You
know young Lucie has had a hard time of it when a Catholic orphanage feels like
a sanctuary. You can also guess her original film is some tough stuff when fans
wonder if a company like Blumhouse can handle remaking it. Pascal Laugier’s
2008 cult favorite isn’t considered a leading example of the New French Extremity
movement for nothing. Some of the roughest, most jagged edges have been sanded
down a tad, but the faint of heart, stomach, or aesthetic sensibilities should
be duly warned when the Goetz Brothers’ Martyrs
(trailer
here) opens
tomorrow in select theaters.
Somehow
twelve year-old Lucie escaped from the warehouse horror chamber where an evil
cabal kept her prisoner. However, the memories of the brutal captivity continue
to torment her. They seem to manifest themselves in hallucinations of demonic
monster. Nevertheless, the good-hearted Anna befriends the terrified girl. They
remain friends into adulthood, even though Lucie never really “gets over it.”
Believing
she has tracked down one of the men responsible for her ordeal, Lucie arranges
to meet Anna at his secluded home for a confrontation. However, Lucie executes
Dr. Patterson and his family before she arrives. Finding her friend in a state
of psychotic delirium, Anna assumes the worst. Yet, just as she is about to
call the law, she stumbles across profoundly disturbing proof that more than
vindicates Lucie. From there, things get extremely dark very quickly.
Laugier’s
Martyrs is not quite as
soul-deadening Srdjan Spasojevic’s beyond-the-pale debut, but it is definitely
on the extreme side of the spectrum. They might be controversial with fans, but
screenwriter Mark L. Smith’s moderating alterations will make it go down easier
for ninety-nine percent of horror fans. As the title indicates, both films use
Christian concepts in rather problematic, fast-and-loose ways, but for
faith-based audiences that should be the least of their worries.
Still,
for seasoned horror fans who do not carry baggage from Laugier’s original, it
is a pretty slick, undeniably dark package. Troian Bellisario and Bailey Noble
are quite convincing as Lucie and Anna in their various states of insanity and
duress. The same is true of Ever Prishkulnik and Elyse Cole as their younger
selves. However, Kate Burton (Richard Burton’s daughter) really throws down the
gauntlet, so to speak, as the sinister leader of the shadowy cult.