When I had initially read the disturbing description for director and writer Tom Six’s The Human Centipede as, “a nutshell, it’s about a mad doctor who sews the mouths of living humans to the asses of others, in hopes of creating and sustaining a centipede-like monstrosity”, my first thoughts were, I have to see this. When I was done watching it at the IFC theater in NY City, my second thoughts quickly reverted to,  “Oh… I really wish I never saw that.”

Predictable, ridiculous, and uncomfortable, this movie was everything I didn’t think it was going to be.

I must say, I felt let down. How could a movie about mouths getting sewn to asses go wrong? I walked into the theater almost positive this was going to be it; the movie that I could finally walk away from bubbling over with enthusiasm, making others envious at my awe of how spectacular it was to witness the first human centipede…ever. Not.

First off, you have two stereotypical American girls, Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie) and Lindsay (Ashley C. Williams), who are traveling throughout Europe, but they just happen to not know how to follow directions or change a flat. You would think that they may possibly be more on the adventurous side, being that they are traveling alone throughout an entire continent. Instead, they happen to be complete inept airheads, who would typically be found gyrating with muscle heads in some Long Island club to the sounds of “Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me”?

So of course, they get a flat tire, in what seems to be in the middle of nowhere, while it is raining, in the dead of the night, and end up walking aimlessly through woods. With no houses in sight, they finally end up at the front door of the one house that they happen to stumble upon, which just so happens to be residence of a mad surgeon, Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser).

In all honesty, I was able to look past the idiot girls and the predictability, cause heck, every horror movie, is known for its contradicting characters and predictable story line, so I still didn’t totally give up on the movie at this point. There was still hope, and my attention was still there, and I actually was finding all of this quite humorous and entertaining.

Then, to make matters worse, the doctor is the creepiest looking dude in existence. He offers the girls water, and but of course they accept, and who would of thought, but oh no, there’s GHB dissolved in it, the date rape drug!

So after Dr. Lunatic is successful at drugging the girls, he transports them to a bed, where they are consequently tied up, while connected to an IV.

Long story, short, Dr. Heiter is looking for three blood matches, so that he could connect the three together successfully. Previous to the girls, he had captured a chubby truck driver, who he found on the side of the road as he was performing “number two”, shooting him with a tranquilizer-filled dart gun, at his most vulnerable state of outdoor excretion. Fortunately for him, he is not a match with the two girls, and so the good doctor must go out and find the right third, who turns out to be Japanese character, Katsuro (Akihiro Kitamura).

Katsuro, Jenny, and Lindsay awake from their sedation, in Dr. Heiter’s cellar, alongside each other, in separate hospital beds. Dr. Heiter is not only kind enough to introduce himself and his background as a surgeon, specializing in separating Siamese twins, but he also takes the time out of his busy schedule, to present them with a visual presentation of how he is going to perform the mouth to ass surgery, on none other than, the three of them. He also elaborates on the digestion process, and how all three will be connected by one connective system of digestion, where the food will be eaten by the first, then passed through the anus, into the mouth of the second, upon which the same is repeated through the third, and finally, excreted. Understandably, they all freak out upon hearing this, especially Katsuro who rages in Japanese, screaming at how he is going to kick the doctor’s ass, but obviously unable to, due to the hand restraints.

We see Dr. Heiter performing parts of the surgery, but not all that much of it, and it may have been more visually appealing if they showed more of the actual cutting.

During the surgery, I kept thinking that if it were me that were one of the parts of the centipede, I would definitely prefer to be the first part, therefore my mouth would not have to be on anyone’s ass, and of course I would not have to ingest anyone’s feces.

Luckily for Katsuro, he gets to be the lead, and also have a girls mouth on his ass, so I don’t know why he keeps bitching throughout the movie. Not so lucky for the second segment, which is Lindsay, who literally has to take his shit. While Jenny’s mouth is connected to Lindsay’s rear, she is fortunate enough to escape the second passing, because there seems to be a god after all; Lindsay just happens to be constipated!

I had a problem with the way the centipede looked in its entirety. The connection between the mouths and asses were actually covered by bandages, so it didn’t really seem all that real. I also had an issue with the constant crying and moaning of the centipede. Not only did it feel like a strange porno, but it was annoying and distracting, and while I can handle any amount of gore, I think that too much of an unpleasant sound can become psychologically irritating.

Also, I didn’t really like the doctor’s relationship between him and the centipede, and how abusive and domineering he was toward it. Call me strange, but perhaps, if he was loving towards his Frankensteinian monstrosity, in a creepy sort of way, it would have been easier to watch.

At a Northern American premiere of The Human Centipede, when Tom Six was asked what his inspiration for the film was, he said, “It’s a really simple idea.” “I always made the joke to friends… if somebody was nasty or annoying…I said…to stitch his mouth to the ass of a fat truck driver…that’s horrible. That is really horrible and I thought that’s a great idea for a horror film,” he said.

Six explained to the audience that he actually went to a surgeon in Rome, who was also a movie lover and read the script. The surgeon ended up giving Six a detailed version of how such an operation would be performed, and also claimed that the procedure in the movie is  100% medically accurate and that if it were to be done in reality, the centipede could actually live a “really long time”.

After watching Six’s appearance at the premier, I came away with the impression that he has a good sense of humor and does not seem to take himself, or the idea too seriously. His lighthearted approach towards the film adds a different perspective towards it, and while I do think that the concept of the movie is fascinating, its execution was not, so much so.

To start we need to assess the platforms that we are building.  We have active engagement on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tumblr and a couple of other Social Media platforms. To engage in a blog marketing strategy is the method that we gravitate to in an effort to reach larger audiences. Here are my notes on the path towards full community engagement in the Roger Smith Social Media program.

1. Get people on the same platforms. Everyone should have their own accounts and be advised on best practices.

• Facebook
• Youtube
• Tumblr
• Twitter
• Other

2. Establish Best Practices

Commenting on youtube videos, facebook posts and blog posts are great ways to engage with people. It demonstrates to the community that you are reading, listening and looking to further engage. It is said that to increase the amount of comments on your blog you should post 10 comments on others.

Sharing is one of the most essential elements of a social media program. We aim to build a culture that actively shares content internally and to larger communities. To use blog platforms to format relevant media is a good way to organize content that can be shared effectively. We have our Social Media hub Roger Smith Life which is a great blog to share content from and a series of Tumblr blogs that are set up to be individualized sharing platforms. I like to describe tumblr accounts as bulletin boards.

Follow and Subscribe to the social media accounts that you like.

“If you like it, share it!” Make sure to share other people’s media more than your own. What goes around, comes around. If you share others’ work, they will share yours.

3. Keep it local, in abundance and be sure to engage offline! Being Social in person is the key to success. Face to face interactions are probably the most important ingredient in an effective Social Media Strategy. If you localize the objective so that the people you interact with online are the people that you see every day, know or are personally attached to, you will find yourself immersed in a well rounded social media experience.  Start small, start local and understand that your network will grow organically over time.

Assignment for those who look to be more engaged.

1. Subscribe to and post 10 Youtube video comments on any of the accounts below.

• http://www.youtube.com/user/rogersmithnews
• http://www.youtube.com/archingbridge
• http://www.youtube.com/panmanproductions
• http://www.youtube.com/ekrogersmith
• http://www.youtube.com/user/adamjwallace1

2. Share 3 of the videos that you commented on to your Tumblr account. If you don’t have a tumblr account yet, you should sign up for one.

3. On tumblr, reblog a post from someone that you know.

I plan to be persistent in my goal to increase and improve community engagement. I look to instigate activity internally so that we can be well versed in our future online engagements. Don’t be afraid to post questions on the blog.

Please Participate, Comment, Share and Engage.

Talk to you soon.

John

Youtube Comments from “Henry makes his bed” video.

adamjwallace1 (5 days ago) 0
Henry is such a great dog! What a funny shot of him making his bed!

Ekrogersmith (5 days ago) 0
He did it without opposable thumbs. This is my boy, Henry.

ninbk (5 days ago) 0
too cute!!!!!

panmanproductions (5 days ago) 0
I want to see this video break 10,000 hits before the end of the day! Can we do this? Go Henry!

gervis1776 (5 days ago) Show Hide 0
Goose!

ijustine (4 days ago) +48
omg this is amazing.. henry is my favorite little doggy ever :)

Christiecem (4 days ago) 0
Aw I wish ijustine commented on MY videos! Lol. I absolutely love your videos ijustine! You are so totally awesome! You are basically the inspiration that I have that pushes me to excell at school, and try my best to use what I have to make videos. I seriously wish I had the money to get a macbook pro like you with all the amazing video editing programs! You are so lucky and it’s all thanks to.. well.. YOU! Anyway, enough of the lame fan stuff. Bye! :)

-Christie
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pkmn7777777 (4 days ago) 0
iJustine ahhhhhhhhh ure u! sweet

TheBensMeister (4 days ago) +5
No Offense iJ…But come on Christie…
The Dog! The dog is the celebrity here. Sure iJ is a laugh a minute and kind of hot and gets to hang out with the ShayTards and cameos all over the planet and all of that, but The Dog…it made its own bed! It tucked itself in! He’s IT! Give a paragraph of props to the dog! Good Dog.

TheGregTV (4 days ago) 0
:D hi

heyitsdavid23 (4 days ago) +1
he is cute lol

Trishique (4 days ago) 0
ommgggg hhhoooww cute is that. my dog can’t even do that. ROFL.

niemann2006 (4 days ago) 0
he is adorable and cute!! he is also super smart!!

Christiecem (4 days ago) 0
Haha OMGOODNESS!

mpbcomesfirst (4 days ago) +1
OMG your dog is so adorable! And look everyone iJUSTINE just posted a comment on this video!! Woooowhooo!

lizzyloo852 (4 days ago) 0
hahaha Ekrogersmith…. so funny. IJUSTINE!! love this video so funny!!

Ampasch23 (4 days ago) 0
Omg lol i luvs HENRY

TheToriaShow (4 days ago) 0
Oh my god Henry is so cute!! :D

BabyGrl4u1 (4 days ago) 0
OMG How adorable!!!

JustinMartin401 (4 days ago) 0
lmao!!! thats a dog that dont play when it comes to going to bed.

AngryAsianChild (4 days ago) 0

aww that is so adorable! :) my dog did something similar once, but i wasn’t smart enough to get it on camera lol :(

kawaiisachan (4 days ago) Show Hide
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Loooool so cute <3

iamjonas216 (4 days ago) 0
lol my dogs do this

louiiseeeeee (4 days ago) 0
lol

jukovium (4 days ago) 0
too damn cute

karinachkaluvsya (4 days ago) 0
THIS IS soooooooooo adorable oh my gosh!!!!!!

wachiruco (4 days ago) 0
Yaaaay!!

Ekrogersmith (4 days ago) +2

On a serious note, Henry is looking for a girlfriend. He loves a long walk in the park, but he does not like to read so much.

amyxobrittany (4 days ago) Show Hide
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ohmygoddd. that video actually equals love ♥♥♥

RegusGB (4 days ago) Show Hide
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Haha that dog knows how to make himself comfortable

matty476 (4 days ago) +1
whattt
thats the cutest

melyes24 (4 days ago)  +1
omg he is sooo cuteeee <3

xXSweetCherryGirlXx (4 days ago) +1
Aww gosh, this is so cuuute ! ♥ hihi

lpfann (4 days ago) 0
reminds me of like how garfield sleeps in the comics.

wraps the blanket around him and such

bsaranya (4 days ago) +2
soooooooooo cute!!!

magicharry17 (4 days ago) +2
baaaaaallllllllssssss

viperxful (3 days ago)  -5
Love the dog, but grow up. Please

LovelyLady1090 (3 days ago) +2
that was so cute

oXIansitoXo (3 days ago) +1
lol

mai582 (3 days ago) -1
that’s my boy!

meshelllwo (2 days ago) +1
OMG!! that was sooo cute!!
my dog shilo does the same thing!!
dogs are awesome!!

robertacozminca431 (1 day ago) +1
aww this is so cute ♥

In the week of August 17-22 2009, 6 filmmakers created 6 short films in the Roger Smith Hotel. 

Interviews with the 2009 Roger Smith Shorts Directors

On Saturday August 22 we screened the six short films and a documentary of the behind the scenes of 6 different crews to a packed house. Due to the large numbers of people who turned out for the event, we will be hosting two more screenings this week. 

The Roger Smith Shorts will be screened on Wednesday 8/26 (Time tbd) in the back of Lily’s and Thursday 8/27 at 7 30 p.m. in the Starlight Ballroom at the Roger Smith Hotel at 501 Lexington Avenue.  I hope to see you there. 

The 2009 Roger Smith Shorts Festival Workshop Short Films are;

“Suite 15″ Directed by Jacob Mendel

“On the Rocks” Directed by Sean Cunningham

“Rabid Rocky” Directed by Danny Brothers

“Honeymoon Killer” Directed by Sherng Lee Huang

“Hotel Genius” Directed by Ted Wallach

“Clean The Room” Directed by Dmitry Povolotsky

The Roger Smith Shorts Documentary Directed by Aleks Degtyarev

Congratulations to Dmitry Povolotsky for winning the Roger Smith Shorts Best Short Award. I want to congratulate all of the filmmakers and their crews for a job well done.  I look forward to seeing where this network goes. 

Stay tuned for more regarding the Roger Smith Shorts Film Festival. 

Who is Roger Smith Anyway?