The 4K here is a bit dim, although it’s supposed to be a grungy, dirty film—it’s better than if the film was too bright or polished, but I think the color could have been graded a bit brighter in some scenes that are difficult to even see. The sound mix is fantastic, as are the special features, especially a great half-hour interview with Saulnier, now a decade removed from the film and able to really unpack where it stands in his career (as well as to be remarkably vulnerable about the passing of his friend Anton, a truly sad story that I think about often, wondering where he would be today). I wish Saulnier would make something like “Green Room” again soon.
Finally, there’s the Limited Edition release of “High Tension” that came out a few months ago but just arrived in our offices after the last HEG. Roger’s review of this 2003 slasher contains one of his most famous lines when he says that the film has a plot hole “that is not only large enough to drive a truck through, but in fact does have a truck driven right through it.” For me, I see so many horror films that threaten to go off the rails and then pull back in disappointing ways that I love when a film like Aja’s actually FLIES off the rails. “High Tension” doesn’t make sense. I don’t need it to make sense. It’s a genre mood piece, an experiment in gore and tension, and that’s why I like it.
However, I don’t love the transfer here which Aja oversaw and speaks glowingly about in his new interview but looks way too dim for my taste. He complains that it was too bright in the other DVD transfers in the past, but you could see what the heck was going on in those transfers. This one is murky instead of vividly dark. It’s frustrating, but the special features help, especially that Aja interview in which he drops details like the influence of “Dune” on his villain and openly talks about the influence that “High Tension” had on the industry, which is undeniable. Even with that plot hole.