Martyrs

This film is without a doubt the most horrific, disgusting kick to the senses I've ever seen. If you can sit and watch the whole film from beginning to end you will feel like you've been in an accident. This shouldn't be even classed as just a horror film it should have an entirely new classification. I seriously doubt that any film maker could ever surpass this film for pure nastiness without showing real life carnage for 2 hours. If you want to be able sleep after watching a film, don't watch this. I honestly wish I never watched it, not that it is't well made or well written, I just think that it goes to far down a vicious path.

i was lucky enough to see this masterpiece at Frightfest this year.

Pascale Laugier's worried about this movie. He was apologising to people who despised it, he was profusely thanking the people who liked it. He is the modern day equivalent of Victor Frankenstein. He knows that he has created a monster and doesn't really know how to deal with it now that it's being released upon the world.

Martyrs truly is a monster. It's a ground breaking, brave, stunning, brutal & moving piece of work that is guaranteed to divide audiences everywhere it gets the chance to play. Even at a genre event like Frightfest the audience reaction ranged from 'loved it' to 'hated it' to people actually going outside of the cinema to be physically sick (really). For me it was the highlight of the festival and i absolutely loved it but I don't believe it's a movie that anybody will truly 'enjoy'.

As others have already given away too much of the story i won't bother with a synopsis as Martyr's is definitely a dish best served cold. Not knowing what to expect makes this a refreshingly shocking piece of celluloid that will hopefully astound you with it's gutsy originality. Written by the director during a fit of depression (that he did not elaborate on in the Q&A) it is an almost schizophrenic movie with two distinct halves and coda of such ambiguity that it is possible to view it as nihilistic or strangely hopeful. It's beautifully shot, really well paced and contains outstanding performances from the two female leads.

This movie is inevitably going to be compared to Hostel and other movies in the horribly monickered 'torture-porn' genre and that is a genuine mistake. Martyrs bears more resemblance to movies like Nacho Cerda's Aftermath as there is nothing here that is designed to be titillating. The true horror lies in the the clinical detachment of the antagonists. In the end, despite all the on screen violence (and there are some truly brutal scenes on display here in the movies second act) the prevaling reaction that this movie elicited in me was not one of revulsion but one of true sadness. Martyrs really is a truly brilliant, surprisingly moving film and one that will remain in my mind, jostling for attention with my other thoughts for a very long time to come. Thankyou Pascale Laugier for creating a monster that i love...

I don't really want to say very much about this film. In some ways, it's a film I wish I could forget. It's a film I will most likely never watch again. I will say that most of the scenes in the film, at least in the first two thirds, are sickening and horrible and full of extreme human cruelty, violence, and gore. However, the film turns into something far worse than that in the last act. The film depicts pure evil and the true deterioration of the human soul and body about as bluntly as it possibly could. I will admit this. I'm not exactly sure what it was that I watched. I know that I will most likely never watch it again, I know that it was well made and had an effect on me, and I know that it was definitely extreme. The film is full of screaming, shrieking, mutilation, and torture, and there was a story and people did things. However, this is a film that is entirely inaccessible for most audiences. In terms of Extreme French Horror films, I thought it was very good. Inside, to me, is still the crowning champion of Extreme French Horror films, but Martyrs definitely works. However, it's far more than just a Horror film. It's a celebration of extreme human suffering, cruelty, and evil.

Martyrs is probably the most extreme movie ever made in France, and cannot be compared with any other flick I have seen before.

It was a unique and traumatic experiment to watch it in a theater where half of the audience left before the end, while the other half was feeling very uncomfortable. It is NOT for everybody, and you can really be upset at times, even if you are a basic horror fan as I am.

This movie is not made to please the audience, especially the second part, except if you are seriously disturbed. I couldn't help thinking about The Screwfly Solution that Joe Dante made in reaction of all the gratuitous violence made to women in horror movies.

Fortunately, the end of the movie gives enough meaning to what you have been through, watch the whole thing if you can.

I gave a 7 because it's not a movie that you can really like or recommend to your friends, but I think it's a real milestone in horror, like Texas Chainsaw Massacre was in his time.

I wonder why so many compare this to movies like "hostel"...

There was only one movie coming up my mind after having seen this one: Clive Barker's "Hellraiser" (and other works from him...)

Other comparisons? OK, let's compare this to "high tension"... yes, we get realism. but then? There are too many movies recently that do nothing but hide their lack of spirit and story... in the end the audience is left alone without a believable motivation for what happened...

"Martyrs" is different. It's scary and disturbing. It's painful to watch and still there is some kind of relief. You may separate that movie into three segments... and the first two would make a whole movie on their own. What happens then takes the story to whole new level and the audience to a whole new perspective. With a cynical bang in the end.

I liked it.