Personally, I'm sick and tired of horror movies that have people tied up in chairs getting tortured. I mean, enough of this. Once I saw the chair with the bedpan underneath it in "Martyrs", I thought: "Please, no more of this. This isn't shocking anymore. It isn't scary. It's been done to death. It was done in 'Hostel'. It was scary then. Now it's cliche."
So, as you can tell already, I'm not a huge fan of the much raved about "Martyrs," finally getting released to DVD in the U.S. after receiving so much applause on the festival circuit. "Martyrs" may be the most overrated horror movie of the past couple years. I've been reading about how amazing and incredible it is for months, with festival reviews claiming it was a "landmark film," etc. So expectations for me were high. Way high.
No, it isn't a landmark and it's not unique. "Martyrs" is initially shocking and strong, but eventually falls apart once we are informed about what the hell is going on. It's sort of "Hostel" disguised as a horror art film. It takes itself way, way too seriously.
The film opens pretty strong, however. After we learn about the horrific childhood of a girl who escaped from a torture chamber, eventually befriending another girl, we meet the two survivors as adults. In a sudden, insane shotgun attack, the now grown up young victim bursts into a household wearing a Litttleton-like hood (Mylène Jampanoï) and proceeds shotgun an entire family to death. This is the best scene in the movie. Almost worth the price of admission alone.
The girl's motive is that apparently the parents were responsible for kidnapping and torturing her as a child. Her childhood friend (Morjana Alaoui) shows up and attempts to clean up the mess. To make matters even worse, the shooter is apparently schizophrenic, sees visions of a deformed torture victim -- and gouges herself with a knife every chance she gets.
The gun attack on the family is sudden, strong stuff and for a while there we think we are going to be watching another French gore classic -- a la "High Tension." Then the story starts to unfold. Our shooter kills herself, leaving her friend alone in the house, where she discovers a dungeon in the basement, and another torture victim! Turns out there is some kind of bizarre cult of the rich and powerful torturing young women with the hope of turning them into "martyrs" who see visions of the afterlife or something like that.
After the shooter commits suicide, her friend is left around to be tied to a chair and tortured in unspeakable ways. Laugier takes the torture to "Hellraiser" levels -- and maybe that's why he was actually tapped to helm a remake of Clive Barker's movie.
But his most famous movie so far, "Martrys" is a misfire. As torture porn films go, it's worse than most of the "Saw" films. As mysteries go, it's a little better -- but ultimately doesn't make sense. Granted, the idea behind "Hostel" is ultimately unbelievable too. But unlike "Martyrs", "Hostel" didn't take itself seriously. "Martyrs" is super, super serious. There's not an ounce of humor in this movie, which is probably the worst thing about it. Even "High Tension" -- heck, even "Inside" -- had a sense of humor. Over seriousness is the kiss of death for a horror movie, in my opinion.
So we've just learned that not all French horror movies are masterpieces. Why this film received so many accolades during its festival run is beyond me. I suspect on its true release to audiences, it will get the reception it deserves: a cold one.
I deeply disagree with your article.
I don't even understand how you can be so condescendant toward this amazing film. Is this a masterpiece? Who cares, it's just brilliant!!!
It has a been a while, I mean A WHILE since a horror film has made that kind of impression on me. Martyrs is pure art. A real unforgettable experience. Don't be so sure of yourself when you say "it will get the reception it deserves : a cold one." There are a lot of people who just love this incredible film. Pascal Laugier has received more than coldness : a lot of propositions from Hollywood!!! So again, my friend, you are totally free to dislike this film (obviously) but you shouldn't be that condescendant. Forgive my english, it's not my first langage !... Long live to Martyrs !!!
Posted by ManyAk on March 31, 2009
Wow, fucking add spoilers please!
Posted by TexasPsycho26 on April 1, 2009
Yeah, wow.... this is one of your worst reviews(and you're the guy who believes the derivative Blair With Project is one of the best horror films ever.) You also are a sycophantic Eli Roth apologist who flat out sucks, and wouldn't know how to build tension or actually throw in a scare in his so-called horror films. Martyrs was amazing... Perhaps you're getting too old to review hardcore, transgressive horror films. At least Laugier has the balls to actually do a real horror film.
Posted by Drew on April 8, 2009
Let the author state his opinion. There is no reason for abuse. Would you rather have the author just go with public opinion for the sake of your love for this film? IT IS HIS JOB TO STATE HIS OPINION! I disagree with it and personally I enjoy this film very much, but it's totally okay that the author does not.
Posted by MarkE on April 12, 2009
It is not at all professional of a reviewer to give away the film act by act, twist by twist. I avoided this review before watching the film and am incredibly thankful for doing so. I agree the film does not deserve its hype as its overall selfawarness dulls the impact but wow; what a distasteful and spiteful review. Me thinks it had more effect on you Lucius than you let on...
Posted by seph on April 12, 2009
Why is it that all he critics who don't like this film, as with others, think it's okay to reveal the entire plot? Most, even from broadsheet newspapers, give away what happens so that they can feel smug and self satisfied by ruining the experience for everyone else. Not only lazy but it's also bad form especially by professionals who should know better. It's fine to not like the film but I've read reviews that have given an opinion without spoiling the plot.
I think it's good that a "torture porn" film (hate that phrase) is trying to have a reason for the violence. I don't think the reason they give here is good enough to justify what happens but I'd like to see more arthouse horror films. This film made me think, so it gets points for that alone.
Posted by Michael R. Allen on April 13, 2009
This comment is in response to seph. Here is the deal, buddy, a review needs to add in the plot at some point within the review; otherwise he/she is not doing their job. In this case with the detail of plot reveal I would say a warning would be warranted, but not totally necessary. If you do not want to know the plot beforehand then do not read reviews until after watching the movie.
-Mike
Posted by Willem on April 18, 2009
Martyrs: A Fucking Masterpiece!! That's all i can say.!
Posted by Frazzle on April 21, 2009
Awesome movie.. just awesome....
Posted by UCan on April 24, 2009
Agree about the spoiler comments but Drew's right. In my opinion a fine film but not in the league of Irreversible or Inside.
Posted by Texaspsycho26 on April 25, 2009
Hey Drew... I was saying Eli Roth sucks, and not that esplatter or Lucious Gore does. I just worded it odd... but how can you forgive someone for giving out spoilers in a review just because he didn't like the film? He acts like this was a direct rip-off of Hostel(and even said it was scary then.) Eli Roth has never understood how to build suspense. His best film remains Cabin Fever, and that's more of a splat-stick type film. Every review for an Eli Roth movie makes him seem like the next messiah of horror films. Hype and Tarantino's name do not equal good horror.
Posted by dogwillhunt on April 26, 2009
while i understand how annoying it is to hear how "amazing" something is for months before you can even get access to it and how that can make your hope unrealistically high, i have to agree that...
- eli roth is an overrated hack
- posting spoilers without warnings is foul whether it's a review or not (take note of that, wiki entry writers)
- not every film has to have humor in it. the few somewhat smirky parts of no country for old men (as an example) were my least favorite and could have been left on the cutting room floor. serious plots need serious treatment.
- laguier may not have tickled your fancy, but he's going to be working on the hellraiser remake from what i've heard. someone must have appreciated his skills.
opinions are fine, but for the love of god - post SPOILER WARNINGS even if you dislike the film.
Posted by JesseNIck1 on May 1, 2009
I had no idea this movie had a cult following -- I randomly picked it up at the video store on a lark having never heard of it -- and was completely blown away. This movie is incredibly intelligent, emotional, unpredictable, unique, genre-bending, and weirdly uplifting. Yes, uplifting. I was glad to find out I'm not alone when I finished the movie and looked it up online. I would simply feel sorry for Lucius for missing the point and not have given it a second thought, but instead I'm angry at him for spoiling the entire plot of the movie. I won't be visiting this site any more, that's for sure. What a mean, joke of a "movie review".
Posted by Fred on May 3, 2009
Okay, I just saw this yesterday, and I agree. This movie is not smart, it just THINKS ITS SMARTER THAN YOU. I hate that in people, and I hate it in movies. The gore did not bother me as much as the story being backseat to grisly setpeices bothered. I would love to see how hilarious this movie looks in script form. This did not suck, but it sure as hell was not fun or entertaining passed the 45 minute mark.
Posted by Chris of Oz on May 10, 2009
Wow. What a terrible review. I have just found this site trying to find a good horror movie review site, and this is the first review I've read here. Guess I haven't found it yet.
Being a horror fan of the last 20 years, it is blatantly clear that your limited and Americanised view of horror movies such as comparing Martyrs to Hostel and saying he takes the torture to Hellraiser levels simply demonstrates the ineptitude of the author. Of course then theres the spoiler alert missing.
Lucius Gore - You're a classless chump and I need to find a better site. I completely agree with TexasPsycho26, give up reviewing horros and take up.. i don't know gardening, or run a pet shop or something. Just above all else: try not to blemish others with your ill-informed, narrow-minded tasteless reviews.
- Ciao.
Posted by koenji calling on May 10, 2009
Totally agree on this movie. I thought there was really good momentum in the beginning but it seemed like as soon as the family was killed I was waiting for SOMETHING to happen. And then what did happen was a lot of exposition and torture sort of hastily thrown in together with no real purpose or connection to the first half of the film.
Maybe the bar was set too high though. I was told by a friend this was a MUCH WATCH film and to read anything about it would ruin it, so we set up to watch it and ... well filmed, but nothing too shocking aside from a kind of permissive attitude given at the end at violence towards women.
Posted by Deadgoon697 on May 21, 2009
I agree that this is not the best review of the film. However I literally just finished the film and honestly I am split down the middle on how I feel about it. The flick really did start out great, but started to sag a little halfway through. The dialogue was surprisingly well written and the acting equally great. I myself though found the cinematography to be the best part of the film. With that said I don't need excessive tortue shoved in my face over and over again. I don't mean tone it down, just cut a few scenes out. Towards the end I found myself saying "Okay, lets move it along here, I get it." Overall, as a film, it's good. But I am not gonna jump on its back and rave about how amazingly brilliant it is. Because to me it isn't. Would I reccommend this film, no probably not.
Posted by Patrick Ryan on May 30, 2009
I agree that you totally missed the point of what this film was about my friend. Martyrs, is a masterpiece. It doesnt deserve the label torture porn because that is something is certainly is not. There is a point to the violence on display in this film. In fact I would go so far as to say that the director has hit upon something which has been going on for real in the world since biblical times. I think that events portrayed in the film have in fact actually literally been going on in the world around us for a couple thousand years at least. Martyrs isnt just the best"new wave" film, its one of the best horror films ever made. Last but not least, hostel etc have nothing in common with Martyrs. They are totally different films and you my friend, need to go back to film school.
Posted by Patrick Ryan on May 30, 2009
Anyone who says the film is over rated didnt get it! Even if you think you did, you didnt.
Posted by Patrick Ryan on May 30, 2009
The problem is, that the film is too intelligent for you! So you are not getting what you usually get from a horror film you would like, because Martyrs is not an ordinary splatter film and thats the simplest way I can put it to you my film school reject friend.
Posted by Denette on June 8, 2009
Beautiful. I love this movie.
Posted by Chet on July 3, 2009
OMG what is wrong with you people? Are you so morally and spiritually dead that you don't have a clue? I'm referring to everyone that hailed this movie as a masterpiece. If the secret cult was so interested in what is beyond death why didn't they go through the torture themselves and get personally enlightened? What a bunch of sadistic cowards. At the end, maybe the victim described something so beautiful to encourage the old lady to kill herself, that would be some nice revenge, but who cares. This movie was a poor excuse to depict torture and violence against women under the guise of spiritual enlightenment - what a load of crap. These women weren't martyrs they were victims; a true martyr is someone who dies for something that they believe in. Yes, they were tortured and tormented, but they didn't believe in the purpose they were killed for. Anyone who comes away from this movie thinking they were enlightened or uplifted or made aware is in need of serious help because your spirit is in darkness and is closed to being dead. That is true of anybody who thinks the torture of women is for a good cause; whether it's real or fiction. This movie is not deserving of praise.
Posted by ktofstandrew on July 6, 2009
Unfortunately, I totally agree with Chat from July 3, 2009. I like a good horror (pure horror, sci-fi, fantasy, or even chop-em-up), but this was a waste of my time.
Posted by PhantomClone·InX on October 10, 2009
This film was amazing. The first half was scary and brutal, and in the second half it evolves into something completely different. The ending was disturbing, tragic, and haunting. The fact that the cult members were so fanatic that they believed torturing innocent girls would reveal to them a higher understanding of the afterlife was believable and horrifying. I'm sure there are crazed religious psychotics out there like that. Anyway, the movie was very well-made, and is definitely not a happy, uplifting experience, and is not for everyone. I can completely understand people who despise this film, and I can understand those who love it. It's a divisive film, with truly disturbing subject matter. I thought it was excellent. Once again, French filmmakers truly push the envelope when it comes to the boundaries of horror cinema.
Posted by und_ed on February 1, 2010
While I don't think Lucius deserves the kind of abuse he's gotten, I don't think he's been fair to Martyrs either.
The label "torture porn" implies that gratuitous violence is displayed in order to tittillate the viewer. I seriously doubt anyone outside of a mental asylum could have watched the torture scenes in Martyrs with anything less than revulsion and horror. And that's just it - it evokes Horror. It doesn't toy with you, or make jokes and snigger alongside you, it kicks you in the gut and Horrifies you.
Definately a novel (or if not completely novel, then certainly rare) approach to the genre, and an excellently done example at that. I can't say I enjoyed it, and I'll certainly never watch it again, but I'm glad that I did watch it.
Posted by benson on February 12, 2010
this film is quality end of.
Posted by Dark_man on March 26, 2010
Great work on the spoilers you stupid fuck. Thanks for ruining the film for me, if you had any idea what you were doing you should of noted that at the start of the article that you were going fuck up the whole movie for anyone that read your peice. You silly cunt.
Posted by Dan on April 21, 2010
I just wonder: WHY do you have to compare EVERY French horror movie to Haute Tension?? HT is one of the WORST movies I've EVER seen!! Dull, no logic, plot holes en masse....Aja is a hack!
Posted by allin1 on July 7, 2010
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Posted by Slick on July 23, 2010
Wow. Talk about a mixed bag.
Personally, I thought Martyrs was about as deep as thimble full of gin. It was torture porn. Pure and simple.
Switch out 'mystic cult' for 'red army' and you have virtual single "Red Scare" exploitation flick out there (the one that comes to my mind is "Comrade Terror" . Switch out 'mystic cult' for 'wealthy thrill seeking sadists' and you have Hostel.
This is nothing special. It's formulaic in plot and execution. The acting is nothing to write home about and while it is gory...so what?
Splashing blood and slashing tendons does not a good horror movie make.
It's all about atmosphere, timing, credible acting and solid writing.
This movie was nothing special. I still don't understand the people that lose their heads defending this thing.
Posted by pourthegas on August 9, 2010
Wow, I do not understand the sycophantic nature of the retards that defend this pile of celluloid shit. This movie is lame. Simply put. It makes Hostel look like Citizen Kane. Which is funny because I'm not even a fan of the Hostel movies.
Posted by virginiapicker on August 18, 2010
There was definitely no need to discuss the plot in such detail in this review. There have been plenty of other reviews of this movie that note that there is a "twist," but don't reveal what it is. I enjoyed discovering the twist for the first time while watching the movie, as it was genuinely unexpected, and changed not just the direction of the final chapters, but also how you perceived the action that came before, in retrospect.
Apparently I liked the movie more than the reviewer, but certainly not enough to call it a masterpiece. It's more of a quirky horror film that effectively sets up expectations - playing to viewers knowledge of certain horror cliches and set pieces - then changes everything, in a way that makes sense.
Posted by TAZZZ on September 3, 2010
I have been a horror movie fan since childhood. Due to working my butt off in my career for the past 16 years, I have had little time to watch movies so I'm really behind. Soooo, I decided to check out some reviews so that I can make a list of the "must sees." Sadly, I chose your site to read a review and I'll be darned if ya didn't just spoil the whole thing. Many other comments expressed perfectly how I feel about such a selfish review. Shame on you. I will NOT be visiting this site again and I have a feeling that soon you'll be looking for something else to do besides review movies. Tisk, tisk, you should be ashamed.
Posted by timmyt on November 3, 2010
Enough with the crybabies that whine about spoilers in movie reviews - Mike said it best: "If you do not want to know the plot beforehand then do not read reviews until after watching the movie." Seriously.
As far as this movie - the critic has a point and listen, not all reviewers are you going to agree with you. By the time I watched Martyrs it was WAY overrated and I was not blown away. It was alright - better than the hack Eli Roth and Hostel - but a) it did take itself far too seriously , b) it might have a 'deep message' for some (not sure how) but it was merely torture porn and c) I was simply bored in the final half. Same scene over and over again. Not scary, not original and not thought-provoking. But hey, them are my thoughts. Certainly all horror fans should still see it but I would temper my expectations.
Posted by DiePascalLaugier on December 26, 2010
Everyone who thinks this movie is great or amazing is a fucking sadist ! The comment from Chet on July 3rd is the exact truth.....this movie is such a piece of sadistic and anti-human shit, makes me sick to my stomach. In fact, it made me so sick, that I googled "Pascal Laugier hate letters" in order to see if there are any normal human beings out there. If I would have been on a festival screening where Pascal Laugier was present, I probably would have commited my first act of civil violence in some form.
Also again, I agree to Chet: Even when u just take a look at the idea, that they want to create Martyrs through suffering, this fucking french sadist Laugier even got the facts wrong. Martyrs died for their believes and for the fact that they did not want to give up those believes, even under extreme suffering. This poor girl suffered for a bunch of ugly old french fuck ups who think anybody cares how the afterlife looks like....maybe in a desperate hope that their afterlife will finally be better than their fucked up lives in the real word.
This movie is just an expression of a very dark soul puking on a lot of celluloid. If this guy ever gets assasinated by disturbed viewers, I will open a bottle of champagne !
Posted by AnointyNointy on February 3, 2011
Yeesh. Yet another fifteen minutes spent wading hip-high in ad hominem rants hidden behind nicknames, in search of thoughtfully written comments.. I just watched 'Martyr' and Googled reviews of it to see what other people thought, for lack of actual other people in the room. I get that it's fun to bash other people's writing; I get that you don't like the fact that this guy didn't like Martyr - but why not just shrug, go 'meh' and move on? Like that darling mopey guy from the Smiths sang, "It's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate; it takes guts to be gentle and kind." I realize I'm pushing the unpushable boulder up the slippery mountain here - no way are people going to resist the lure of anonymous superiority-masturbation on the Internet, but sigh... I wish they would sometimes. If only because I find it so dull.
AnyWAY, earlier I said 'I just watched Martyr', but that's not entirely true. I watched about 4/5ths of it, and then I realized I was feeling so god damned awful that I had to turn it off. This movie didn't horrify me exactly - not in the way some other movies have. The feelings were more like despair and repulsion. It was beautifully shot, I thought, and the acting was fantastic. I really loved parts of it. And I'm a chick who loves dark movies - Irreversible, Tras El Cristal, I'm all over that stuff. This one, though - I guess I don't get WHY it was made. I didn't see anything in it that hasn't been said before, with more depth and subtlety. Maybe that's my problem with it. It was just so damn unsubtle. I am surprised at all the folks on this page being so angry at spoilers - because what was there to spoil? Did anyone else not guess that there was a secret cabal of quasi-spiritual French sadists? The movie laid that out early on. What was spoiled for you? That it was a movie about girls being tortured (which was clear from the preview and stills)? Or that it was about martyrdom? Because there was a pretty big clue to that. I guess when I think of 'spoilers' I think of a moment in a movie where there's a big reveal - something you had NO idea was coming. 'Old Boy' comes to mind. Laying out a sketch of the plot in a review is one of the essential tools of movie reviewing. Maybe 'Plot Description Alert' would have solved the problem, but there wasn't a hell of a lot of plot, was there?
It's a striking movie, and interesting in some ways, but the themes in it are not new to cinema, are they? Martyrdom; the mortification of the flesh; the voyeuristic leanings in us all blah blah blah; the possibility of spiritual enlightenment beyond extreme suffering - I don't see any of this as untried ground in moviemaking.
I'm open to being educated about what made this movie so great, but so far, nobody up here ^^^ has done any educating - just complaining and/or bashing of the "you stupid, shallow American" variety. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
Posted by Truth on June 24, 2011
This movie wasn't even decent. I like the idea of the story and the plot, but it barely had a plot.. It is torture porn for shallow people who think they are watching something deep, because of their lack of depth. Shallow people like shallow movies. It went overboard with the torture.
Posted by Gus on July 25, 2011
This is the worst review I ever met, not because you forgot to add spoilers & completely ruined the surprises to other people that haven't seen it, but because of your total lack of logic, how the FUCK can you compare Martyrs to Hostel or Saw? Those films were SHIT, Martyrs wasn't just about torturing people for "Money" or "Because they were ungrateful to be alive" but because they wanted to see the "other world", & they though what they were doing was right because they had Religion to back them up, how the fuck isn't that original? Have you seen that in all of your "My little pony" movies that you watched!?!
This is why I love the French Horror Genre, because unlike Hollywood, they Aren't pussy's to show us what they got, whether that being a lesbian inlove with her best friend (High Tension) or stomach's being ripped open to get a baby with scissors (Inside) or even using a fire extinguisher to the limit (Irreversible), how bout raging politics (Frontiers), or even children going wild (Them), Thats something you will never see in a Pussy American Horror film, Thats why comparing Martyrs to Saw or Hostel is an insult, because if anything, Hostel & Saw are the Pussy American Versions of Martyrs.
Posted by wrong on November 30, 2011
Hostel was scary? The fact that you even mention this movie discredits your ability to write reviews.
Posted by Fluiblycacy on March 18, 2012
pozycjonowanie
Posted by Yankster on July 24, 2012
What is it with the french? Evey since their revolution they've had a taste for blood-- just not their own. So, true to their nature, the Religious wanna-knows in this movie have others do the mystical suffering for them. Slapping a religious motive on top of 40 minutes of a woman being beaten and broken does not make it deep, people. The fact that the french made this movie does not make it art. Nor is torture-porn (which this is) the same as horror. I mean the scary kind, not the revolting kind. If you think a photo of a crucifix in urine is "art" and a "bold political statement," then surely you will be able to think this film has depth. If you agree that 30 seconds of half-baked "she told me about the afterlife!" talk does not make torture-porn art, then you do not need this porn.
Posted by james on September 3, 2012
There are two kinds of people in this world... People who think Martyrs is a brilliant masterpiece and people who think it's as dumb as Freddy vs Megasharktapus. The funny part is that the people in the former think the latter dont like it because they want Freddy vs. Megasharktapus (hence every reviewer who did not bow to it as a work of genius is told to go watch transformers instead). This however is not the case.I didnt like Martyrs because I thought it was dumb and juvenile. It just pretends it isnt. Remember that dark goth girl who wrote poetry, but the poetry wasnt actually very good or deep or insightful and typically was actually really naive and pretentious? That's Martyrs. Now I can respect Transformers, because Transformers doesnt pretend to be art or intellectual. Martyrs....not so much.
Posted by Jen on September 4, 2012
Seems like you weren't going to like it no matter how good it was and it was good. The comparisons to mindless bullshit like saw and hostel is laughable.
Posted by Dan on January 10, 2013
Oh dear, this movie sucks massive balls, a steaming mess of illogical shit piled on top of one another.
The only good thing about it is Xavier Dolan and he's only in it for four minutes
As boring and stupid as Hostel and as illogical as Haute Tension.
Posted by Ecouteurs Monster Beats,cable monster beats on April 16, 2013
Les gens, les coureurs et les non-coureurs semblables, peuvent prendre beaucoup plus que nous pensons que nous pouvons. Nous pouvons continuer même quand nos jambes sont lancinante et nos cours sont brisés. Cette journée horrible d'événements ne faiblira pas l'endurance de courage collectif de l'Amérique. Nous allons seulement finir fort.
Ecouteurs Monster Beats,cable monster beats
Rank this film on a '666 scale' of one to six (left to right). Based on 2839 votes.
