“Doing a feel-good movie right now, considering the state of the world and the brutality of our system, would disgust me.” ---Pascal Laugier.

HELL YEAH! The French strike again. And once again with a bloody vengeance. While American filmmakers are continuing the increasing pathetic remake trend the French have been proving to make---quite possibly---the best real horror films as of late. The brutal “Frontier[s]”and the hyper-violent gore bath “Inside” are couple of prime examples of harsh realism. When it comes to ‘Survival Horror’ this is the best new one I’ve seen since the downbeat charm found in “Eden Lake”.

Following his first film, the so-so “The Orphanage” like “Saint Ange” aka “House of Voices”, very promising writer director Pascal Laugier lashes out with unbridled anger in his second film that defiantly has some “Hellraiser” influence. A hardcore relentless blood soaked look into the human psyche, that is in your face and the equivalent of last years “Inside”.

Lucie was a little girl that was held hostage and horribly abused as a child although nothing sexual. She was found wandering on a stretch of road dehydrated, filthy and in a near catatonic state. She’s placed in a care facility where she won’t speak and is befriended by another abused young girl Anne. Now 15 years later Lucie has found her abusers and is out to get some well deserved revenge which also brings Anne back into the picture. What follows is a harsh, sadistic, cruel unsettling experience that leaves you guessing what is the point of all these cruelties till the very end when it all comes together. This is one of those few films that I kept thinking about after it was over. It just sticks with you.

I purposely went into this one blind avoiding everything about the film---even thumbing right past the article in my Rue Morgue Issue 87, which I can now read---before seeing it so it would be a surprise; and a surprise it is. So you will hear very little from me about what unfolds other than it displays some truly brutal scenes of violence while never trying to be gratuitous or just laying out gore for the sake of gore or shock value. This is one of those films that is certainly extreme but also has a stylish razor edge to it.

Unlike some of the [ridiculously coined] ‘Torture Porn’ flicks like “Hostel” using gratuitous T&A and humor to lighten the mood, “Martyrs” takes a straight up serious nihilistic approach, while being gruesomely beautiful and offering something a little new to the torture genre. I’m sure some people will find it very unsettling and difficult to watch. In terms of substance expect more along the lines of Nacho Cerda’s “Aftermath”. Beautifully shot, acted, edited and paced, it grabbed my attention straight away and never let go. In the latter half Pascal makes you feel the torment right until the poetic ending. I watched it as a rental this time but I’m proud to say this one will definately find a home in my collection. L'horreur Française Gouverne!!

Pascal’s next venture is another bring the foreign guy to Hollywood and let him make a movie story. In his case the “Hellraiser” remake. I’m older and saw Hellraiser” in the theatre when it came out and not only was I blown away, it open new doors to horror. A classic film favorite to me. So with a Hellraiser remake I want to see a re-envisioning, a different take, not just a re-hash. I just hope he can do it his way, and create his vision without to much studio/producer tampering. It’s highly unlikely but we can always hope.