Martyrs (2008 film)

2008 psychological horror film written and directed by Pascal Laugier

Martyrs

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Pascal Laugier
Written by| Pascal Laugier
Produced by| Richard Grandpierre
Simon Trottier
Starring|

* Morjana Alaoui
* Mylène Jampanoï

Cinematography|

* Stéphane Martin
* Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky

Edited by| Sébastien Prangère
Music by| Seppuku Paradigm

Production
companies

* Eskwad
* Wild Bunch
* TCB Film

Distributed by| Wild Bunch

Release date

* 3 September 2008 (2008-09-03)[1]

Running time

| 99 minutes
Countries|

* France
* Canada

Language| French
Budget| €2.8 million[2]
Box office| $1.1 million[3]

Martyrs is a 2008 French-language psychological horror film written and directed by Pascal Laugier, and starring Mylène Jampanoï, Morjana Alaoui, and Catherine Bégin. It follows a young woman's quest to seek revenge against individuals who abducted and tortured her as a child, and her friend, also a victim of abuse.

An international co-production of France and Canada, Martyrs was filmed in Montreal, and screened at the French film market Marché du Film in May 2008, where it incited audience walkouts due to its graphic and disturbing content. It was released theatrically in France on 3 September 2008. The film received polarized reviews from critics and has been cited by some critics as being part of the New French Extremity movement, an association Laugier denounced.

In 2017, IGN named it one of the best horror films of all time, ranking it number 32 in a list of 100 films,[4] while Rolling Stone included it in a 2021 list of the greatest horror films of the 21st century.[5]

An American-produced remake of the film bearing the same title premiered in 2015.

## Plot

[edit]

In 1971, young Lucie Jurin escapes from a disused slaughterhouse where she has been imprisoned and tortured for more than a year. She is placed in an orphanage, where she befriends Anna Assaoui, whom Lucie tells about her past and her torturers, whom she cannot remember. One day, Anna finds Lucie bleeding in a bathtub with cuts on her arm. Lucie begs Anna not to tell anyone, and Anna hugs her, telling her that she should not cut herself. Lucie responds that it was not her who had done it. One night, Lucie is attacked by a disfigured, demonic woman.

Fifteen years later, Lucie bursts into the home of a seemingly normal family, the Belfonds — Gabrielle, her husband, and their children Marie and Antoine — and kills them with a shotgun. Before killing Antoine, Lucie asks him if he knows what his parents had done. Lucie believes that they were involved in her torture as a child, having recognized their faces from a newspaper item about Marie's competitive swimming. She calls Anna and gives her the address of the house. While waiting for Anna to arrive, Lucie is startled by noises in the house and shoots her last shotgun shell after hearing a door slam. A naked, demonic woman attacks Lucie, cutting her back with a knife. While hiding from the woman in a closet, Lucie hears rattling and has a vision of herself as a child, bound to a chair, rocking before being smothered by a man's hand. Lucie peeks out from the closet and has her hand stabbed by the woman. She runs outside and collides with Anna, who wraps Lucie's hand with her scarf and notices the cuts on her back. Anna goes inside the house, despite Lucie's warning that "she" is inside. Anna is horrified by the carnage inside, but ultimately decides to help Lucie clean the crime scene and dispose of the bodies. Anna kisses Lucie, who pushes her away and asks what she is doing. Lucie is once again attacked by the woman, and hides with Anna in a bedroom. The lights flicker from a storm outside, and Lucie has a vision of her escape from her torturer, in the process of which she ran from a pleading fellow prisoner who reached out for Lucie. The vision ends and Lucie finds herself locked in the bedroom without Anna. Anna has discovered Gabrielle alive and tries to help her escape, but Lucie catches them and beats Gabrielle to death with a hammer. Lucie is again attacked by the demonic woman, but Anna only sees Lucie hurting herself; the demonic woman resembles the victim that Lucie left behind at the slaughterhouse and is a psychological manifestation of Lucie's guilt. Lucie then runs outside and kills herself by slitting her own throat.

The following morning, Anna, while on the phone with her estranged abusive mother, discovers a secret passageway in the home's living room, leading to a subterranean chamber containing illuminated photographs of torture and a living brutalized and emaciated woman, proving that Lucie was right about the Belfonds. Anna attempts to help the woman, who is hysterical and nonverbal. Anna removes a steel blindfold that has been stapled to the woman's skull and helps bathe her, only to later find her mutilating her arm with a knife. A group of people arrive at the house, kill the woman, and capture Anna. The group's leader, identified only as Mademoiselle, explains that they belong to a secret society seeking to discover the secrets of the afterlife through the creation of "martyrs". They do this by capturing young women and inflicting on them systematic acts of torture, in the belief that their physical suffering will result in a transcendental insight into the world beyond. So far, the group has only produced "victims" who succumbed to the pain and are unable to speak, but the group is determined to create martyrs who accept their suffering and report their visions of the afterlife.

Anna becomes the group's latest subject and has her head shaved. After a period of being brutally beaten and degraded in her underwear, she is told that she has progressed further than any other test subject and reached the "final stage." She is flayed alive, a procedure that she survives, and reportedly enters an "ecstatic" state. Mademoiselle arrives, eager to learn Anna's secrets, and Anna whispers into her ear. Members of the society then gather at the house to pay veneration to Anna for her martyrdom and to hear Mademoiselle's announcement of the groundbreaking testimony. While waiting for Mademoiselle, an assistant asks her from outside her door if what Anna said was clear. She unequivocally confirms and asks him in turn if he can imagine what comes after death. After he says no, Mademoiselle abruptly produces a handgun, tells him to "keep doubting" and kills herself.

An intertitle explains that "martyr" is Greek for "witness". The film ends with a shot of Anna lying catatonic on a table seemingly looking at something far away. During the credits, home movies of Anna and Lucie as children are shown.

## Cast

[edit]

* Mylène Jampanoï as Lucie Jurin
* Jessie Pham as young Lucie
* Morjana Alaoui as Anna Assaoui
* Erika Scott as young Anna
* Catherine Bégin as Mademoiselle
* Isabelle Chasse as The Creature
* Robert Toupin as Mr. Belfond (the father)
* Patricia Tulasne as Gabrielle Belfond (the mother)
* Juliette Gosselin as Marie Belfond
* Xavier Dolan-Tadros as Antoine Belfond
* Louise Boisvert as Anna's mother (voice)
* Jean-Marie Moncelet as Étienne
* Emilie Miskdjian as Sarah

## Analysis

[edit]

Critic Maitland McDonagh notes that the film contains the theme of the Roman Catholic notions of sainthood and martyrdom in its exploration of spiritual transcendence via physical pain.[6] Laugier himself stated that he intended to make the film's audience "feel real pain" and to "share it as part of an honest process [of] communion... It was a very Catholic process. I have a very Catholic mind."[7] In a 2009 interview with Electric Sheep magazine, he stated that he feels "the Western world is sick... Horror cinema allowed me to express this in a very direct way. Martyrs is almost a work of prospective fiction that shows a dying world, almost like a pre-apocalypse. It’s a world where evil triumphed a long time ago, where consciences have died out under the reign of money and where people spend their time hurting one another. It’s a metaphor, of course, but the film describes things that are not that far from what we’re experiencing today."

The film's graphic violence resulted in its being associated with the New French Extremity movement, an association Laugier vocally denounced.[7] Literary professor Gwendolyn Audrey Foster similarly challenges the sentiment that Martyrs belongs in this category, writing that its "nihilism is complete and impossible to dismiss, making it a far different experience from other extreme horror films", also citing Laugier's statement that the film exists in a world "in which evil triumphed a long time ago".[8] Foster also notes Laugier's intent to force the film's audience to bear witness to the pain of the violence represented, writing that its viewers "become martyrs in a sense".[8]

## Production

[edit]

### Development

[edit]

Writer-director Pascal Laugier, who had previously made his directorial debut with the supernatural horror film Saint Ange (2005), wrote the screenplay for Martyrs after being inspired by Eli Roth's Hostel (2005), and intended to "make a movie about pain."[9] Laugier stated he was in a severely depressed state at the time of writing the film, and was nearly suicidal.[9] Visually, he was partly inspired by Carl Theodore Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), and based the film's final shot on a still of the dying Joan of Arc (portrayed by Renée Jeanne Falconetti), an image he pasted to the final page of the screenplay.[10]

On pitching the project, Laugier commented that "the film was rejected by all the big French studios, by a lot of actresses, too. […] The film was really supported by Canal+, the only television channel in France that still finances some unusual projects".[11]

### Casting

[edit]

Mylène Jampanoï, who was cast as Lucie, was drawn to the project after being profoundly affected by the screenplay.[10] "When I chose this movie, my agent told me maybe it's not a good choice as an actress," she recalled. "You should maybe start with a comedy! But the script was amazing, really amazing. I knew this would be a film that people would either love or hate".[10] Morjana Alaoui, who was cast as Anna, was also attracted to the project after being impressed by its screenplay: "The first time I read the script, I was just like, 'Wow. I have to be a part of this.' After Pascal cast me as Anna, I started rereading it and every page I was like, 'Oh my God. How am I going to do this? I'm gonna die'".[10] In preparation for the shoot, Laugier spent two months undertaking rehearsals with Jampanoï and Alaoui.[10]

### Filming

[edit]

Special effects designer Benoit Lestang (pictured here in 1996), who died prior to the film's theatrical release

Principal photography of Martyrs took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[12] Laugier commented that the main difficulty other than the technical issues such as special effects was to keep the actresses in a heightened emotional state.[11] In order to facilitate this, Laugier kept the two lead actresses isolated from most of the crew.[10]

Jampanoï recalled that she found the shoot emotionally difficult: "Every night when I went back to my room, I just cried, because I was so physically and psychologically tired. All my scenes are violent."[10] Jampanoï also stated that, though she respected Laugier's working style, she found him to be "as short-tempered as me... I have a huge amount of admiration for him... but we did end up clashing".[13]

Production was temporarily halted for over a month after Alaoui fell 3 metres (9.8 ft) off a soundstage, breaking several bones in her foot.[10]

The film's special effects were designed by Benoit Lestang, who committed suicide prior to the film's French theatrical release.[14] The film features a mixture of both practical and digital special effects, some of which were completed with the use of green screen.[15]

## Release

[edit]

### Controversy and censorship

[edit]

Director Laugier and stars Alaoui and Jampanoï attending a September 2008 screening at Toronto's Ryerson Theatre

The film screened at the Marché du Film film market in Cannes in May 2008,[1] inciting walkouts from some audience members.[16] It was subsequently shown on 19 October 2008 at Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma.[17] According to Laugier, a man collapsed during the film's screening at the Sitges Film Festival, and a woman vomited during the film's premiere screening in Toronto.[10]

In France, the film faced significant controversy amongst the country's film rating system, which was recorded in a documentary titled Martyrs vs Censorship, directed by Frédéric Ambroisine in June 2008.[18] The French Commission de classification des œuvres cinématographiques initially rated the film 18+ (unsuitable for children under 18 or forbidden in cinemas for persons under 18), which the producers of the film appealed.[19][20][21] As a last resort, the French Society of Film Directors (SRF) asked the French ministry of culture to examine the decision, remarking that "this is the first time a French genre film has been threatened with such a rating". The Union of Film Journalists adopted the same position as the SRF, claiming censorship.[22] The Minister of Culture Christine Albanel eventually asked the Commission of Classification to change its rating, which was done in July 2008. Martyrs was finally rated 16+,[23] and released theatrically in France on 3 September 2008.[1]

Recounting the film's rating controversy, Laugier said:

> In France, when you get an 18+ rating, your film is dead. It’s like a porno. It’s like XXX. It was a way for them to censor me without asking me to cut anything. So we fought a lot and I was supported by all the unions of the French film industry. I was very surprised. It was a matter of principle. Even for people who didn’t like the movie, it was a matter of freedom of speech and expression.[24]

The Weinstein Company purchased North American distribution rights to the film following its screening at Cannes, but producer Bob Weinstein was ultimately so revulsed by the film that they chose not to release it.[16] The film never received a theatrical release in the United States and was instead released directly to DVD.[16] A heavily edited cut of the film was given an R rating by the Motion Picture Association for "disturbing/severe aberrant behavior involving strong bloody violence, torture, child abuse and some nudity."[25]

### Critical reception

[edit]

The film was categorized as a new example of new era French horror films akin to Inside with regard to the level of violence it depicts.[11][26][27] According to the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 65% of 40 critics have given the film a positive review, and an average rating of 6.10 out of 10. The website's critical consensus states, "A real polarising movie, this Gallic torture-porn is graphic, brutal, nasty and gruesome and not to everyone's taste."[28]

Todd Brown of Screen Anarchy called it "without a doubt the single most divisive film to screen in the Cannes Marché Du Film this year,"[29] while Ryan Turek at ShockTillYouDrop said that the film "is the new yard stick against which all forms of extreme genre films should be measured against."[11] The Montreal Gazette's John Griffin awarded the film a three-and-a-half out of four-star rating, describing it as "a film of almost unspeakable horror and sadism [that] is also a cleverly controlled exercise in hardcore terror with a real end in mind".[17]

Critic Maitland McDonagh wrote that the film "has more than can-you-top-this shocks in mind: For all its brutality, Martyrs is conspicuously high minded, rooted in the centuries-old notion that spiritual transcendence lies just beyond the horizon of pain... You don't have to be Catholic to shudder at Pascal Laugier's Martyrs, but it helps."[6]

Anton Bitel of Britain's Film4 praised the film, saying it "eludes the 'torture porn' label precisely by questioning what those terms might mean, what appeal they might possibly have, and what questions - fundamental, even metaphysical questions – they might answer".[30] Jamie Graham of Total Film called Martyrs "one of the most extreme pictures ever made, and one of the best horror movies of the last decade".[31] He also likened it to "a torture-porn movie for Guardian readers", one that owed as much to Francis Bacon and Raphael as to its genre contemporaries. By contrast, writer and film scholar Jon Towlson says Martyrs' "political intentions are less overt, more ambivalent and ultimately nihilistic" compared to its contemporaries. "Putting the audience 'through it,'" he says, "is the film's raison d'etre".[32]

Commenting on the controversy surrounding his film to IndieLondon, director Laugier said he felt "insulted" by many critics' misinterpretations of Martyrs.[33]

### Accolades

[edit]

Institution  | Category  | Recipient  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best Actress | Morjana Alaoui  | Won  |
Best Screenplay  | Pascal Laugier  | Won  |
Best Limited-Release/Direct-to-Video Film  | Martyrs | Nominated  |
Best Supporting Actress  | Mylène Jampanoï  | Nominated  |
Best Makeup/Creature FX  | Benoît Lestang  | Nominated  |
Fright Meter Award  | Best Screenplay  | Pascal Laugier  | Won  | [34]
Best Makeup  | Benoît Lestang  | Won
Best Horror Film  | Martyrs | Nominated
Best Director  | Pascal Laugier  | Nominated
Best Supporting Actress  | Catherine Bégin  | Nominated
Jutra Awards | Best Makeup |

* Bruno Gatien
* Sophie Lebeau
* Mélanie Rodrigue

| Nominated  | [35]
Méliès International Festivals Federation | Méliès d'Or | Martyrs | Won  | [36]
Scream Awards | Best Foreign Film  | Nominated  | [37]
Sitges Film Festival | Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film: Gold  | Pascal Laugier  | Won  | [38]
Best Makeup  |

* Benoît Lestang
* Adrien Morot

| Won  | [39]

### Home media

[edit]

Wild Side Video released the film on DVD in France in 2009.[40] In the United States, Genius Products released the film in both unrated and R-rated DVD editions in April 2009.[41] The British distributor Optimum Releasing issued a Blu-ray edition of the film in the United Kingdom the following month in May 2009,[42] and a Canadian Blu-ray followed in 2010 from Entertainment One Films.[43]

On 16 September 2022, the Australian distributor Umbrella Entertainment released a limited special edition region-free Blu-ray edition as part of their "Beyond Genres" series.[44]

## Remake

[edit]

Main article: Martyrs (2015 film)

In 2008, Laugier confirmed in an interview that he was in the middle of negotiating the rights for Martyrs to be remade in the United States by director Daniel Stamm.[45] The producer attached at the time, who had previously produced Twilight (2008), indicated that Kristen Stewart was being sought to star in the film,[46] though her involvement with the project was later denied by Stamm.[47] Stamm said "[The original film] is very nihilistic. The American approach [that I'm looking at] would go through all that darkness but then give a glimmer of hope. You don't have to shoot yourself when it's over."[47]

In a 2014 interview, Stamm revealed he had left the project after the budget had been reduced, stating, "I think they're now back to making the movie for like $1 million, really low budget, which I think you could almost do, it's just there's this philosophy in Hollywood that you can never go back budget-wise. As a filmmaker you are judged by that. And then there's also this concept I was unaware of called plateauing, where if you're a filmmaker who makes two movies in the same budget bracket, that becomes your thing. You are the guy for the $3 million movie, and then that's all you do. And so my agents wouldn't let me do the $1 million movie, because then that's it for you, you'll supposedly never get that bigger budget".[48]

In February 2015, the new production companies Blumhouse Productions and The Safran Company announced that the film was already filmed and that the Goetz Brothers, Michael and Kevin, had directed.[49] In the leads stars Bailey Noble, Troian Bellisario, Kate Burton and Blake Robbins.[50]

When asked about the remake, Laugier responded, "I had a bad contract, I didn't even get paid for it! That's really the only thing I regret in my career: That my name is now associated with such a junk film and I didn't even get a cent for it! I tried to watch it but only got through 20 minutes. It was like watching my mother get raped! Then I stopped. Life is too short. In the American system, a movie like Martyrs is just not possible - they saw my movie and then turned it into something completely uninteresting."[51]

## Legacy

[edit]

Several publications have named Martyrs one of the greatest horror films of all time: In October 2017, IGN ranked it number 32 in a list of 100 films, with critic Marty Sliva writing: "Few horror movies elicit as extreme a physical reaction quite like 2008’s Martyrs... the film transforms into a bizarre religious gore-fest that draws a link between spiritual enlightenment and utterly brutal physical and emotional torture. It’s tough to keep your eyes set on the horrifying images that unfold on-screen, but for those willing to dive into its heady themes, it’s even harder to look away."[4]

In 2021, Rolling Stone also ranked it number 36 in their list of the greatest horror films made in the 21st century.[5]

Martyrs has also been referred to as one of the most disturbing films ever made, due to its subject matter.[52][53][54]

When making his 2019 film Us, Jordan Peele had star Lupita Nyong'o watch Martyrs, in addition to nine other horror films, in preparation for her dual roles.[55]

## See also

[edit]

* List of films featuring home invasions
* New French Extremity

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Mazel, Quentin (15 March 2022). "La qualité et ses réseaux : étude de cas sur " l'affaire Martyrs "". Chefs-d'œuvre et Navets (in French) (15). doi:10.4000/map.5708. S2CID 248140718. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022 - via OpenEdition Journals.
2. ^ Lemercier, Fabien (13 February 2007). "Martyrs: A journey into the heart of darkness". Cineuropa. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013.
3. ^ "Martyrs (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
4. ^ a b Sliva, Marty (October 2017). "100 Best Horror Movies: Martyrs". IGN. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
5. ^ a b Bramesco, Charles (21 June 2021). "65 Greatest Horror Movies of the 21st Century". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
6. ^ a b McDonagh, Maitland (2011). "Horror: Martyrs". Miss FlickChick. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011.
7. ^ a b West 2016, p. 151.
8. ^ a b Foster 2014, p. 56.
9. ^ a b Sprague, Mike (3 September 2020). "This Day in Horror History: Pascal Laugier's MARTYRS Was Released in France in 2008". Dread Central. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Crocker, Jonathan (19 March 2009). "Martyrs: Dying For Your Art". Total Film. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022 - via JonathanCrocker.com.
11. ^ a b c d Turek, Ryan (23 June 2008). "Exclusive Interview: Martyrs Director Pascal Laugier". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on 25 December 2010.
12. ^ Rea, Darren (17 March 2009). "Pascal Laugier (Director / Writer) - Martyrs". Review Graveyard. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012.
13. ^ Desport 2009, 18:02.
14. ^ Butane, Johnny (29 July 2008). "R.I.P. Effects Man Benoit Lestang". Dread Central. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022.
15. ^ Desport 2009, 46:09–49:15.
16. ^ a b c Piepenburg, Erik (24 January 2016). "In the 'Martyrs' Remake, French Punishment Is Done American Style". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022.
17. ^ a b Griffin, John (19 October 2008). "Festival du nouveau cinéma: Today's Pick". Montreal Gazette. p. 23\. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 24 December 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
18. ^ Ambroisine, Frédéric. "Exclusive documentary: MARTYRS VS CENSORSHIP". FrédéricAmbroisine.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008.
19. ^ "Two teasers for Pascal Laugier's French horror flick Martyrs". QuietEarth.us. 12 June 2008. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
20. ^ "Martyrs martyrisé par la commission de classification". Première (in French). 3 June 2008. Archived from the original on 15 March 2009.
21. ^ "Les moins de 18 ans pourront voir Martyrs". Première (in French). 3 July 2008. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009.
22. ^ Lemercier, Fabien (2 June 2008). "Controversy over Pascal Laugier's Martyrs". Cineuropa. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012.
23. ^ ""Martyrs" : interdit aux moins de… ?". AlloCiné (in French). 2 July 2008. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
24. ^ Mann, Michael (October 2009). "Pascal Laugier's Martyrs". Ion Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013.
25. ^ "Search". www.filmratings.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
26. ^ Miska, Brad (27 April 2009). "[Review] Brutal 'Martyrs' is Immensely Uncomfortable". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
27. ^ Griffiths, Lee (18 March 2009). "Martyrs (2008) Film Review". Eye For Film. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
28. ^ "Martyrs". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
29. ^ Brown, Todd (3 June 2008). "Pascal Laugier's Martyrs Hit With 18+ Rating in France". Screen Anarchy. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008.
30. ^ Bitel, A. "Martyrs – Review". www.channel4.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
31. ^ Graham, J (16 March 2009). "Martyrs – Art meets gorno". Total Film. Archived from the original on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
32. ^ Towlson, Jon (3 October 2011). "Shocks To The System - Subversive Horror Films: Post-9/11 Horror Films". Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
33. ^ Carnevale, R. "Martyrs - Pascal Laugier interview". www.indielondon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
34. ^ "2009 Fright Meter Awards". Fright Meter. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022.
35. ^ "Jutra : liste des finalistes". La Presse. 16 February 2010. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022.
36. ^ "'Martyrs' gana el Méliès de Oro". El Séptimo del Arte (in Spanish). 7 October 2009. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021.
37. ^ Dentler, Matt (1 September 2009). "Arthouse Releases Represent at 2009 Scream Awards". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
38. ^ Charles, Adam (12 October 2009). "Duncan Jones' MOON Lands at Sitges and Nabs 3 Awards Before Heading Back to the Stars. Plus Other Winners". Collider. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022.
39. ^ Mayorga, Emilio (13 October 2008). "Lynch's 'Surveillance' tops Sitges". Variety. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
40. ^ "en DVD: Martyrs". AlloCiné (in French). Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
41. ^ McGaughy, Cameron (4 May 2009). "Martyrs (Unrated)". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
42. ^ "Martyrs Blu-ray (United Kingdom)". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
43. ^ "Martyrs". WorldCat. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
44. ^ "Martyrs (Beyond Genres #22) (Blu-Ray) (2008)". Umbrella Entertainment. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
45. ^ "Northlander interviews MARTYRS' Pascal Laugier - and he spills about his HELLRAISER remake!!". Ain't It Cool News. 28 December 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012.
46. ^ "Exclusive: 'Twilight' Producer Wants Kristen Stewart for 'Martyrs' Remake". Fearnet. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013.
47. ^ a b Zeitchik, Steven (15 November 2010). "French horror hit 'Martyrs' will undergo an American exorcism". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012.
48. ^ Hall, Peter (3 April 2014). "What Happened to the Remake of Martyrs? Director Daniel Stamm Tells Us What Could Have Been". Movies.com. Archived from the original on 10 January 2020.
49. ^ Miska, Brad (3 April 2014). "'Martyrs' Remake to Be the "Ultimate Horror Movie"?". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015.
50. ^ Miska, Brad (3 April 2014). "The 'Martyrs' Remake Already Has Already Been Filmed". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015.
51. ^ Meyns, Michael (16 April 2018). "Unser Interview mit "Martyrs"-Kultregisseur Pascale Laugier zu "Ghostland": Ich hätte mich fast mit den Weinsteins geprügelt!". Filmstarts (in German). Archived from the original on 22 November 2022.
52. ^ "The Most Disturbing Movies of All Time". Complex Networks. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
53. ^ "The 18 most disturbing movies of all time". The A.V. Club. 16 August 2023. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
54. ^ "The 10 most disturbing films of all time". 21 November 2021. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
55. ^ Sinha-Roy, Piya. "Us first look: See photos from Jordan's Peele's Get Out follow-up". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 8 May 2024.

## Sources

[edit]

* Desport, Matthieu, dir. (2009). Martyrs: Chroniques organiques (Documentary film). Eskwad and TCB Film.`{{cite AV media}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
* Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey (2014). Hoarders, Doomsday Preppers, and the Culture of Apocalypse. New York City, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-46808-6.
* West, Alexandra (2016). Films of the New French Extremity: Visceral Horror and National Identity. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-1-476-62511-9.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Martyrs (film).

* Martyrs at IMDb
* Martyrs at AllMovie
* Martyrs at Rotten Tomatoes
* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Pascal Laugier

* Saint Ange (2004)
* Martyrs (2008)
* The Tall Man (2012)
* Ghostland (2018)

* v
* t
* e

Méliès d'Or winning films

* The Day of the Beast (1996)
* Train of Shadows (1997)
* Photographing Fairies (1998)
* The Nameless (1999)
* Possessed (2000)
* Thomas in Love (2001)
* Fausto 5.0 (2002)
* The Green Butchers (2003)
* Code 46 (2004)
* Adam's Apples (2006)
* Princess (2007)
* Let the Right One In (2008)
* Martyrs (2009)
* Buried (2010)
* The Last Circus (2011)
* Vanishing Waves (2012)
* In the Name of the Son (2013)
* Alleluia (2014)
* Goodnight Mommy (2015)
* Raw (2016)
* Thelma (2017)
* Climax (2018)
* In Fabric (2019)
* Pelican Blood (2020)
* Censor (2021)
* Piggy (2022)
* LOLA (2023)
* Handling the Undead (2024)

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