"Borrowing" Ideas

[Ben]

Some devices in film are so cliche now that they're practically archetypal, especially in horror. The psychotic friend/lover who can't let anyone else enjoy the company of the target of his/her affection, the terrifying phone calls the babysitter receives after the kids have gone to sleep, the killer who possesses seemingly supernatural sensory abilities that allows him to find his victims no matter where they hide. There are hundreds.

So when I dove into a slasher flick by the name of High Tension the other night I wasn't surprised at the cliches. But about 20 minutes in I realized that what I was actually watching was a book I had recently finished. Down to some of the most minute details it matched up with the novel exactly. It continued this way until the last 10 minutes or so when it deviated completely and wrapped up very clumsily. The credits began to roll, but nary a mention of the aforementioned book! It was a complete ripoff!

Horrified, I took to Amazon the next day to give the film the 1 star review it deserved. But this got me thinking... how often does this happen? How many movies have I already watched that have been also been shamelessly plagiarized? One would like to think (or rather, shudder to think) that with all the frivolous lawsuits that happen in America these days filmmakers just wouldn't be able to get away with it, or as I mentioned before, certain ideas and themes get recycled so many times it's nearly impossible to determine where they originated. But what if that's not the case? How often does this shit actually happen without us knowing? Have you seen any movies that were stolen goods?

[trashcanman]

It happens all of the time in film, music, art, and every other possible creative human undertaking. Ever heard the saying "Amateurs borrow, professionals steal"? Most of our favorite artists are probably horrible idea thieves and the real geniuses are broke losers we've never heard of. Here's a recent example that has thankfully brought a little negative attention on a certain A-list director: www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/blinkuldhc/news/?a=21055

So what novel did High Tension steal from?

[Ben]

You know, I always wondered about that saying. I think I subconsciously avoid anything that could potentially shatter my blissful illusions about my favorite artists and movies. I'm sure we'd all be disappointed if we even knew half of the shit that goes on behind the scenes.

High Tension is a direct lift of Dean Koontz's Intensity. Or at least the first half of that novel.

Here's the review I wrote after the fact if anyone is interested:

www.amazon.com/High-Tension/product-reviews/B001D6I340/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R2PPZDVF98M923

[trashcanman]

Koontz is a mainstream author and High Tension was a pretty high profile foreign film (it's acclaim led the director to be tapped for remakes of The Hills Have Eyes and Piranha) so I'm guessing the only reason there was no lawsuit must have had something to do with French copyright loopholes. The Wikipedia page for Intensity even refers to High Tension as a "loose adaptation" of the book. That is really weird that no credit was given. Anyways, I actually enjoyed the film a lot until the cheap twist. I'm not not a fan of that kind of shit. It's a "fuck you" to the audience who has been invested in the story that was being presented and even more so because it's so cliche. I actually have High Tension on my DVR and plan to give it another shot since I did enjoy it a lot until the last act, but I do get why you slammed it in your review.