Hereafter horrors
Seriously, though, it’s kind of annoying to me, describing myself as a film (and particularly a horror film) buff as I do, that I am only now catching on to the fact that there has been a remarkable horror renaissance taking place in France over the past few years, as I indicated in my previous review, À l’intérieur (Inside) (2007). Keeping the theme going, I will be reviewing the not-quite-as-extraordinary-but-still-pretty-good Haute Tension (Switchblade Romance) (2003) by Alexandre Aja next, but for now, let writer-director Pascal Laugier (Saint Ange (House of Voices) (2004)) take you to hell (or perhaps elsewhere?) with Martyrs (2008).
A young girl, Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï), who has been missing for more than a year, is found in a state of complete hysteria near a derelict slaughterhouse, where she claims that she was held captive and tortured, but is unable to tell the police anything more about the people who kept her prisoner. Transferred to a youth home, Lucie is befriended by Anna (Morjana Alaoui), but she appears to be being tormented by a hideous, emaciated female figure. We move to 15 years later, and Lucie, with Anna in the wings, slaughters a seemingly innocent family (Robert Toupin and Patricia Tulasne as the father and mother, Juliette Gosselin and Xavier Dolan as the young children Marie and Antoine) that she is convinced were responsible for her captivity and torture as a child – but we are about to find out a lot more concerning guilt or innocence as, God help her, is Anna.
Once again, accusations of ‘torture porn’ may be levelled at Laugier’s film but, as with À l’intérieur, these would be misplaced – both films are at pains to portray realistic violence, but Martyrs is, in a way, even more chilling in this respect (though not as scary overall), because of the banality of what is being depicted, in a style reminiscent of Wolf Creek (2005). Then, with the emergence of the terrifyingly ‘normal’ Mademoiselle (Catherine Bégin), and her explanation as to why Louise and likewise Anna must suffer, the film moves into an entirely different arena, with elements of the supernatural being hinted at that would have seemed impossible just minutes before.
Intrigued? You will be and, to my mind, you will likely be as transfixed by what you see here as I was, from frame one to the (remarkably, in the circumstances) uplifting and, well, life-affirming denoument.
Let’s just hope that France keeps making horror like this because, along with Spain and the Asian countries, the nation would appear to be a beacon of hope for a genre that, if left solely to America, will be moribund (in all the wrong ways) before long.
99 mins. In French.
Of the new bunch of Gallic horror movies, Inside (2007) is the one that I haven’t seen. There’s also Frontière(s) (Frontier(s)) (2007), which frankly was crap and 13 (2010), which was great, but maybe not so much of a horror movie.
I liked Martyrs but was bothered by the brutality towards the end. Maybe that’s a good thing. Like Wolf Creek (2005), its violence is genuinely unpleasant, but I wondered whether perhaps Martyrs wallowed around in its brutality a little too much?
In any case, for me, Calvaire (2004) and also Vinyan (2008) are at the top of the pile – in the former film, the danse macabre in the village pub was just inspired.
British directors have been dishing out the goods of late too. Eden Lake (2008), The Children (2008), Black Death (2010). Did you see Triangle (2009) yet? Or Never Let Me Go (2010)?
Here in Oz, we went to see a new movie called Snowtown (2011) the other day about the ‘bodies in the barrels’ murders that occured in the 1990s. Restrained, grim and serious stuff too. Hopefully, it will make it to the EU.
Hey Chris,
Really glad that you still rate Calvaire and Vinyan so highly; you know my tendency towards hyperbole whenever I catch a horror that proves what the genre is still capable of, so I am having to calm myself a little concerning Inside, and whether it is actually the best fright film I have ever seen.
However, I would have thought the fact that I am actually considering this should tell you something – I look forward very much to you catching up with it and letting me know your thoughts.
All the other films that you recommend (following a perusal on IMDB) look very interesting, particularly Triangle, which I know you have enthused about before. Never Let Me Go has already been reviewed by Agata for Picturenose, as you know, but yes, I have been meaning to catch it for some time. Would you say it was a horror, however? Sounds like it has elements to me, but is rather more of a haunting, very moving take on a ‘Brave New World’, no?
As for Martyrs, I’m glad you liked that too, and I was thinking the same thing about its brutality until I realized that, like Wolf Creek, the very banality of the violence would be the point, and I was reassured enormously by the fact that, in fact, evil is not allowed complete victory at the end. What do you think?
Furthermore, mate, have you seen Haute Tension (Switchblade Romance) (2003) by Alexandre Aja yet? Definitely not in the same league as the two French horrors that I have just reviewed, nor likely up to your recommendations, but interesting all the same. The ending, however, is *very* silly…I will be reviewing it shortly.
Chris,
I’d love to hear your comments on Inside. I feel it’s an essentially ‘empty’ film, and yet what it does, it does perfectly. In that sense (if this isn’t too much of a stretch) it reminds me of The Thing, but without the great concept. It’s not about set design, acting or lighting (although they’re all above par), it’s just a cinematic hyperdermic designed to deliver a thrilling (if horrific) ride that totally succeeds.
Hi Nick,
I’m kind of apprehensive about Inside. It’s notoriously brutal, isn’t it? I remember seeing Wolf Creek, without really realizing the reputation it had. It took me a couple of weeks to get over the moral outrage I felt, before seeing that it was in fact a damn good movie whose only ‘fault’ was that it didn’t glamorize the violence and promoted sympathy for the victims.
Hi James,
Don’t expect too much from Triangle. It doesn’t have the brutal shock value of Martyrs etc, though it certainly dishes up some very bizarre scenes and it was just a movie that I thought was hugely entertaining and very likable. About a third of the way in, I thought: “I know exactly where this is going, and exactly what’s going to happen,” and then it lurched off in a completely different direction, which was great. Plus, I fancy Melissa George, so…
As for Never Let Me Go, it is a horror film in my book. It’s moving and poetic as well, but underlying it all is just a sense of horror. You’ll want to shake the characters up and tell them to run, but they don’t run and, when you consider why they don’t, the horror just grows…
Chris, mate, you *have* to see Inside, and I am really glad I used ** to accentuate that point, because I understand that Nick finds it annoying.
Seriously, yes it is notoriously brutal but, unlike Wolf Creek, it has an urban, almost ‘sunlit horror’ gloss and sheen that makes it, I think, even more terrifying. And, as I said in my review, I have never been so caught off guard by a film, nor ever brought to tears by a denoument that is both hauntingly moving and utterly horrifying. As Stephen King wrote in Danse Macabre, at this level, the horror film is simply out to get you, and I love that, know what I am saying?
Thanks for the further information on Triangle and Never Let Me Go – I will see them both as soon as I possibly can, then get back to you, deal? I’ll do a review of Triangle as well.
Hi Chris,
What freaked me out about Wolf Creek was the implication that many victims took a *long* time to die; rest assured, in Inside people tend to die *really* quickly. Happy, James?
I’m always happy, Nick; how could I not be, when there are such *really* intelligent comments gracing *my* film-review website?
I read this exchange, and thought it was really funny, like not just lol funny, but *LOL* funny. *ROFLMAO*
I saw Inside over the weekend, and what a nasty, vicious, morally irredeemable 90 minutes’ worth of obscenity it was.
I loved it.
I think it can safely be said that Inside has the courage of its convictions, which is rare these days in horror flicks. You really don’t know where these new French movies are going to go, which is their best asset, I think. I agree with you, James, about the final image being wonderfully macabre and with you Nick about the movie as a whole being a hypodermic shot straight to the jugular.
The movie it reminded me of most was actually Halloween (1978), particularly in the first half where it is all faces in shadow and shapes lurking in suburban bushes. The soundtrack was also something that hasn’t been commented on, which I thought was fantastic and very John Carpenter.
Fantastic comment mate – I am so happy that you enjoyed Inside as much as I thought you would, but, knowing you as long as I have, it would have surprised me enormously if you hadn’t.
I think you’re spot on, Chris, about courage of convictions, and also about the sense that the new French horror is determinedly not playing by any pre-conceived rules concerning the genre laid down by the Americans – it’s the kind of horror, like the much-cited roller-coaster simile, that simply makes you feel alive. If you like that kind of thing.
What do you think about my feeling that it may be the best ever?
It’s certainly up there, isn’t it? It takes a respectable shot at the top spot so I wouldn’t be surprised at people choosing it. Having considered my list, Jaws (1975) gets taken out of my top ten for not really being a horror movie, but that means Alien (1979) is number one. And it’s a movie that I have so much respect for, I can’t really imagine another stealing the spot.
Plus, there are movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massace (1974), The Brood (1979), Halloween, not to mention The Shining (1980), that I don’t even have in my list, that still made a huge impression on me. In short, there are a load of choice movies to choose from, so while Inside wouldn’t make my list, at that level it’s all very subjective.
You’re quite right, of course, and I understand that Alien would certainly take some shifting, as The Shining does for me. However, I have to put Inside on the list *somewhere* – keep your eyes peeled on my Ten Best Horror Films list for a reshuffle, and thanks, once again, for agreeing with my take on the film so completely. Twice in one year, on horror? Some kind of record that, surely?