Martyrs (2009) Review

Cast:
Morjana Alaoui as Anna
Mylène Jampanoï as Lucie
Catherine Bégin as Mademoiselle
Robert Toupin as Le père
Patricia Tulasne as La mère
Juliette Gosselin as Marie
Xavier Dolan-Tadros as Antoine
Isabelle Chasse as La Créature

Directed by Pascal Laugier

Review:

mar-tyr - noun 1 a person who undergoes severe or constant suffering; 2 a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause.

Well, I don't really know what to say about this film that hasn't been expressed in a previous review. Ok, I'll start by saying the one thing that makes being a horror fan so awesome is the hunt for the holy grail of gore. The one to top the last, to be truly worthy of being called terrifying. Every producer in Hollywood promises it, every director thinks they have achieved it and the fact of the matter is that there is only one - maybe two horror movies every year that transcend greatness and earns the right to use the word "horrific" in the same sentence as its title.

I think it's safe to say MARTYRS is this year's INSIDE, both films which are legendary and horrific in their own right. Although both films are insanely violent, both films will give you nightmares and both films are insanely brutal, it must be known that there is a major difference between the two films. Inside has it's scares, and is a film much like Halloween - fun to watch (through squinting eyes). But, Martyrs is plain and simple: it's brutal, disturbing, and very unsettling.

French directer (it seems all the good genre films are foreign these days) Pascal Laugier, who also wrote the screenplay, is heavily influenced by the works of Clive Barker (especially that of the Hellraiser series). This film is also very reminiscent of Eli Roth's Hostel films. But here you do not sit and await for the next punch to be thrown, you know it's coming and cringe when it does. The images shown here are terrible acts of torture taken out on women is not for the faint of heart.

This movie is horror. It's horrific, it's horrible, it's the definition of the term horror. If you don't understand what it stands for, this movie is not for you.

You've been warned.
Rating: B-