Lucie was found beaten as a little girl. She escaped her captors who were torturing her.
She grows up with a friend named Anna. One day, Lucie finds her captors and kills them (and their kids)
with a shotgun. Anna comes to Lucie's aid after the fact. She can't believe what Lucie has done.
She is conflicted about wanting to help her friend. Then the film takes few twists. Lucie is haunted by
a monster that may or may not be real. Still that saves the best shock for last as Anna discovers what Lucie has
experienced as a kid. A crazy cult is torturing people to break them to the point of martyrdom. They
want to know what is on the other side.
MARTYRS is intense and disturbing. The first half is a classic intense horror film while the second half descends into
what seems to be like torture porn where I wonder why in the hell did the director make this film. It makes me think I wouldn’t miss the director if I didn’t see another of his films ever. The second half is very intense and uncomfortable. It still lingers in my mind. MARTYRS is a difficult
movie to judge based on what happens in the second half. Some
viewers say the film isn’t torture porn and I will agree with them on the point that MARTYRS doesn’t linger on
the torture and it plays up the psychological factor. The ending comes as
a surprise and still I don't know if I want to watch the whole film again. The first half I can watch many times and
yet that second half is downright disturbing (twisted that it lingers no matter how much you want to scrub it from your mind).
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Intro by Writer/ Director Pascal Laugier
has the director wonder if he is proud or guilty for making MARTYRS.
The Making of documentary is a little too
long at almost an hour. The one thing that stands out is the lead actress
broke some bones that caused the film to be shut down for a month. Rounding out
extras are a teaser and full trailer for the film.
FINAL ANALYSIS: MARTYRS isn’t easy to classify. It is intense
and disturbing. Based on the second half, this film isn’t for the
weak of heart.
This DVD review is (c)5-3-2009 David
Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
