Perhaps the most revolting trilogy in existence, the sickening tale ofThe Human Centipedecomes straight from the mind of Dutch filmmaker Tom Six. In 2009,The Human Centipede (First Sequence)kicked off the acting careers of Winter Williams and Ashlynn Jennie, who played Lindsay and Jenny, respectively. Six discussed the inspiration behind the trilogy ina video interview from 2011, saying: “I once saw a child molester on television and thought, ‘What would be a good punishment for him?’ I said, ‘What if they sewed his mouth to the a** of a very fat truck driver?’ That would be a good punishment.”
Since 2009, Six has amassed enough followers to support the creation of two more movies, each one more vile than the last.The Human Centipede 4has been named as a hypothetical sequel to the final installment,The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence), but creator Tom Six has stated that this will never come to fruition. However, he has expressed an interest in making a spin-off featuring the Human Caterpillar, as featured inFull Sequence.
But why isn’t he interested in continuing what has become a genre-defining,cult-classic franchise?
Six Wanted To Make a Movie Centipede
The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
When developingthe concept forThe Human Centipedemovies, Tom Six expressed interest in conceiving what he calls a ‘movie centipede’ – a seamless continuation of one giant narrative. Six designed the movies to either be watched separately or carried over from one to the next across a four-and-a-half-hour period.
In the alternate ending forFull Sequence, German actor Dieter Laserappears as his characterfromFirst Sequence, Dr. Josef Heiter, who dreams about the events of the third movie and becomes inspired. This connection brings the franchise full circle back to the original while all films remain interchangeable.
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Dieter Laser and Laurence R. Harvey, the stars ofthe first and second films, return to the ensemble cast in the final installment as a psychopathic warden named Bill and his accountant, Dwight, respectively. The decision to recast these actors by Six also helps to solidify the franchise’s status as a meta-universe.
He Originally Considered a Fourth Movie
In 2014, a year before the threequel was released, Six actively considered a fourth movie. In an interview withEntertainment Weekly, he said he “planned it to be a trilogy. But never say never.” However, Six has retracted the statement. In a since-deleted interview with Fangoria, he said: “I had always envisioned that I would make a trilogy ofHuman Centipedefilms. If you look closely, the films themselves are a centipede, and you can watch them back to back and the story flows from one film to the next. And I thought since [The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence)] was the last one, I wanted to go out with a bang. I had always envisioned the trilogy as a comedy.Human Centipede 3is the kind of movie I wanted to make with the first one.”
After the release ofFull Sequencein 2015, Six toldBloody Disgustingthat a fourth movie would feature either a charity organization connecting starving Africans in order to solve the hunger problem, or it would revolve around extraterrestrial beings connecting the entire human race into a centipede to enslave them.
The Possibility of a Spin-Off Is Very Real
InThe Human Centipede (Final Sequence), Dieter Laser reunites with Six once more to play the role of a sadistic warden named Bill Boss. In an effort to eradicate the extremely high violence rates inside George H. W. Bush State Prison, Boss executes his own version of the human centipede, as seen in the two previous movies, which are canon in the universe.
Once the centipede is constructed, Boss decides to craft a more fitting fate for the inmates on death row that would makeaudiences sick to their stomachs. He sews them together like the others but instead surgically amputates their limbs, thereby restricting movement.
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This monstrosity resembles a caterpillar, which moves much more sluggishly than a centipede. Boss dubs it the ‘human caterpillar,’ and Six has noted this concept as the basis of a potential spin-off.
In 2015,Six tweeted, “After the trilogy [there will be] NO moreHuman Centipedemovies, BUT I promise I’ll make aHuman Caterpillarin a few years cause I have a great idea for that.“He also communicatedthat if the spin-off were to be made, it would star a female villain and most likely be shot in Japan.
That was almost nine years ago, so there’s no telling if Six will stay true to his word. He has been vocal about an ongoing dispute with the satirical psychological horror filmThe Onania Club, which was initially due for release in 2017 but has faced significant setbacks ever since.
It wouldn’t be surprising if we didn’t receive new content inThe Human Centipedeuniverse until Six garners enough support to finally getThe Onania Cluboff the ground. Until then,The Human Centipedeis available to rent on Prime Video.
