Comments on: TIFF ’08 coverage. More French brutality. Martyrs.

By: Horror Movie Medication

Horror Movie Medication — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:29:03 +0000

I like the point you make about the halfway mark. If they had stuck with the feral women, it would have been a standard horror movie plot, allowing the audience to just sit back and enjoy the beautiful visuals. Really though, it is hard for me to forgive a movie with a poor plot line.
Since you seem to have this whole review thing down, I was hoping you’d check out my review of Martyrs at

http://horrormoviemedication.blogspot.com/2013/02/martyrs-its-type-of-movie.html

some feed back would be great

By: Yanker

Yanker — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 05:58:11 +0000

You can slap lipstick on a pig, but you still got yourself a swine. Same with Martyrs. You can slap a perfunctory pseudo-intellectual french religious motive on torture-porn, but it’s still what it is. Young movie lovers will like that it is different, and that the french made this will lead them to accept it as art without question. But by film’s end, it has probed no more deeply into Martyrdom or the afterlife than would a filedtrip to an Iranian interrogation cell.

By: Mellissa

Mellissa — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:47:25 +0000

The fact that only Lucy “sees” a dead girl (which is only in her mind in a similar fashion as schizophrenic symptoms) tells the viewer that obviously this is in her mind. The fact the the cult leader states that torture and depravation causes it’s victims to “see” things that are not really there tells the viewer that these things are of the mind. The mind is a powerful thing. . .a seemingly put together person can scare themselves by “hearing” voices when alone at home in the dark or “seeing things” out of the corners of their eyes when under stress. When Anna is in her final “stage” and she sees the white light, the viewer is supposed to notice that the “white light” begins and sits in her eyes – IN her iris. The viewer can actually see it themselves. I think, this is supposed to let you know that what she sees is within herself. It’s inside of her and no where else whether outside of the body or other-worldly.
I myself like to believe in an after life as it seems to comfort me and give me a sense that things matter – that there is a point to life. I’d like to believe that Anna saw “something” but I don’t think she did. I think her body was overcompensating in a scientific manner – as if she was in shock and that’s it.
I think the cult leader killing herself was really an unfortunate ending, because it seems not to make any sense. At first the viewer may think that she is killing herself because she wants to experience the afterlife (if perhaps Anna told her how blissful and wonderful it is if it were to exist). On the other hand, that thought is contradicted by the cult leader stating “keep doubting” before killing herself. The cult leader is an extremely selfish person in that she is willing to sacrafice and torture innocent people for her own needs, so perhaps she says “keep doubting” to her followers because she wants them to continue doing “research” to make sure there is an afterlife OR she doesn’t want them all to kill themselves so that she and only she can go on to experience the afterlife before them? That doesn’t really seem to make sense. I don’t think she kills herself out of remorse. . .for instance, if Anna states that there is no afterlife, I don’t think it upsets the cult leader into wanting to die (she wants to experience life ultimately). I think she kills herself because she realizes that their “might” be an afterlife and perhaps it’s better than this one, but she’s unsure and wants her “research” to continue.

By: Bryan White

Bryan White — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 03:02:54 +0000

Shredded killed Splinter’s sensei. It was kind of the other way around.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 02:44:08 +0000

@nate- you’re right. axle is kind of a dick. i’m a 20-something mildly educated guy with a bunch of tool cds. i thought this movie was just plain disturbing. the last “stage” of the process made my mouth fall open and all my blood shunt away from my extremities. it was super intense, but i don’t think i’ll spend much time thinking about why these fictional characters did what they did.

i don’t wonder why shredder was always after splinter.

By: Nate

Nate — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:17:18 +0000

I felt compelled to note here that “Axle” has posted the same condescending comment regarding this film on nearly every horror blog that has offered up a review. Do you really feel that your thoughts are so insightful that you must plaster them verbatim upon any site that will let you insert your voice?

Martyrs has a special place in my black little heart. I do not find it to be an enjoyable experience and I can not recommend it without reservations. It’s an important trip to take, though you are unlikely to want to repeat the journey.

By: jane casler

jane casler — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:14:03 +0000

If we can get simple, what is the plot and the meaning of this film (which transfixed me).

By: Katu

Katu — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:40:34 +0000

I saw this film once, I got it as a present from a friend….It was a true cinematic adventure…but there is no way in hell I’m watching that ever again…It is truly the most traumatizing thing I’ve ever seen in my life…but I LOVED it…It was a brilliant work of art with a twist of events that makes you want to question if everything is really as messed up. And I checked the Director’s comment…that dude’s really somethin’ odd…
Bottom Line: MUST WATCH FILM

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:39:32 +0000

I didn’t think the violence was without a point, I just thought it wasn’t a point worth making.

It dances around subjects like theology & existentialism without ever fully engaging you. It is, for the most part (or all of both parts) a bloodbath. The danger is that many people who go in for these gore fests aren’t bright enough to see that the second act, where it starts thinking it’s a far more intelligent movie than it is, is really just a flimsy attempt to add some weight. And as for leaving you with questions? That’s all it does. It leaves almost the entire film up to speculation.

When David Lynch takes that kind of thing on, it’s fascinating. This to me was just plain insulting.

By: Axle

Axle — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:27:41 +0000

Martyrs is an interesting film, disturbing and thought provoking. As a horror movie, it has done its job–which may be the most one should ask of a horror movie. After all, what is the purpose of the horror genre? To be shocked, startled, reviled, disgusted in the safety of one’s family room or the local theater. Entertainment.

However, it is odd to me how some people seem to find “greatness” in Martyrs. This is not a great film. I do like the acting, the camera work and editing are technically competent, the sound and music good–which quite a few horror films lack! Martyrs is a well-crafted movie in the Hollywood style. (It IS made in the Hollywood style–Media Studies majors get over it…) But, the grand epiphany that supposedly comes through intense and prolonged physical pain as seen in the photographs of other tortured people throughout history, although intriguing, is not supported well enough in the script to overcome my willing suspension of disbelief. The cellar hallway scene, of course, with the Cult’s leader explaining to the main character the need for torture with the photo album (despite the fact that the same larger photos are on the wall next to the actors) is almost comical in its brevity. The film would have been creepier had it delved into the occult and the mysterious efforts of alchemists…or, say, if the secret organization were financed by the Vatican. We’re not told, and I think to the film’s detriment. How can martyrdom be talked about without religion. On the other hand, how can torture be rationalized without some self-serving (most would coin this kind of enterprise as evil) intent? Of course, anyone thinking that the male torturer and the others are just “doing their jobs” would probably find “the whole Nazi thing” to be no big deal….

No. What horrifies me about this kind of film is that it glorifies a false intellectualism that treats graphic torture in a relative light. I’m not as worried about “American Rednecks” loving this film as much as the mildly educated 20-somethings who think that they have stumbled upon something deep in this “wicked Euro-flick”–which they’ll probably buy and place next to their TOOL CDs….