MARTYRS
****
Directed by Pascal Laugier.
Starring Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoi, Catherine Bégin.
Horror, France, 99 Minutes, Certificate 18.
Released in the UK on Limited Edition 4K UHD & Blu-ray by Eureka Entertainment on 27th October
It only feels like yesterday that word started to spread online about a French horror film that was truly shocking. Reports from the FrightFest premiere, over a week before the general release in its home country, of people running for the exit only partway through the film fueled speculation of how far the film went in terms of gore and its intense tone. Appetites were well and truly whetted for horror fans, desperate for something that could truly test them. Fans of what was known as the New French Extremity were steeling themselves for a film that reportedly tested the boundaries of its viewers in almost every way. Surely there was no way that MARTYRS could possibly live up to the hype. Yet it did. Quietly released straight to disc in the UK, and astonishingly uncut, Pascal Laugier’s film became a keystone for fans of the genre, a horror film about something truly horrifying that never flinched away from its dark, oppressive subject matter. This was not a film for normal people.
Seventeen years on, you may wonder if the film has retained its power to shock. Thanks to the folk at Eureka Entertainment (I feel like I say that quite a lot now) we have the chance to revisit Laugier’s defining work in a spruced up 4K special edition. The film seemingly starts off as a revenge thriller, when the troubled Lucie (Mylène Jampanoi) tracks down the couple who held her captive as a child and subjected her to physical abuse fifteen years before. Dealing with them in a shockingly swift and merciless fashion, the film swerves in another direction when Lucie’s best friend Anna begins to question her friends grasp on reality. For the uninitiated, the film takes more sharp turns, each one triggering a feeling that we are descending further into something from which there is no escape.
Nothing can quite match the experience of the first time you see MARTYRS, a fact that is picked up on by Alice Haylett Bryan in one of the in-depth special features included on this release. Watching it again, the sense of true shock is supplanted more by one of true dread. There is a sense and hope in that first viewing that escape may be possible from the shocking situation that Anna finds herself in. In a twisted way there is a sense of release but this is also undermined in the enigmatic ending which triggers one final act of violence before the end credits. With its unrelenting, pitch black tone, Laugier’s masterwork has been accused of nothing more than extreme torture porn. But for those with the stomach to sit through it can plainly see that it is far more than that with a streak of emotion peeking through the darkness that lifts it far above that often derided sub-genre. The film can be read on any number of levels; a commentary on violence against women in horror media or what the double edged interpretation of martyrdom truly means or even an examination of France’s own colonial history and the reverberations that still carry on to this day in French society.
All of this, and more, is examined in detail in the extensive special features included on this spruced up edition. As well as the in-depth analysis of the films themes and context in the audio commentary from an enthusiastic Nia Edwards-Behi and a video essay looking at the films body horror connections from Xavier Aldana Reyes. There are also a number of archival interviews, including one with Laugier himself and FX make-up artist Benoit Lestang to complement the near ninety minute ORGANIC CHRONICLES - THE MAKING OF MARTYRS documentary that details the often grueling shoot, while Mylène Jampanoï details her experience in a frank and revealing, newly recorded interview.
The 4K restoration is sharp while retaining its gritty, scuffed up quality and washed out palette. However the remastering also reveals the latex and rubbery nature of the film's otherwise gruelling effects from the climax a little too well. It slightly takes away from the film's uncompromising nature somewhat, but seems a small price to pay for the rest of the excellent package that is on offer here. An essential upgrade for longtime fans and perhaps just as essential for those who get to experience one of the key horror films of this century for the first time.
Iain MacLeod