The Centipede

“I wanted a real operation report,” reveals Six of his diabolical design for a human centipede. “So I went to a Dutch surgeon. He said, ‘No, no, that’s against my medical oath.’

“But he’s a movie lover, so after a while he made a very detailed operation report. A surgeon could actually make in a hospital a human centipede. That’s what fascinates me. And makes audiences feel more horrified by the idea.”

Like all the best horror films, The Human Centipede (First Sequence) only ever hints at its explicit content, and contains very literal actual exploitative footage. The use of bandages proved pivotal in ths respect, allowing Six to hint at the atrocities that were going on underneath.

Using sketches made by the Dutch surgeon whom Six visited, the special effects team – led by father-son duo Rob and Erik Hillenbrink – designed hard underwear for the actors to wear in order to imply the mouth-to-bum connection.

“We had to wear this special underwear, like a diaper... a hard diaper,” says Kitamura. “And where my ass is there’s this rubber thing for the actress to bite onto it. When we were trying that in the beginning, they were feeling it a little bit. But they are good actors.

“They liked the experience. It’s good it’s scary. It’s good it’s humiliating. Because they can be great actresses.

"We got a massage every two or three nights. You know the scene where we climb up the stairs? There was no stunt double. It’s really tough on the neck and back. If we complained, they listened to it.”

Jokes Williams: “We made a very nice centipede! When we all met up together for the first time we were like, ‘Hello, nice to meet you, I’m going to be attached to your butt soon!’”

Still, the actress adds that it was an uncomfortable shoot – especially for herself, being the middle ‘segment’ of the centipede.

“I know all of us had some difficulties being part of the centipede,” she says. “But I feel that being in the middle was very hard because I had Ashlynn tugging at me with her mouth in one direction and Aki pulling me forward in another. So we all had to coordinate.

“It put lots of pressure on my jaw when the Centipede would walk and also climb up those stairs. We were all regretting doing that scene. It was the hardest thing the Centipede had to do, because we were really doing it. No help from the crew!”

Next: The Release