Salo to me earlier, which makes a lot of sense.

What I really like is Borat. The dark, black humor. It's genius. And that's really the sense of humor I like, so what you see in my films is a lot of black humor.

Both Human Centipede films could be read as comedy, it's just that the horror elements take over so much.

That's it, and some people laugh their asses off during the film while other people take it so seriously. That's just how your sense of humor works, I think. This is really my sense of humor. I love Borat; I also love Lars von Trier's work. What he creates is incredible.

Von Trier's another foreign director with interesting views on America, among other subjects.

But rather negative, I think. And I don't see things at all as negative.

You've got a great attitude about all of this, despite your critics. If you met your harshest detractors, do you think you could convince them to see your point of view?

Maybe! You know what, the horror filmmakers are usually very friendly. It's the romantic comedy makers who you have to watch out for. They hurt animals at home, secretly. [Laughs] Maybe. You never know.

After you complete your trilogy with The Human Centipede (Final Sequence), what do you want to do next?

I have a tremendously great idea, it's very original. It has the originality, I think, of The Human Centipede but it has nothing to do with The Human Centipede. It's a psychological horror film, but it's so different from any other horror film you've seen before. There's really unexplored territory. That's why it's so much fun for me to work in this [genre]. I really found something new, and with that film I really have something really crazy. I can't wait to do that.

The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) is in limited release today.

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