Review of Martyrs (2008) by Sumit S — 05 Nov 2012

If the 80s belonged to America, and the 90s to Asia then surely, in the beautiful world of horror cinema, the 2000s belonged to, of all places, Europe.

A new generation of super-talented filmakers from all over the continent stepped forward and pushed (briefly) the whole genre back on the right track. Truth be told, there wasn't anything much original about this wave of extreme horror but most were so well made that, unlike Extreme Asia, very few were lined up for an American remake. Vampires, schizos, zombies and ghosts, from Scandinavia down to Spain, for that 4-5 year period, Euro-horror reigned supreme.

I guess it all comes down to one's taste and for me this French release is probably the best of the bunch. Written and directed by Pascal Laugier it features strong and effective performances from Morjana Alaoui (Anna) and Mylene Jampanoi (Lucie), great make up work, a decent score and beautiful photography. It also contains buckets of blood, gore, torture, creepiness, some unforgettable jump-out-of-your-seat scares and an ending that generously offers discussion amongst horror fans. There's another thing about this nihilistic masterpiece that makes it stand out from the pack and it's the way it mixes different horror sub-genres, meaning we get a film that's part slasher, part torture porn, all goodness.

According to Wikipedia there's going to be an American remake, ''without the nihilism..with a glimmer of hope''. The hell's wrong with some people..

Get the 'uncut' version.