• From: Universe, Sol System, Earth
  • Registered: 2011-03-26
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Topic: Martyrs (2008 Film)

Hi everyone..

I just got back from an end of summer tradition. Every summer my local art house cinema hosts double features of genre films every Saturday night. The program culminates in a 10 hour all night horror movie marathon.

This year the line up was:
The Descent
Ringu
Martyrs
[REC]
Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Have any of you seen Martyrs - and if so, what did you think? (without spoilers) I was unimpressed. It was violent for the sake of violence, but it wasn't horrifying. It wasn't deep or thought provoking and it didn't make me squeamish.

Just as a gauge if where I stand, the dinner party scene of Texas Chainsaw Massacre is horrifying, The climax of the original Saw film makes me squeamish. I couldn't connect with the protagonist of Martyrs, meanwhile the rest of the theater was universally praising it. I know DiF isn't really horror-centric, but there are some very good discussions of plot, theme & character which im told Martyrs has on spades...

Thoughts?

(and just in case any DiFers are near Huntington, NY -- check out www.summercampcinema.com for the program I was talking about, we have Night of the Comet, The Last Starfighter and Dracula starring Frank Langella coming up)

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  • From: Sweden
  • Registered: 2012-06-07
  • Posts: 313
  • User Karma: 45

Re: Martyrs (2008 Film)

Been a while since I saw it, but my IMDb score is currently 9/10. I plan on seeing it again very soon to see how the score stands after a 2nd viewing. And this from someone who recently, as I view more and more horror films, have been scoring horror films lower, and lower, and lower...

As I recall, I was unsettled by the film in a way I am usually not. The way it first describes horrifying situations and the effects of them, and then plunges you right into them, forcing you to live them. I suppose it simply depends on what you fear, similarly The Descent worked for me since I was already affected by the claustrophobia and feeling of isolation from the start.

I was also very impressed with the acting in the film. The director impressed me again recently with The Tall Man so it seems me liking Martyrs perhaps wasn't a fluke.

Last edited by TechNoir (2012-09-17 15:49:07)

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  • paulou
  • paulou
  • Knows all the Feminine Forms
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  • From: Los Angeles
  • Registered: 2010-06-01
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Re: Martyrs (2008 Film)

Saw it a couple years ago. The first half was intense and interesting enough to hold my interest, but after like 50 minutes the movie fell down almost a literal rabbit hole and became something completely different. That's when it lost me.

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