Just look at the picture. It says it all really about Martyrs. Or does it? No, not in this case. Not even half. Pascal Laugier's journey into the horrific is so overwhelmingly over the top (even vile at the end), that all but the truest gorehounds might want to look the other way. The rest of the audience will look the other way anyway - due to the lack of a believeable plot. But hey, we're talking horror, so as long as you're horrified, does it matter about story? That's another question for another time...
Laugier's film is definitely a tale torn in two. The first narrative concerns Lucie. She is found by police after being tortured for a year, though she can't give details of her captors. She's clearly tormented by her experience and there's a suggestion that the authorities think it's all in her head. Somehow, she tracks down the people who she believes are responsible, going on a murder spree to - in effect - rid herself of the demons that (metaphorically) haunt her. Unfortunately, this goes tragically wrong.
The second story arc concerns that of Anna, Lucie's friend who comes along to 'sort out' those responsible. Unfortunately, she receives far worse treatment than her friend when it comes to torture. At this point, those not looking for spoilers or graphic descriptions of the violence in this film should go elsewhere...
...Lucie's story is the one that makes little sense. Captured and tortured extensively, she is told that the eponymous 'martyrs' are those who 'witness' the afterlife, or rather what lies beyond the veil. As such, in one of the most horrific scenes I've seen put to film (and I've seen a lot), her ultimate fate is to be skinned (barring her face) and placed under a heat lamp until she has visions.
Such was the shock of this image, I did actually pause. Perhaps the 'torture-for-fun' in Hostel was more horrible due to the gratuitous nature of the crimes within the narrative, but the combination of good special effects and the seeming madness of the motive (if someone is tortured to 1/2 an inch of their life, how can they tell you any truths and not just babble insanely) was just too much.
Martyrs is one strange, strange film. It neither begun, nor ended how I expected. The narrative played out in a dreamlike way, with motives hanging and little scenes questioning what you were meant to make of it (the man with the blood on his shirt). Overall, this is definitely not a one for the squeamish, but for all other genre fans, it's certainly something different in the vein (ha ha) of the new wave of French horror.
3/5
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