MARTYRS (2015)

[indianasmith]

I just watched this movie this afternoon, with no preconceived notions whatsoever.  Afterward, I found out that it was a remake of a popular French horror film, and that most reviewers thought it compared to the original very poorly.  However, going in ignorant of that and viewing this film on its own merits, I found it quite excellent.  The plot twists and turns every few minutes, and I must say I certainly did NOT see the conclusion coming!  So, without too many spoilers, here is a smidge of what to expect:

A young girl, Lucy, escapes from an abandoned warehouse at the beginning of the film.  She has been tormented and is badly scarred; she tells the police "monsters" did this to her.  But they find nothing when they search the warehouse; Lucy is sent to a Catholic orphanage, where she is befriended by a girl named Anna.  There, she slowly heals of the damage done to her body - but what about her troubled mind?

Ten years later, Lucy has found the family that she holds responsible for her torment, and is determined to seek vengeance for her suffering.  But are they really guilty?  Or has she slipped the bonds of sanity?  As she wreaks her bloody retribution, this question looms larger and larger - then the whole film veers off in a very dark direction!

Well-acted and beautifully shot, this film defies precise genres and leaves you guessing up until the very end.  Highly recommended!
4.5/5   

[Archivist]

Sometimes I go on a bit of a 'morbid trailer spree', and look up the trailers for controversial horror movies that I know I'll never watch.  The original French Martyrs was one such movie.  If there's something Europeans do well in cinema, it is unrelentingly stomach churning horror.  American horror films rely more on jump scares, but European films can be just straight-up nasty.  For that reason, Martyrs was on the 'peep through scrunched eyelids at trailer, but never touch the movie' list.

When I saw your review, I had a look at the wikipedia entry for the American remake, and it says they omitted as much of the gore as possible in favour of creating suspense and the impression of awfulness.  Do you think they succeeded with this intention?

[indianasmith]

That's a good summation.  I mean, there are a couple of cringe-inducing moments at the end, but the horror is more implied than shown.  Incredible suspense, but what I liked was how, just when you think you have things figured out, the story veers off in a different direction.  Kept me guessing until the end.

[RCMerchant]

Iv'e seen the French MARTYRS. f**king terrifying. 

[lester1/2jr]

I liked Martyrs I didn't really get the secret society aspect. like who would do that and why they didn't really explain. The same director (of the original martyrs) did The Tall Man which I liked but some people didn't.