These days the BBFC might be more lenient than they have ever been, but it seems some splatter flicks have no luck. Case in point is The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) which, despite featuring simulated splatter, was forced to remove over two minutes of mayhem from its running time before being permitted a British theatrical and DVD bow. Directed by Tom Six, both the original Human Centipede and its sequel have a notable streak of sick dark comedy and, ultimately, the second instalment does push this to the edge of good taste (in contrast to its more traditional ‘mad scientist on the loose’ predecessor). That said, despite its use of some cheap and nasty shock tricks, The Human Centipede II is actually quite an interesting attempt to mediate the hysteria of a Daily Mail headline into cinematic life: the possibility of filmic violence actually turning someone into a mindless copycat killer. That “someone” is well portrayed in the sequel by obese, bug-eyed, Brit character actor Laurence Harvey and one of his prime targets is actress Ashlynn Yennie – the brunette babe who found herself stitched into the human-insect mutation of the first flick. For The Human Centipede II, Yennie returned to the series, playing herself, in the meta-world of a fairly imaginative follow-up. Naturally, having screamed it up in two of the decade’s most controversial creepers, the 27 year old Yennie is now a fixture in the fear scene – with more horror movies upcoming and regular convention appearances to boot. Consequently, The Dark Side caught up with the delightful dame for the following exclusive Q and A to talk about censorship, showing-skin and, inevitably, the sicko-psycho world of The Human Centipede…
