Review of Martyrs (2008) by Joe J — 27 Aug 2012

Martyrs.

A beautiful morning before work. The lady of the house making breakfast for her loving husband, son and daughter. The door bell rings. The husband walks over to the door and opens it.

BOOM.

A shot gun shell blows a hole through the mans chest. A woman with a hoodie walks in the house. The rest of the family starts screaming and running to save their lives. Another shell explodes and hits the mother in the back. The covered villain reloads her weapon and looks for the kids. The next shot blows the sons head clean off. She finds the young daughter of the house crying in her room. One more shot is heard.

We get introduced to our first character Lucie, whom we immediately think is a psycho. She just murdered, what looked like, a caring and lovable family. Her friend Anna enters the house and starts screaming at her best friend, trying to figure out what has happened.

Lucie starts talking about this "creature" that's been haunting her and brutally cutting her. They start showing this "creature" more frequently and it only seems to appear when Anna isn't around. The creature looks like a girl about Lucie's age with cuts all over her body and face, sharpened teeth and dirty and bloodied hair, usually holding a knife. Almost every time Lucie is alone, she is attacked by this thing in brutal ways. She gets stabbed brutally in both arms, from her shoulder to her wrists, multiple times in the back, and is almost killed by it.

Martyrs is a movie that is extremely hard to talk about because it drastically changes shifts half way through and saying much about it would spoil the experience.

The reason Lucie killed this family (it's explained blatantly in the trailer) was because she claimed she was captured by this family and tortured for 14 months and escaped. Now grown up, she is getting her revenge.

But who or what is this creature that's trying to kill her?

At the half way point, the movie turns into something completely different, which is a characteristic of writer/director Pascal Laugier, and I was truly blown away at how well it was done. While the girls are still there, we are introduced to a brand new set of characters. Ones even more messed up then the first. It keeps the same tone, but the pace is slowed down. The first half will keep your eyes glued to the screen and truly freak you out( a lot to do with very little explanation until the end), the second half will make you cringe in every way possibly.

The sheer brutality of the movie will turn many people away. The movies excessive and brutal violence, especially towards women, is enough for some people to instantly dislike it. It is considered by most horror aficionados as one of the top three most messed up and violent movies ever made, and I can agree fully.

But violence doesn't stop me from watching and enjoying films.

The movie is so superbly acted, written and directed. While first half is a fast paced, suspenseful type of horror movie. The second half slows down the pace dramatically, truly showing off how messed up some people can be.

"Martyrs are exceptional people. They survive pain, they survive total deprivation. They bear all the sins of the earth. They give themselves up. They transcend themselves... they are transfigured.".

Martyrs is easily one of the most violent, brutal and chilling movies ever made. While for this reason it may turn some people away, which is understandable, but by not seeing it Id feel you'd be missing out on that rare original horror movie that could truly define the genre itself. That could truly be considered horror. No more of these Hollywood teen slashers and random jump scares, Martyrs relies on brilliant film making, stunning performances and a touch of originality to get under your skin(no pun intended).

5/5.