Martyrs (2008)

Plot:

At the beginning of the film, the director of Martyrs, Pascal Laugier, asks his audience to forget everything they've heard about the movie. He wants people to experience his work as "virgins," having no previous knowledge of the film as they watch it. Normally I don't care about this kind of bullshit, but I'm going to make a special exception for Martyrs. The reason I won't be describing the plot is because I, for once, agree with the director. The less you know about the film, the more powerful it will be when you view it. In fact, I wouldn't be offended at all if you stopped reading this entry. Instead, I would commemorate you for it. So please stop reading...and go see the movie.

The Story Behind the Story:

Look up Martyrs on rottentomatoes.com and you'll find a consensus that is split straight down the center. In all my years of researching films on the site, never have I encountered a film with such bipolar reviews. The critics either adored Martyrs or absolutely despised it. Even more fascinating, those critics who looked past the gore found something unique and spectacular within the film. This is what first attracted me to Martyrs. After doing some research I discovered that the movie first received an 18A rating in France. This rating is the equivalent to an X-Rating here in the States and is the closest rating a film in France can get to being banned. Even more interesting, Martyrs was the first French genre filmed to be threatened with such a rating. In more recent news, Laugier is currently negotiating the rights for Martyrs to be remade in America.

Intensity Rating and Why (on a scale from 1-10; 1 being a film containing no blood, gore, or objectionable content whatsoever and 10 being completely unwatchable):

8 for scenes of intense torture, brutality towards women, graphic gore, and violence towards children (I couldn't believe it when I saw it). In addition, there's a scene involving a bathtub which made me squirm uncontrollably and the last 15 minutes are flat out disturbing.

Disscussion:

I hate to say this in my first official entry, but simply put, Martyrs is the best horror film of the past decade. I am incredibly tough on films because the general public has become too complacent and too accepting of their films. I believe that there is no such thing as the perfect film. But Martyrs comes damn near close. The first 45 minutes of the movie can be defined as stereotypical "torture porn" (although I hate that clichéd term and I'm going to try to refrain from using it as much as possible). But right at the 45 minute mark, the film pulls the rug out from beneath you and you land flat on your ass. When that fist plot twist came, I was completely flabbergasted. I can't remember the last time a film made me shout out "holy fuck" at the television screen.

I think Martyrs can best be described as the thinking man's torture porn (goddamn it, I said it again). Leave it to the French to take a modern day genre and put their own unique spin on it. A great film defies audience expectation. And Martyrs does just that, but in two perspectives. To clarify, Martyrs is a mix of Ringu and Hostel. However Martyrs is a much deeper film with a much more complex concept, one which Ringu and Hostel never come close to.

But I'm beginning to say too much. I would hate to ruin the surprises for anyone who hasn't seen the film yet.

After watching this film I would highly suggest reading Chuck Palahniuk's book Haunted. There is a short story in the novel entitled "The Nightmare Box." It's one of my favorite short stories and has a very similar ideology behind it.

Enough! Just go see the damn movie...and make sure to tell me what you thought.

Grade:

Acting: A-

Lighting and Sound: A

Directing: A

Story and Dialogue: A

Overall: A

P.S. I DONT distribute A's like an old man giving out Werther’s candy. But this film deserved every A it received.