Martyrs is what Hostel 1 and 2 tried to be. An extremely gory and profoundly psychological piece that is overshadowed by the tragedies that befell nearly every character on the screen. There is a message at this film, but it is thinly veiled in some of the most awful fictional on-screen catastrophes ever shot on camera.

Revenge mental illness Guinea Pig? The story is a mess. And this twists in French Extremism films really start to annoy me.

A very dynamic horror movie that blends few different sub-genres. Right after you start to have some expectations plot changes at once. And somehow, with good directing, it actually works. Original horror movie that doesnt follow old conventions of the genre. Of course there is more than a fair amount of violence/totrure, but as long as it works, why not?

After the movie was over I couldn't help feeling that there were two good ideas here for a movie but only one kind of mediocre film in the end. I think either idea would make a great movie, but having them stuck together as this weird frankenstein monster did very very little for me. While the effects work was certainly good and the creature design interesting, the plot issues just really bothered me. The ending is pretty hilarious though.

Mish-mash of lots of different styles: hints of Greengrass in the camerawork, bit of Society, a lot of the infamous Guinea Pig movies and a pinch of Argento in the themes and sadly the plot.

i enjoyed this movie infact alot im giving it kinda a low score simply for the mood it put me in just depressing i had no idea to the extent it was willing to take great movie but be prepared to feel like shit.

"French horror cinema that doesn't shy away from the rough stuff and aims to bring a few extra layers to the typically anemic slash-and-smash concept."

Very hard to rate since it's really twisted. After a while I felt like a bad person for watching this. Definitely one of the bleakest and more disturbing horrors I've seen the last few years. It is all over the place though; from home invasion terror to being haunted by a twisted nightmare spirit to systematic torture. Definitely gets under the skin but if other people catch you watching this they wíll think something's wrong with you.

Failed and pretentious attempt at "elevating" the whole "torture porn" thing (e.g. Hostel). Starts out pretty well, with a brutal revenge-flick opening like a shotgun blast, and the overall idea is solid. Unfortunately, when a third of the movie is repeated beatings it becomes horribly contrived and the effect is numbing, bringing the viewer to a kind of "transcendence" of his own. Yawn.

What a brutal torture porn movie..two acts the first 45 mins that are so messed up that you think you know where its heading and the last 45 that is so beyond sick and disgusting and brutal you cannot see this coming..what a messed up end

Very brutal, but unlike other Torture Porn flicks, there is a story here - though they could have expanded on it instead of all the beating scenes. A bit hard to watch at times, but a good, solid horror watch - a rarity for the past few years.

The so-called "New French Extremist" horror films that I've seen were all bad, but Martyrs is the worst. They all tend to be stylized torture porn, somewhat pretentious, high-concept exploitation and nothing more, and none of them is convincing enough to be actually scary. Martyrs, however, is probably the most contrived of those that I've seen, the most full of shit. Amusingly, it could almost pass for a remake of The Passion of the Christ to which it is, after all, slightly superior.

Wasn't as ~shocking~ as expected, but an interesting film for the most part.

"'Martyrs' is initially shocking and strong, but eventually falls apart once we are informed about what the hell is going on."

Made to shock, which it does by being one of the goriest films I've ever seen. Unpleasant and full of plot holes- there might be an interesting idea in there but I was too busy vomiting to see it..

Brutal and unforgiving and from the start I could tell this wasn't my type of film. For the first 30-45 minutes or so, however, I was intrigued. It rose a little bit above your average shock horror and made me wonder where things were going. Then it took a turn to just plain disgusting, trying to veil it's horrific attraction to torture under the pretense of slightly less horrific curiosity. The idolization of victimization is just a way of justifying its twisted mindset.

somewhere between ellipical science fiction and full blown horror. i also hate to break it to you but the saw movies are actallly gorier than his...

Harrowing.

Starts out with some genuinely unsettling sections, but wastes all potential in the second half as it becomes a sub-Hostel nightmare explaining away its own misogny and lack of morality in a sub-plot that can only be described as contrivance-upon-contrivance.

Mindless slashing with a plot that is superthin.

Very Nice Movie

First half was really strong, but then the second half ruined it for me.

The movie fails only in the inaudible whispered message ... this is the precise moment where it fails to take a stand and becomes nihilistic torture porn.

smart, sexy and fun!

There is so much more going on in this film than just gore. Action starts only few minutes into the movie and doesn't let go untill the closing credits roll on screen. Laugier direction is really great and he plays with the viewer so you'd just want to stop watching. Even the ending manages to blow you away which is rare in horror films and you just have to think what the hell did you just see. Brilliant movie that you will remember for a long time and will be too much for some.

This is some ghastly torture porn, sure, but it lacks the gleeful sadism of the Hostel and Saw movies. Instead, it takes a more solemn and disquieting path that haunts more than it shocks.

In Saint Angel Laugier shows how tense a horror movie could and should be. This time the story has been sharpened to the highest peak; it's challenging, unexpected, strongly emotional, multi-layered and thoughtful. The film starts as an intensive and seemingly usual horror flick but in the end does not make the viewing easy to you. All actor do they job good raising this terrible story close to the Swedish masterpiece Let the right one in.

Unflinching. It just never lets up, never pauses and - most importantly - never really explains itself fully (true: a cause is provided, but it still remains sketchy).

Terribly good. And the sometimes horrid violence doesn't seem unnecessary. Good ending as well.

a wonderful hour of film followed by a half hour essay on why that hour was wonderful. as ever, regardless of how insightful that essay may be, it's too contrived and explicatory to really constitute great cinema. but that first hour... damn.

An incredibly violent rollercoaster of fear and torture. Great visual work and a twisted plot, but as said, incredibly violent and almost sadistic.

If some recent film meets my definition of true horror, it is Martyrs. However, the depicted violence is sometimes almost unbearable and it crosses the threshold when virtual fear and obscenity stop being "enjoyable" and become just painful, so I can not use the highest marks..

This is probably the best horror film of the decade; great direction and mezmerizing transformation between genres

Close to perfection, Martyrs is a real trip to the border of pain and suffering. Laugier made once more clear that the best todays Horror Movies come from France...Martyrs is the epicentre of brutality.

Mmmh, I guess despite some really trashy parts and unnecesarry violence the twist at the end makes it ..."ok/understandable/justified"? Strange strange movie.

Pffffffffff, could only watch half of it cause of all the torturing, then I skipped to the ending and thought that was so brilliant that I decided not to give it a low score. Not worth the watch, but the ending is awesome. I recommend you watch only that.

I got yelled at by my friends for not liking this movie. But I wasn't really a fan. It's 2 parts. the first part is like the usual crappy modern day horrors, and super predictable. The second part is just long and drawn out torture porn. I appreciate what they were trying to do, but i wasn't a fan of how it was done. wouldn't ever watch again.

Gory, uncompromising and scary in the right way. Laugier had a vision and the result is among the best horror movies ever.

WOW. All I can say is WOW. Brutal from beginning to end, but never mindless, and never played for exploitation or cheap thrills. I thought this movie was INCREDIBLE, but very dark. I have no other movie I can compare this to.

Appears to take the conclusions to two books (Bataille's "The Tears of Eros" and Agamben's "Remnants of Auschwitz"), cleverly composing them into a fictional narrative. The result, however, is extremely sadistic and there is very little by way of genuine significance to justify the unrelenting assault on the viewer.

Absolutely magnificent. French horror at its best. A shocking horror tale, of what some people are willing to do to others, in order to learn the unknown. Beautifully directed and acted, puts you right in the film. Highly Recommended!

This is not for the faint of heart. A sick, twisted movie... but amazing nonetheless. The story is original, the acting, especially by Morjana Alaoui, is brilliant and the direction is great. I don't know if I would recommend it to anyone, but it is a great movie.