User reviews

The film was introduced by the film's writer director Pascal Laugier at this year's Frightfest in London. The organiser's referred to the film as "The film they most wanted" of the 28 shown at the festival. It was easy to see why. Of all the films I saw at this year's Frightfest, Martyrs was not my favourite but without a doubt it is the one that plays on my mind the most. The film has been compared to both Hostel and Hellraiser but I think it has a lot more substance than both of those films. The central performances are top notch and Jessie Pham as the young Lucie is very convincing, completely holding your attention. So why only 7 out of 10? As well made as this film is, the subject matter is just so utterly disturbing I wanted this film to end a long time before it actually did. It is not a film that is to be enjoyed. It is not the escapism that you may be looking for. The first Act is a revenge story on a family who may or may not have been responsible for the kidnapping and torture of a young girl 15 years previously. It is the second Act though that is the more disturbing. The viewer wants it to end almost as much as the girl captured wants her ordeal to end. This is a must-see movie but certainly one that is going to divide audiences right down the middle.

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.

Don't listen to the poor reviews on here - this is actually a masterpiece in horror but it's very difficult to watch.. It's dark. bleak and incredibly disturbing and despite this being one of the best films I've seen I could never watch it again..

This is not a horror movie. Its a harrowing study into the depths of human depravity. There is absolutely NOTHING to compare it to!

The story is deep, horrific and heart breaking.

You may wish you had not watched it, and the film will haunt your mind and heart for weeks/months/years.

It must also be mentioned that the acting, all around, is absolutely superb, as is the screenplay and cinematography.

Should be an essential subject of study for any aspiring film makers.

There can never be another ''Martyres''.. Impossible.

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...

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.

this film is as terrifying as anything ever released. it takes events from modern headlines and carries them to horrible, but utterly believable extremes. performances, photography, editing, score, sound design, direction are all spot on.

i live in a neighborhood where people literally get stabbed in the street, and this film scared the hell out of me. it creates a tension that is almost unbearable, and then it breaks your heart. the genius of this film is the degree to which you empathize and grow to love the protagonist(s.)

i was skeptical when i was told about how people supposedly fainted in the theater when they saw it. after watching this film, i absolutely believe it. there is one scene in particular that made me dizzy.

don't watch it alone, and don't watch it if you think horror films are supposed to make you laugh. this film will make you cry.

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.

I wouldn't consider myself someone who dislike excessive gore/violence/torture. I love Hostile, Cannibal Holocaust and I think Green Inferno was pretty good.

But to me a horror movie that has excessive gore has to be doing it for a purpose: to scare, to make social commentary, or just to amuse (in the case of green inferno)

Martyr seems to be torture for repulsions sake which I am against. Like August Mordum Requiem, I don't care for movie that's showing me realistic torture just to disturb me.

It's not really scary and more just disgusting.

It's just EXCESSIVE with the torture and at the end all they throw on it is an ambiguous ending that doesn't really make the slog through the torture worth it.

Although I liked the ending, and do think about it from time to time, it was one of the ONLY parts I liked about the movie.

If I were to re-watch it I would only watch the ending. And that to me is a bad sign.

I don't want to be the person who gives a movie a bad review because it's "too graphic" but I will be the guy who gives it a bad review because the movie is just glorified torture porn, with only a "okay" ending that offers very little in terms of commentary/thought provoking, but just enough to give it a 7.

The ending is the only thing that saves this movie for me, and even than it's just one of those half assed *the writer couldn't think of a good enough answer to the questions he asked so he just left them un-answered" cop-out ending.

Watch this movie if you want to see realistic torture. If you expect more out of a film than just watch a youtube video explaining the plot. (isn't really much to explain, because the writer clearly didn't have an answer so he left it a mystery)

Having missed the opportunity to catch this at the Midnight Madness showing in TIFF08, I decided to go against all stated horror movie rules and watched this today around midday at a complex in downtown Toronto.. It's difficult to know what to say about this movie really; like a birth or a death, you really have to experience it yourself and draw your own conclusions. What I will say is that as a committed horror freak, rare is the occasion when I tense up and watch a film contorted, somehow trying to protect myself from what I'm putting myself through.. It contains enough tough to see horror/gore to satisfy the bloodhounds (though it doesn't feel like another attempt to up the gore ante for the sake of it, thankfully) and then - if you can watch it and many couldn't - transcends the genre totally with a jaw-dropping final act which if you're interested in the human condition and the capacity for seemingly normal people to do incredibly bad things will have you asking questions for some time to come and recognising that when horror and ideas mesh successfully, the result can be breathtaking. Absolutely not enjoyable but there again if you go to see a horror flick at a film festival and you know beforehand that it originally received an X-certificate in France, kicking up an almighty stink in the process - well, you know that an open mind is the least you can bring to bear. With that in mind I would recommend Martyrs as a film of incredible tension, harrowing physical violence and indelible imagery; unsurprisingly, the director name-checked Dario Argento during the Q&A as a major influence in his youth and there is a clear and confident signature in the work which suggests some parallels can be made between the two film-makers. I loved this movie and for those who have already posted comments good, bad or indifferent (and I really can't imagine a neutral response!) I hope like myself you have come away with a genuine sense of having seen something the like of which we are unlikely to see for some time..

I often wonder how much further the horror genre can and will evolve in terms of sadism and the portrayal of ultra-explicit violence. Especially the youngest generation of French directors appear to be involved in some sort of sport competition where each one aspires to surpass the other when it comes to showing sheer brutality and stomach-churning sickness. "High Tension", released in 2003, was quite extreme already, but since then there came "Them", "Frontier(s)" and "Inside" and each separate film raised the bar every time. Now, after experiencing the nearly indescribable intensity level of "Martyrs", I sincerely hope that no other movie will ever go beyond the standards set in this film. "Martyrs" genuinely is an astonishing and jaw-dropping ordeal that is guaranteed to leave even the most hardened and trained horror buffs speechless. From what I gathered reading reviews and listening to opinions left and right, I already knew this wasn't going to be picnic, but the truth is that absolutely nothing can prepare you for what you are about to see in "Martyrs". It may sound a little fantastic, but the infamous and supposedly nauseating torture porn titles such as "Saw", "Hostel" and "Murder-Set-Pieces" look like sophomoric episodes of Sesame Street in comparison with the recent stream of French shock-features and in particular with "Martyrs".

Okay, I realize I've been going on and on about the shocking impact and extreme violence of "Martyrs", but still I haven't even mentioned the most remarkable and praiseworthy aspect about the entire film. The gore, barbarity and mayhem aren't at all gratuitous or exploitative but actually serve a purpose! There were other and far more mundane "extreme" horror movies simply showcase a long series of torture sequences, "Martyrs" practically causes you to experience the pain AND simultaneously raises a handful of socially engaging debates. For once, the title of a horror movie can be taken 100% literally… By watching "Martyrs", you expose yourself to martyrdom. You voluntarily watch the film and you're free to look away or step out of the theater at any given moment, but most likely you won't because subconsciously you are in readiness to endure a whole lot of visual suffering in order to know how the movie will end. Yes, it all does sound very philosophical and pseudo-intellectual (especially for a horror movie), but honestly not a single word is exaggerated. This movie honestly is the genre landmark of a new generation…

The synopsis on the back of the DVD appears to give away the content of the entire film, but in fact it only covers the first ten minutes. The short summary describes how a 12-year-old girl narrowly escapes from an abandoned factory site where she was held captive and subjected to extreme torture. She ends up in a psychiatric clinic and befriends another girl who slowly helps her processing the trauma. 15 years later, the girl appears on the doorstep of a seemingly happy family of four with a shotgun in her hands and raging fury in her eyes. Lucie is convinced she found her tormentors. Apart perhaps from the domestic household element, this sounds like the plot of nearly every "revengesploitation" movie ever made. But these are only the opening minutes… What follows next is a literally perplexing and excruciating visual nightmare that is unpredictable and even unimaginable. At first you'll wonder where writer/director Pascal Laugier can possibly be heading for with his screenplay, and then you'll probably wish you never asked. It would be a shame to reveal too much about the plot, so let me just re-establish that you will be unprepared and stupefied. Do you dare?

I write my reviews based on two factors, how much I enjoyed watching the movie and how much I enjoy thinking back about it. This movie I don't want to think back to.

This was well produced, well acted and the story is engaging.

But the content is just too horrific. I sat though Saw and Hostel they were OK. This I found really disturbing. I fast forwarded at one point and was privy to watching some poor devil receive a year long kick-in condensed into 6 minutes. As I am not a sado masachist I found these protracted scenes not only disturbing but dull.

I like horror, I like to be scared and when the lights come up think, 'wow, glad that wasn't me getting chopped up'. I feel like I am carrying this around with me.

If you like really gruesome stuff (note the actual gore isn't that bad) then go for it! You'll love this. But if you want to keep a handle on your humanity then stay blissfully unaware of this movie.

...when there's a movie you've seen 10y ago and is constantly brought to memory, that's gotta mean something.

Anyone who sees it doesn't forget it. It sticks.

The pure rawness, the neverending pit of darkness when you're just hoping for a little light so you can breathe - not to spoil it - but it doesn't come.

Great acting, ok photography and editing, but your eyes will be halfway shut from the tension it causes, so no need to go over the head with special effects and cinematography. Just a very good movie where acting and suspense is just perfect.

Although I've seen it more than a decade ago, came across the poster in IMDB and still felt compeled to write a review. That's how much it sticks.

I was somewhat hesitant to watch this at first - I frown at cinematic gynotorture, and I absolutely hated l'Interieur, a movie often cited alongside this one in reviews. Basically, my stance is: if I'm going to see people (women, especially!) get horribly effed up, there better be a great reason for it. Martyrs succeeds in that respect on multiple levels.

It's a sober and focused work, unambiguous, and mostly free from the kind of self-aggrandizement and indulgence some "extreme" French films fall prey to. The first half or so is prime horror ribeye - sound design, timing, blood, and a certain amount of ambiguity keep the adrenaline pumping and the brain wiggling to figure out what's coming next. The second half...is somewhat different, but that's already saying too much. Yes, the whole thing is torture-y, but it's not excessive to the point of being almost unwatchable (think rape scene in Irreversible), and pound-for-pound MPAA ratings sheet-style, it's not nearly as graphic as, say, Antichrist or even Cannibal Ferox. Nothing but praise for technical execution - acting, makeup, lighting, etc. And most importantly, there's a common (and rather lofty) Idea at work across multiple levels, one you'll ruminate upon after seeing the film much more than upon any single blood-splattered scene.

The only downside is that it's rather unpleasant to watch, which remains a downside even though this film cannot possibly be any other way. The story arc is also a strange roller-coaster, with all the "boo!" moments over and done with way before the movie actually ends.

Definitely worth seeing, if only once.