%%
%%
%%
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
%%
%%
%%

!![[center:'''[[BrainBleach BRAIN BLEACH]] WARNING:'''\\
Just ''reading'' about ''The Human Centipede'' could make you wish you hadn't. Those of a sensitive disposition should [[SchmuckBait stop now before it's too late]]. [[SincerityMode We mean it]]; the "centipede" here doesn't just refer to a human with too many limbs. Administrivia/{{You have been warned}}.]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Human_Centipede_poster_7262.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300: Gives the phrase "eat shit and die" a whole new meaning.]]

->''"Is the movie good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don't shine."''
-->-- '''Creator/RogerEbert'''

Still with us? Well, don't say we didn't warn you.

In 2010's ''The Human Centipede: First Sequence'' (directed by Tom Six), a couple of young American tourists, Lindsay and Jenny, find themselves traveling through Germany when they [[MyCarHatesMe get a flat tire]]. They stop for help at the house of [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Dr. Josef]] [[HerrDoctor Heiter]] (Creator/DieterLaser), a surgeon who specializes in separating conjoined twins -- and [[MadDoctor someone]] with a {{vision|aryVillain}}. We'll let you get a cold drink and a comfy seat before we share his vision with you. If you like to drink alcohol, make your drink a [[INeedAFreakingDrink stiff one]]. We'll also let you bring in the BrainBleach; pictures of cats and dogs are preferred.

...

::...

:::...

::::...

:::::...

Ready?

Here we go.

Heiter dreams of taking separate individuals and stitching them together to [[BodyHorror create]] a [[TitleDrop "human centipede"]] that shares a single digestive tract. Take a minute to let that sink in if you need to. For the sanity of our readers, we will not describe how he plans to accomplish his goal here, but to bottom line it, Lindsay, Jenny, and a JapaneseTourist named Katsuro have just become his first test subjects.

Billed as "[[AsbestosFreeCereal 100% medically accurate]]," ''The Human Centipede'' gained plenty of early attention from horror fans and sites due to its [[AudienceAlienatingPremise depraved premise]]. (Riding on a wave of graphic European horror films helped the film, too.) The film often receives a mixed reaction from horror fans who can stomach watching it; some believe it went to amazing lengths with its premise, while others feel it relied too heavily on BodyHorror at the expense of shocking and disgusting viewers.

The film found enough success at festivals around the world to warrant a {{sequel}}, 2011's ''The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)''. Filmed and set in England (where the ratings board {{banned|InChina}} the uncut version until the filmmakers cut almost three minutes of footage), the film centers around a PsychopathicManchild named Martin who becomes obsessed enough with the [[ShowWithinAShow first film]] to try imitating it; however, his centipede is longer than three people. Six himself says the sequel makes the original look like ''Franchise/MyLittlePony''; judging by people's reactions to the finished product, the sentiment comes off as legit. While the filmmakers billed the first film as "[[FalselyAdvertisedAccuracy 100% medically accurate]]", Six described the sequel as "100% [[ArtisticLicenseBiology medically]] [[SelfDeprecation in]][[LampshadeHanging accurate]]".

Six completed a third installment, ''Final Sequence'', that was released in 2015 with the tagline "[[RunningGag 100% politically incorrect]]". Despite reports of [[http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/the-human-centipede-is-falling-apart-tom-six-suing-actor-dieter-laser a falling out]] between Six and actor Laser, both Laser and Harvey return, but as different characters. It's set in a prison where Creator/EricRoberts, of all people, plays the prison governor.

Among the various places the films have shown up in pop culture, they somehow spawned a [[LighterAndSofter light-hearted]] porn parody, ''[[ParallelPornTitle The Human Sexipede]]'', and inspired the Season 15 premiere of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' ("[[Recap/SouthParkS15E1HumancentiPad HUMANCENTiPad]]"). Someone also got the bright idea to make a ScreenToStageAdaptation in ''WebVideo/HumanCentipedeTheMusical'', and in 2023, the films received a new wave of attention after Creator/TomCardy's song "[[https://youtu.be/GFokXnCCMf8 Red Flags (feat. Montaigne)]]" (with the titular red flag being the date's interest in the first film) went viral on [=TikTok=].

----
!!Tropes within:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:General]]
%% * AndIMustScream: Well, you ''can'' scream... it's just that you can only scream up someone's ass.
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: A human centipede in reality would be highly delicate and would break apart the moment it was put into effect:
** With the exception of the third film, breaking free of the centipede would be as simple as simply pulling away; staples (medical or otherwise) are not very strong and simply coughing would be enough to loosen them. Bandages and duct tape would only offer slight amounts of protection against this.
** Having an airtight seal on your mouth would most likely suffocate you the moment you woke up (having your mouth stapled to someone's ass will bring anyone to nose blocking levels of tears).
** Eating shit will make 99% of people vomit instantly; breathing in vomit by accident would lead to a quick death.
** [[spoiler:Being hit in the head with a crowbar hard enough to cause the level of bleeding seen is usually instant death; all of the people who Martin collects for his centipede are knocked unconscious this way not once [[BeyondTheImpossible but TWICE!]], although this is exclusive to the 2nd film of which the tagline is [[LampshadeHanging "100 percent medically inaccurate"]]]].
%% * AxCrazy: The characters responsible for each centipede. No explanation needed.
%% * BodyHorror: Good ''lord''.
%% * ChewingTheScenery: Dieter Laser in the first film. In the third one, he doesn't just chew it. He pulverises it and digests it.
* CreatorsShowWithinAShow: Each subsequent sequel depicts the previous film(s) as works of fiction that inspire the villain of the current film.
%% * CreepyCentipedes:
%% ** Not the literal kind, but close enough, and far creepier.
%% ** Also, the pet centipede in ''Full Sequence''.
* FleshGolem: Technically, since the titular human centipedes are constructed by sewing people together ass-to-mouth.
%% * ForceFeeding: The "head" of each centipede is definitely the lucky one in this regard.
%% * ForTheEvulz: Why else would you sew people ass to mouth?
%% * {{Gorn}}: Multiplied with each installment.
* KneeCapping: The victims of the centipede are all crippled this way, so they can't stand up and are forced to crawl.
* MetaSequel: Instead of trying to tell a continuing story, each sequel posits that the preceding film(s) were fictional but have inspired someone to try replicating them.
%% * NoDeadBodyPoops: Surprisingly, played straight.
* RedFlagRecreationMaterial: The sequels to ''The Human Centipede'' have a MetaTwist on this, with each subsequent film portraying the previous films as works of fiction InUniverse... and becoming inspirations for the {{Villain Protagonist}}s' own uniquely horrific acts of kidnapping, torture, and worse.
* SerialEscalation: ''First Sequence'' has [[spoiler:three people sewn together ass to mouth]]; ''Full Sequence'' has [[spoiler:twelve people!]] ''Final Sequence'' has [[spoiler:''five. Hundred. People!'']]
* ShowWithinAShow: The first film is a film within the second film. The first and second films are films within the third film.
* TagLine: Which doubles as a RunningGag:
** ''First Sequence'' is "100% Medically Accurate".
** ''Full Sequence'' is "[[SelfDeprecation 100% Medically Inaccurate]]".
** ''Final Sequence'' is "100% Politically Incorrect".
%% * TorturePorn: One of the more prominent examples right before the genre went down the chute, with the latter two entries contributing to its decline.
* VillainProtagonist:
** ''First Sequence'': Heiter, a crazy, [[PuttingOnTheReich Nazi-esque]] MadScientist who had the idea to stitch people together to create a "human centipede".
** ''Full Sequence'': Martin, a mentally challenged pervert who is inspired by the original film to commit truly horrific crimes.
** ''Final Sequence'': Bill Boss, a bigoted (in virtually '''every''' way possible) prison warden who is inspired by the ''Human Centipede'' films to make all of his prisoners into a gigantic human centipede made of about 500 people.
%% * WorldOfHam: Many of the actors are clearly having a good time with this, though the standout example is Deiter Laser.
* TheWormThatWalks: Inverted, with the titular "human centipede" being a large insectoid creature made up of three people stitched together (and more in the sequels).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''First Sequence'']]
* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Heiter attempts to invoke this with the centipede by trying to get it to fetch the newspaper.
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Lindsay's ultimate fate, with Heiter and the other two members of the "centipede" dead, [[FateWorseThanDeath she is left stuck between two dead bodies]] with nobody to help her]].
%% * AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Katsuro, right before he commits suicide]], accuses himself of being this.
%% * BilingualBonus: "Heiter" is German for ''cheerful''. Actually, an awful lot of the film is in German and Japanese. Unless you have the DVD subtitles on or know those languages, you're kind of screwed.
* BodyHorror: Heiter goes into ''graphic detail'' on what the procedure involves. [[spoiler:The cheeks (of the mouth) [[GlasgowGrin are cut]] and grafted onto the cheeks (the other kind) of the person in front of them in such a way that the mouth is enclosed around it and that the person can't even breathe through it, and can't move their jaw without ripping the flesh. Some of the front teeth are also removed so as to facilitate the flow of feces between segments, as are the kneecaps so as to prevent each segment from standing up.]] Probably the only horror film where ''you don't even need to '''see it''' to be horrified''.
%% * BreakTheCutie: Lindsay and Jenny.
* DangerousKeyFumble: Lindsay ''deliberately'' drops the keys (for some reason) after locking herself in the [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate doctor's]] bedroom. She then realizes what a dumb idea this was, when the doctor then appears at the window with a tranquilizer rifle.
* DespairEventHorizon:
** Katsuro finally crosses his after failing an escape attempt and being overcome with guilt, [[spoiler:slitting his throat with a shard of glass]].
** Jenny's hysteria over her ordeal climaxes right before the operation as she's being sedated, with her devolving into terrified sobs and [[IWantMyMommy pleading for her mother]]. Once the operation is complete she is noticeably subdued in contrast to Lindsay and remains consigned to her fate up until [[spoiler:her death]].
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: An insane German scientist wishes to try a potentially-deadly and BodyHorror-ridden experiment on live, human subjects. Whose first name is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele Josef]]. It doesn't help that his last name sounds almost like [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler that other Josef's boss]].
%% * DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Katsuro.]]
* ExactWords: The "100% Medically Accurate" {{tagline}} [[spoiler:turns out to be completely true; the centipede segments immediately start dying of sepsis right after the operation]].
* FanDisservice: Lindsay is seen topless, but only after becoming part of the human centipede.
%% * FauxAffablyEvil: Heiter has his moments. Especially when the power cuts out and he apologizes.
%% * FinalGirl: [[spoiler:Lindsay survives, [[FateWorseThanDeath though it may have been better if she hadn't]].]]
* HopeSpot: Lindsay's escape attempt. The film goes as far as to literally have her standing in front of the open window contemplating running out before she makes the [[IdiotBall foolish decision]] to go back for Jenny.
* IdiotBall: Passed around many times, by both good and evil characters. Some examples:
** [[spoiler:Linsday, after freeing herself, dragging Jenny out of the house at a snail's pace instead of running to get help.]]
** [[spoiler:Katsuro not killing Heiter when he was down and had the chance.]]
** [[spoiler:Heiter flipping out about the police's accusations, taunting them about not having a search warrant, then jokes about having a torture den in his basement. The writer clearly left no room for guessing as to what was going to happen next.]]
* InTheBack: How Josef snags his first victim via rifle on the side of the road, only to discard them later.
%% * JapaneseTourist: Katsuro.
%% * KillTheCutie: Jenny. [[spoiler:May or may not be the case for Lindsay.]]
* KarmaHoudini: Averted with Dr. Heiter. While his victims all end up dead before they can be rescued, Heiter himself is fatally shot by Detective Kranz.
* LeftHanging: Considering that there should have been some police backup the very same day (since two cops didn't report back from Creepy Guy's home), it's odd that there's no mention of Lindsay's fate.
* MinimalistCast: The film primarily focuses on four characters: The MadScientist Heiter who creates the centipede, and the three victims (two of which are unable to talk throughout a large portion of the film due to being a part of said creation.) Towards the end, there are two additional characters in the form of the two cops who come to Heiter's house, and there are two more minor characters in the form of the truck driver in the beginning and the pervert in the car who Jenny and Lindsay try to get help from. If you want to really stretch the definition of "character" there's also the person on the other side of the phone in the hotel scene.
* MonsterMisogyny: While one of the victims is a man, it's the women who get the worst of it and relegated to the worse parts of the "centipede". Although it's also highly likely Heiter arranged it this way due to the language barrier (Katsuro only speaks Japanese). Even if the front piece can still speak, it doesn't mean much if the other captives can't understand what he's saying.
* MutualKill: Heiter and Kranz fatally shoot each other in the film's climax.
* NightmareFetishist: Heiter is strongly implied to be getting off when Lindsay, as the middle segment of the centipede, is "fed" by Katsuro.
* NoLoveForTheWicked: {{Subverted|Trope}} with Josef. While he's misanthropic to the point of being uninterested in ''conventional'' sexual activity, it's strongly implied that he derives {{sadist}}ic sexual pleasure from mutilating his victims and forcing them into coprophagy.
* NothingPersonal: Heiter tells the truck driver "Don't take it personally" before killing him for "not matching".
%% * ObviouslyEvil: Heiter, good ''lord''. Even Laser himself admitted that he has an ideal "villain face".
* RealityHasNoSubtitles: It is set in Germany, so lots of German is heard. One of the prisoners only speaks his native Japanese. And everytime it's not translated.
* PlotHole: How did Heiter get the centipede out of the basement/OR if all he has is a spiral staircase? [[spoiler:This becomes quite an issue when the centipede attempts to escape.]]
* ShownTheirWork: The director brought in a surgeon to consult him on how a "human centipede" would function in real life (hence the "100% medically accurate" disclaimer), including suggesting that it would be able to survive ''for years'' with an IV drip to provide fluids and nutrients. This trope may also explain why the centipede [[spoiler:doesn't last long -- almost immediately, Jenny starts dying from blood poisoning]].
* SinisterNudity: Soon after sewing three victims together into the titular "centipede", the MadDoctor Heiter goes SkinnyDipping in front of them. It's a sign that he [[{{Dehumanization}} no longer sees them as people]], but as his pet. (No, not pet'''s'''.)
%% * TearsOfJoy: Heiter, [[spoiler:once it's complete]].
* TitleDrop: Heiter says the name of the movie at the end of his explanation of the surgery he gives to the centipede components, including the "first sequence" part (which in-universe would refer to this being the first human centipede he's created.)
* Title1: ''The Human Centipede: First Sequence''
* TooDumbToLive:
** Jenny and Lindsay, rather than staying on the road like any rational human being, decide to walk into the woods (at night) in the middle of nowhere Germany.
** In his review, Creator/BradJones points out that given how ObviouslyEvil Heiter was, it was incredibly stupid of the women to accept drinks from an open container from him.
** Or just driving on the flat tire since the car still ran. If they were smart, they would have paid for the insurance; so they could total it if they had to.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Full Sequence'']]
* AllJustADream: The ending [[spoiler:seems to imply that Martin simply daydreamed it all... [[OrWasItADream Except the baby is still crying in the car all alone.]]]]
* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Dr. Sebring theorizes that Martin's obsession with centipedes is because they are a violent phallic symbol and that he associates them with being sexually abused by his father.
* AsHimself: Ashlynn Yennie, who played Jenny in ''First Sequence'', appears as herself.
%% * AssShove: [[spoiler:Martin ends up on the receiving end of this when Yennie finally snaps.]]
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:A good portion of Martin's victims are people who have wronged him somehow: his mother, his psychiatrist, the rude couple at the beginning, the skinhead upstairs neighbor, etc.]]
* BodyHorror: Even worse than the previous film. Instead of actual medical instruments, things like '''''staple guns and duct tape''''' are used to [[spoiler:graft each victim to the next.]] As if that wasn't bad enough, [[spoiler:the villain forming the centipede ends up ''ripping out a girl's tongue'' to cease their screaming, and also ends up '''''raping the person at the end with his genitals covered in barbed wire'''''.]]
* CreepyCentipedes: The one case where the trope is literal, as Martin has an actual pet centipede, which is even used for painful poisoning.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The director felt it was scarier in monochrome. However, a full-colour version of the film exists.
* DepravedBisexual: Dr. Sebring. He is seen getting oral pleasure from a sex worker, and he also wants to ''rape Martin''.
* TheDogBitesBack:
** [[spoiler:Martin, especially in the scene with the rude boyfriend at the beginning and later on with his mother and their skinhead neighbor.]]
** Then there's Yennie, who, in a fit of adrenaline-induced rage, [[spoiler:grabs the funnel Martin used to force-feed her earlier, [[AssShove shoves it into his ass]], before grabbing his pet centipede and inserting it into the funnel]].
* EvenEvilHasStandards: A twisted version. [[spoiler:Despite his obvious insanity and cruelty, Martin doesn't actually intend to kill his victims. When he does do it, or thinks he does, he becomes very upset, tries desperately to revive them and actually cries when he fails (or thinks he did, in the case of the pregnant person). Whether this is because, in his own twisted way, he feels bad for killing them, or is [[PragmaticVillainy just upset they can't be used in his "centipede"]] is open to interpretation.]]
* FanDisservice: Martin strips all of his victims naked, including some fairly attractive men and women, though the setting and the context is utterly unsexy.
* JackTheRipoff: Martin's obsession with the first film inspires him to create his own Human Centipede.
* LaxativePrank: [[PlayedForDrama Done to horrifying]] and [[NauseaFuel nauseating effect]], when Martin injects each of his victims with a laxative syringe, forcing each of them to have explosive bowel evacuations into the mouth of the unlucky person behind them.
* LipLosses: [[spoiler:Happens to the man in the middle of the centipede when he finally breaks away, disfiguring himself in the process. In the uncut version, there's a shot of him with staples still sticking out of his mouth]].
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Dr. Sebring, Martin's psychiatrist, has a bit of this going on himself, considering he has sex with sex workers, and [[spoiler:wants to rape Martin, his mentally disabled patient]].
* NightmareFetishist: Martin became sexually obsessed with the original film and resolved to create a Human Centipede of his own.
* NoSocialSkills: Exaggerated by the mentally-handicapped Martin, who has poor hygiene, problems making eye contact, and is apparently nonverbal.
* PedalToTheMetalShot: Has one when a pregnant person manages to escape from the centipede and is trying to get away from Martin, this film's protagonist/antagonist. In the car, they give birth... [[spoiler:and in their desperation to escape, stomps on the pedal, which in this case also meant stomping on their newborn.]]
* SelfDeprecation: Whereas the first film is {{tag line}}d as "100% medically accurate", promotional material for this film flaunts it as "100% [[ArtisticLicenseBiology medically inaccurate]]."
* SequelEscalation: If the first film was too much to stomach, '''''do not''''' watch the second film. Not only are the means of assembling much more rudimentary and unprofessional, but there are more people involved. Additionally, the villain does some horrific things to his victims [[ForTheEvulz for basically no reason]]. In the words of the director, it makes the original look like ''My Little Pony''.
* SilenceIsGolden: Martin never speaks any actual words, and, in the second half of the film, dialogue is replaced by the victims' cries and moans.
* SilentProtagonist: Martin never says a word onscreen. He is intimated to have talked and makes phone calls offscreen (we only see him checking his messages on his phone), so he ''can'' speak, but aside from some grunts and various other noises, he otherwise is [[TheVoiceless completely silent]].
* SplashOfColor: During the LaxativePrank scene, the poop is visibly brown in an otherwise grayscale movie.
* SpreeKiller: Martin is technically this as the events of the film only take place in about 2 to 3 days, he ends up killing 14 people (including 2 people that were not part of the centipede).
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** One of the "parts" of the centipede breaks free instantly the moment Martin leaves the room by simply pulling away, albeit not without doing serious damage to his face.
** One victim dies due to Martin's lack of medical knowledge (died from having a large knife [[AssShove shoved in his buttocks]]).
* TongueTrauma: Martin rips out Ashlynn's tongue with pliers after he gets annoyed with her screaming.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: To some extent, Martin is this. [[spoiler:He was sexually abused by his father, who went to prison because of it. And his equally horrible mother [[NeverMyFault actually blames]] Martin for her husband's arrest and treats him like garbage. His psychiatrist Dr. Sebring pretends to be sympathetic but actually wants to sexually take advantage of him. And most people's first reaction to him, even when he hasn't done anything, is to insult and belittle him. While there is no excuse for the actions Martin takes, it's nonetheless easy to see how all of this can combine to finally make Martin snap and lose himself in grotesque fantasy, and want to [[MoralEventHorizon enact that fantasy]] on the people who've wronged him. By the time he actually sets to work, he's so deeply involved in his mania he also targets innocents.]]
* WouldntHurtAChild: A twisted example, of course, but when one of his numerous victims happens to be a mother, and her son starts crying because of the violent crimes committing outside, instead of harming the kid at all, Martin proceeds to pick up the baby and starts making noises and rocking it to calm it down, and when he goes into a violent rampage later on, he hesitates when he sees the child still sitting in his car seat.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Final Sequence'']]
* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Japanese version's theme song is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T1bRVplNA4 "Krazy"]] by Raychell feat. RICKY & RABBIE.
* AscendedMeme: Deiter Laser's character again screams "swallow it, bitch!" though this time he's ordering Daisy (Bree Olson) to swallow his semen.
* AsHimself: Director Tom Six plays himself.
* AssholeVictim: The victims are all convicted criminals.
* TheBadGuyWins: Deranged prison warden Bill Boss not only succeeds in making over 500 convicts into a human centipede, but he also convinces Governor Hughes that making prison inmates into a human centipede is "what America needs".
* BlackComedy: Unlike those two predecessors, this movie cranks all the adult materials up to eleven to the point of borderline amusing at times.
* BodyHorror: Toned down from the second film somewhat (though still worse than the original), simply [[spoiler:stitching them from ass to mouth without grafting their skin to each other or removing their teeth and kneecaps]]. After all, prisoners have a finite sentence, and they eventually have to leave prison without disfigurement. The exception is for death row inmates and those serving life sentences, who get turned into a "Human Caterpillar" -- not only are they given the full surgery described above, but they also [[spoiler:have their arms and legs removed]]. Unrelated to the centipede are the [[spoiler:imported dried clitorises]].
* BrandX: Bill Boss drinks Cirrhosis brand whiskey.
* ButtMonkey: Daisy. She's regularly sexually harassed and forced to fellate Bill Boss in exchange for getting her father out of prison. During the riot, Boss instantly locks her out of his office, and she is brutally beaten into a coma by the inmates. While unconscious, Boss rapes her and then has her integrated into the centipede for no apparent reason.
* CrapsackWorld: It's a world where Bill Boss commits all sorts of atrocities and keeps his job. And even worse, the state government eventually supported his idea of putting all prisoners in a centipede, no matter the crime, and seemingly would be up for employing it in other prisons.
* CreatorCameo: Tom Six, as a central member of the cast.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Dwight, who suggests the idea for the centipede in the first place, still objects to Boss's various additions such as [[spoiler: removing the limbs of death row prisoners to form a "Human Caterpillar" and including an innocent Daisy in the centipede.]]
* EvilIsHammy: Bill Boss is such a caricature of a villain that Dieter Laser throws any restraint out.
* GenreShift: This installment is a TorturePorn[=/=]BlackComedy, unlike the first two, which were just Torture Porn.
* ImAHumanitarian: Boss eats dried clitorises and medium rare testicles.
* NightmareFetishist: There's one insane inmate who eats his own feces and actually ''[[TooKinkyToTorture wants]]'' to be part of the Centipede.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Dieter Laser's hold on his good ol' boy speech is tenuous at best, and his German accent reasserts itself anytime Bill starts yelling (in other words, almost constantly). Averted with Laurence R. Harvey, whose polite southern genteelness stays pretty consistent.
* {{Postmodernism}}: Has elements of this, what with how extremely self-referential it is.
* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: The third film is LighterAndSofter compared to the previous films. Not only are the victims unsympathetic prison inmates, there are way too many of them in the centipede to possibly take seriously, and the violence shown is so outrageously over the top that it becomes a farce. The actual surgical procedure is much closer to the original than the first sequel, as it is again performed by medical professionals. Furthermore, there's much more emphasis on BlackComedy then the previous films. Also, casting a prominent porn star in a main role and having "The Star Spangled Banner" playing over the end credits also tend to distract from any attempt at seriousness.
%% * {{Satire}}: Can be viewed as one of the American prison system.
* SelfDeprecation: A lot of the references to the first two films have this air about them, and the very first line of the film is Bill Boss saying: "I fucking told you these movies would be shit and they are pure shit, literally. They stink."
* SelfParody: The film takes the concept from the first two ''completely'' over the top, and mixes in an assortment of meta-jokes and memes.
* ShoutOut:
** There are outright verbal references to the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[=HUMANCENTiPAD=]" and the porn parody ''[[ParallelPornTitles The Human Sexipede]]''.
** The inmate played by Akihiro Kitamura (who played Katsuro in the original) says that the film "occupies a world where the stars don't shine", a quote from Creator/RogerEbert's scathing review of ''First Sequence''.
** This statement from Prisoner 297 to Boss: "When I get loose, I'm gonna find some barb wire and I'm gonna fuck you in the ass with it." It's almost precisely what [[spoiler:Martin does to the rear victim of the centipede in ''Full Sequence'']].
* TooKinkyToTorture: There's one mentally unstable inmate who eats his own feces and ''wants'' to become part of the Centipede. Bill shoots him, as being part of the Centipede is meant to be a punishment, not something to be enjoyed.
* WardensAreEvil: Bill Boss. An unusual example in that he is also pathetic and the inmates do not fear him, despite his violent sociopathy.
[[/folder]]
----