A screaming child runs from an abattoir, down a road, bare-footed and blood-soaked. Not a particularly original opening sequence but what follows is one of the most arduous and difficult journeys in recent cinema history.
The film is directed by Pascal Laugier. Another twisted director emerging with the wave of creative French horror. Laugier has moulded a vision which will be remembered alongside the most disturbed in the movie time-line.
Troubled Lucie played by Mylene Jampanoi is taken under the protective wing of Anna, played by Morjana Alaoui, when they meet in an orphanage. Anna is the child who escaped from the abattoir and is now plagued by a disfigured woman who sporadically attacks and inflicts pain upon her. The story moves on fifteen years later and what begins as a tale of revenge soon plummets into a relentless vision of depravity and sorrow. A cloud of darkness envelopes the screen and never leaves. In most horror films we have numerous moments to rest our weary minds and the mindless hacking of teenage body parts is broken up with dialogue or moments of light comedy. Not here. The story continues to delves deeper and deeper into the pits of despair and there is never any let up. Upon the final moments we have had the life sourced from our veins and have prepared a home-made noose to finish the job.
Some may enjoy the thick tar of depression which layers the films and the horror genre is not for everyone, as much as a Jennifer Lopez rom-com isn't either. However Martyrs will really test the strength of even though most steel-plated stomachs. This is also the films let down. There is little enjoyment to be had. Sure there is a level of creativity and this has set a new benchmark in grim movie making, it just begs the question why?
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