Tom Six, the Dutch film-maker behind The Human Centipede, has disclosed that he has spent the last six years as a recluse in a darkened Amsterdam apartment after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Final film reveals personal struggle
In his self-made documentary, The End of Tom Six, which he says will be his last film, Six claims that stress from failing to secure a distributor for his follow-up project significantly worsened his condition.
The Human Centipede, released in 2009, follows a crazed scientist who kidnaps three tourists and surgically joins them mouth-to-anus. It became a global pop culture phenomenon, even referenced in South Park and The Simpsons.
Sequels and failed projects
Six made two sequels in 2011 and 2015, creating a 'movie centipede'. In 2018, he released a trailer for The Onania Club, about wealthy women aroused by human suffering, but it failed to find a distributor.
In The End of Tom Six, released on YouTube on 15 August on a pay-what-you-want basis, Six reveals his diagnosis from 2020. MS affects the brain and spinal cord, causing symptoms like fatigue, vision problems, and mobility loss.
Daily life and self-destructive tendencies
Six says, 'I can't walk any more, reducing me to worming through my house like [a] fucking gargoyle.' He describes himself as 'a morbid lump of untouchable howling flesh'.
He admits to a 'strong appetite for self-destruction', spending his days on an opium bed, taking opioids, smoking cigars, and eating rich foods. He only leaves home for late-night decaf coffee trips.
Six kept his diagnosis private because, as he says, 'I hate being a victim and get pity'.
Criticism of the film industry
The film's second half criticises 'woke cowardice' and 'safe-space crybabies' in the industry, which he blames for The Onania Club's failure. He claims the project would have been 'even more of a success than The Human Centipede'.
Throughout, a 'censor nazi' in SS uniform interrupts to point out scenes needing cuts or trigger warnings.
His producer, Maartje Willems, said in a statement: 'The prolonged, extremely stressful battle accelerated his disease and totally ravaged his body up to the point that he is now nearing the end of his life.'
