Dutch director Tom Six is responsible for strange cinematic confections like Gay In Amsterdam and Honeyz, but chances are you've heard of him because of The Human Centipede -- that movie where a mad doctor creates a Siamese triplet by surgically...well...use your imagination. Six took a break from being in post-production on The Human Centipede II to cheerily chat with us about the movies he finds offensive, and similarly, why he loves Bob Saget so much!

Human Centipede II: Teaser

“...some say I'm a genius, and others say I'm worse than Hitler.”

Fitzcarraldo

Crazy, yeah? Klaus Kinski is one of my favorite actors. I think he's a genius but at the same time a mad man. This is a very good example of his madness. It must be so difficult as a director to have worked with this guy. It could drive you insane. But at the same time, if you have him in your film, you can be sure that the lead character -- the one that he plays -- is going to be a work of genius. If you are a genius, something must be wrong with you because all of your things in your head point in one direction: the creation of art or whatever. A lot of things get messed up then and that's the same with a lot of geniuses.

Do you find as a director that you spend most of your time indulging other geniuses, or (this might be a bit pompous to admit) do you feel that you're the genius in that dynamic?

Yeah, of course that's very hard to say for yourself. But people have said it on Facebook: some say I'm a genius, and others say I'm worse than Hitler. Oh yeah, absolutely. That I'm a mental patient and belong in an asylum. So it's very funny that the film that I made defies people. The reactions are people either absolutely love my work or they think it's disgusting and they absolutely hate it with all the things in their body. There are people who say I'm a genius, but maybe you can say that over a period of time when you have created more things.

Obviously being called worse than Hitler is bad, but do you think it's sort of a little disheartening to be called a genius — since as you say, something must be wrong with you?

No, not at all. I appreciate all reactions because you can understand, if you make a film like that, you'll provoke reactions. That's where, for me, all the fun is. I'd rather have this than people watch my film, forget about it immediately, and then think about their dinner. It's great when people start talking about your film. It's in their head for a long time, and that's what I love. At the same time, you know you have a lot of enemies who think your work is terrible. That's part of the deal, I think.

The Aristocrats

This is absolutely my favorite documentary. What I really love is political incorrectness. So many things on television or regular things are always so held in and held back. They're always so worried about what other people might say. They're so all the time in the middle of the road. This documentary of those famous comedians, they tell jokes that are so incredibly rude and deliciously politically incorrect.

“What I really love is political incorrectness.”

Did you have a favorite comedian from it?

Yeah! Bob Saget. In Holland we have seen his show many times, America's Funniest Home Videos, but he's so almost childlike in his jokes and so silly. I love it when that man, when he comes into this clip where he really gives it all he's got. You see that he enjoys it immensely. That's why I like him the most, because the contrast is so big.

I'm a comic fan but what I love most is black comedies. I'm always crawling the Internet and book stores for insane stuff. Things that are out of the ordinary. That's a real hobby of mine. So I have a big collection of books at home that are very political incorrect. That's what I also search for in films and documentaries. There are not many of them. But, like Borat? You may have seen this film. And Brüno? I love those kinds of films.

Dandy in the Underworld: Sebastian Horsley

Watch Sebastien Horsely here.

One of my favorite discoveries. I just finished this a couple days ago, his autobiography. It's insane. It's absolutely a must-read. The sickest thing I've ever read in my whole life. This is the guy himself. He let himself be crucified in the Philippines. He went swimming with white sharks without a cage. He died recently because of an overdose of drugs, but he used a lot of drugs. He spent over a 100,000 pounds on prostitutes. He did some really crazy things in his life, but he's really an English gentleman. He's busy with his wardrobe as he was. That book was amazing, but he went to promote his book in America and he was refused there. He was sent back. They wouldn't let him in for some reason. I don't understand it. "Moral turpitude?" I don't know what it means.

Well, a very insane thing is that he as a human being found it so degrading that he had to go to the bathroom like an animal. He thought the human race is above that. But of course we are still animals. He hated going to the bathroom. So as a statement he did something terrible: he smeared himself with his own feces and ate it as well. So, that's quite shocking, as you can understand. And another outrageous thing that he did? In Amsterdam, which is quite famous of course for its prostitutes, and one prostitute that's very hidden and you have to be on network to find her: she's a lady who has no arms and legs. It's like you have to pay a lot of money to make love to her. And he made love to her and also made a picture of that. It's crazy.

I recently discovered him in London because he died in 2010. I never heard about it and I read about this crazy guy who died. And then you look around on the Internet and get fascinated by all the clips he made, and so I recently ordered his book and just finished it. He's an amazing character and I'm very sad that I couldn't have met him.

Do you ever feel like you get desensitized to being shocked? Or is it still pretty easy to get a reaction out of you, since you said you seek these things out?

“I never want to see anything where animals are hurt.”

Yeah, that's the thing about it. For myself, because I have a sense of humor, the craziest things I can laugh about because in every bad thing I can find humor. Except for when people hurt animals. I really can't take that. That's for me where the line is and I never want to see anything where animals are hurt. Yeah, the human race itself is so strange but also very controlled. But the human race is, of course, like animals. So sometimes people behave in a certain way that isn't appropriate for the common sense, and that's what I like. But animals can't help it. They're so vulnerable. I have a lovely little pug, Nigel, who looks a little like Frank from Men In Black.

The Comfort Of Strangers

I love this actor [Christopher Walken]. In this film, his character wears a very white suit, and I myself have a fetish for white or light suits. I don't know where it comes from. I don't know why, but this character is so fascinating for me. He's a gentleman but is also very crazy. I think this is one of Christopher Walken's best roles because it's so strange. If you see the film, you know exactly what I mean. It's absolutely a great performance, absolutely.

When I was a little guy I always wore suits and even when I wasn't watching films. I was fascinated by wearing suits. And later on when watching movies, you see other guys wearing white suits. There aren't many movies where characters wear white suits. Klaus Kinski does in Fitzcarraldo, the other clip, and this one, but I haven't found many other films where people wear white suits. Majority of people wear dark suits, light grey and stuff, and I think if you wear a white suit somehow you get noticed. I read a quote from Tom Wolfe that he's looked at like coming from Mars when he's wearing a white suit when he's entering a restaurant or something. Of course in southern countries it is more common, it was worn by plantation owners and stuff, so maybe it has more of a Western dominance, not-so-nice element to it. I don't know.

“When I was a little guy I always wore suits and even when I wasn't watching films. I was fascinated by wearing suits.”

La Grande Bouffe

It's one of my favorite movies of all time. I think it's amazing. It's made in the '70s. Oh, it's absolutely a must. It's about four gentlemen who can't handle life anymore and they're very successful. They lock themselves in this big house in Paris and they start eating themselves to death. It's an amazing film. The clip you see, it's very black humor. I think it's absolutely a must-see. If you like movies, and crazy movies, it's amazing.

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