Check out the first image from 'Human Centipede 3'

It has been two and a half long years since the release of the last Human Centipede film — or two and a half very short years, depending on how you feel about the infamous movies, in which people are attached together to form the titular monstrosity. Either way, Dutch writer/director and series overlord Tom Six is now preparing to unleash the third film in the franchise, the U.S.-shot Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence). So what can horror fans expect from the final installment of this notoriously grotesque and much-parodied series?

“THC Part 3 will be totally different from Parts 1 and 2 and certainly not as gross,” Six explains via email, “But it will be the most controversial one politically-wise. It will have a lot of self-mockery and will be the most darkly comical of the three. Parts 1 and 2 have a very European feel. Part 3 is very American with the highest budget, a big movie score, widescreen, and an XXL human centipede. It’s set in an American maximum security prison in the middle of the desert. Plot-wise I won’t share details yet but if you let your imagination run wild you might get ideas.”

Human Centipede 3 is not only the first in the series to be filmed in America, but also the first to feature an Oscar nominee in the form of Eric Roberts (which means that sister Julia is now just two Kevin Bacon degrees away from a human centipede). “Eric plays an a–hole governor,” explains Six. “He is a great, underrated actor with a delicious, worn, malicious face. He was perfect for the part and a real gentleman. I love working with American actors and can’t wait to work with more famous American actors — if they have the b—s to work with me because some are scared to work with a sick European ‘horror’ film maker. I make ‘horrific’ movies, that’s true — but I don’t consider them as standard horror films. I think the genre with mostly masked killers or creepy ghosts on a killing spree is pretty boring and stupid.”

In addition to Roberts, Human Centipede 3 stars Dieter Laser and Laurence R. Harvey, who played the villains Dr. Heiter and Martin in the first and second films, respectively. Other cast members include Robert Lasardo (Nip/Tuck), adult film actress Bree Olson, and Six himself. “Dieter Laser and Laurence R. Harvey play very different characters that will put Dr. Heiter and Martin in the shade,” says the director. “They are both brilliant actors with their own style. Laurence played a mute in Part 2; now he is a smart guy with a whole lot of dialog. Dieter played a cold, restrained doctor in Part 1; now he is a loud, racist, sadistic a–hole. Robert Lasardo plays a very cool, daring part, and I gave ex-porn star Bree Olson her first break as a serious actress, and she does one hell of a job. I play ‘Tom Six’ in the movie, which is an Oscar nomination performance.”

Six had previously promised — or threatened — that the third installment in the series would feature a 500-person human centipede — and the director confirms that to be the case. So how exactly does one go about filming such a sight? “By having a lot of brave American extras and doing it the megalomanic way like they did in Spartacus,” Six says. “F— CGI-created things.”

Finally, Six confirms that Human Centipede 3 will arrive on screens later this year (“When and where the distributor will decide!”) and that the film will be the last in the series. Probably. “Well, I planned it to be a trilogy,” he says. “Three movies that can be literally connected (like a human centipede) and form one 4.5 hour movie. But never say never.”

You can exclusively check out the first still from The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence) above.