Studio: Lions Gate Entertainment
Genre: Horror
MPAA Rating: NC-17
Director: Alexandre Aja
DVD Release Date: 10/11/2005
Theatrical Release Date: 6/10/2005
PublishedId: 395489
UPC: 031398183532, 031398183556, 031398179153, 031398182481
Plot: French filmmaker Alexandre Aja writes and directs the slasher film Haute Tension, given the English title Switchblade Romance. Best friends Marie (Cécile De France) and Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco) go out to the countryside to visit Alex's parents. However, a homicidal delivery man (played by Philippe Nahon from Gaspar Noé's brutal movies) ends up at their house and starts killing everyone.
Alex and Marie fight for their lives with help from several means of weaponry.
Switchblade Romance was shown at the {~2003 Toronto Film Festival} as part of the Midnight program. The film was aquired by US distributor Lions Gate Films in 2004 and quickly put into turnaround as an NC-17 release, though plans for that were scrapped due to a lack of theater support of the controversial rating. Retitled
High Tension, the R-rated version is missing one minute of grisly gore and features a redubbed audio track by star
Cécile De France. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide.
