Dr. Heiter is a caricature of the cold, analytical European intellectual. He treats humans like Lego bricks. When the police arrive at his door, he offers them tea and explains his "art." The film critiques the arrogance of the medical establishment that views the human body as a machine that can be rewired without spiritual consequence.
By the third entry, Tom Six went full satire. Set in a brutal US prison, this film stars Eric Roberts as the warden and Dieter Laser (returning as a different character named "Bill Boss"). The film is a loud, racist, misogynistic scream-fest. Bill Boss decides that to lower crime rates and save money on healthcare, he must build a 500-person centipede. The film breaks the fourth wall, is absurdist comedy, and includes Bree Olson (of adult film fame) in a bizarre role. It is widely hated by critics, but for completionists, it proves Six was always winking at the audience. the+human+centipede
Tom Six embraced the notoriety. The sequel, The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011), is a deliberate middle finger to the critics. It is shot in grainy black-and-white and follows a mentally disabled, obese parking garage attendant who watches the first film and tries to replicate it with 12 people. Tom Six embraced the notoriety
Where the first film was clinical, the second is nihilistic, brutal, and genuinely unwatchable for many. It was banned in several countries outright. The third film, The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence) (2015), goes for satire, starring an American prison warden (played by an unhinged Dieter Laser again) who creates a 500-person centipede in a Texas prison. It is a chaotic, racist, over-the-top mess that many fans considered a step too far, even by Six's standards. the second is nihilistic