Martyrs (2008)

Martyrs

IMDB rate: 7,1

Genre: Survival, Torture

Starring: Morjana Alaoui, Mylene Jampanoi, Catherine Begin

Martyrs is one of the most surprising movies I've seen in years, I've wanted to watch it for a long time, but I never came to it. I heard a lot about this movie, things like that it was just as shocking as A Serbian Film and that it was a movie that would be hard to watch. I was surprised that such a movie had a 7,1 score on IMDB, because torture and stuff is usually not a genre that gets high rates. 

Well, the movie, I think it was quite amazing. The 7,0 score on IMDB is definitely well deserved. But I'll have to admit that it was a different movie than I expected. I expected even more gore, cruelty and things like that. The movie is definitely not worse than A Serbian Film, even though Martyrs is called a torture porn, it's nothing like A Serbian Film. Yes, there is a lot of torture, but there is not any porn of some sort. Even though there is nudity, it's definitely not like A Serbian Film. I'm comparing these two a lot because A Serbian Film is in my opinion the most cruel movie ever made. And I think this one definitely comes on number 2 at the moment (I haven't seen any movies worse than these yet). So I think that's good comparing material. Don't get me wrong, the two movies have a whole different story and purpose, A Serbian Film is all based around torture porn and family, while Martyrs is about torture, revenge and the after-life. I hope I explained it right, because it might be a bit confusing the way I'm saying it ;).

Fifteen years after a horrifying experience of abduction and prolonged torture, Lucie embars on a bloody quest for revenge against her oppressors. Along with her childhood fried Anna, who also suffered abuse, she quickly descends, without hope, into madness and her own delusions. Anna, left on her own begins to re-experience what Lucie did when she was only twelve years old.

I think it's a good thing that I've waited a day before I wrote this review, because I had some thinking to do about the things that I didn't get. The puzzle pieces all fell to place and the movie seemed a lot clearer. I think it's a good idea to watch this movie again, because there are still some small things that I didn't get. But for now, I think it was an amazing movie.

The acting was incredible and convincing. Because it's a movie from France I didn't know any of the actresses/actors in it, but it might be possible that they are very famous in their country. The camera work in this movie is also amazing, it was shot exactly right. And the music was very suitable. At one point my boyfriend said that he didn't get why the movie was all nice and sweet while the girl was left tortured. But I thought it was amazingly chosen because right before that moment there was mentioned that she just had to let it go, instead of resisting everything that happened. So in that moment, she didn't care what happened anymore, and the music was emphasizing that.

This movie is absolutely not the torture that you've seen in Saw. This is worse, but on a different scale. Martyrs seems to be about torturing, but it haves a bigger purpose than that. In Saw you're feeling disgusted, and you're hoping that the people will get away, because you know the story. In Martyrs, you're also disgusted, but you're desperately waiting for the reasons behind it, and believe me that is a surprising story. The movie turns in a few seconds time from a torture gore flick into a sad and rather depressing reflection of human suffering. 

I had many feelings while I watched this movie. First I thought it would be some sort of Captivity. A girl locked in a room, growing old. I was wrong. After that, I thought it would be about the same girl, taking her revenge. I was wrong again. And after that, I was convinced that it was about the supernatural creature that follows the girl. And guess what? I was wrong again! My point is that the movie seems to be going many directions at first, and you don't know what the whole point of the movie is in the first half. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing, it was not bothering me because I kept wondering what the story will be about eventually. But I can understand that many people don't like these vague aspects of the movie. 

I think the movie is definitely underrated by many people. Maybe it isn't really surprising, because it's just not a movie for everybody. If you are going to watch this movie, bear in mind that there are many parts that might need a strong stomach to watch.

Movies like Saw and Hostel are torture on a whole different level than this movie, so don't think they are comparable. I'm not really sure what I can compare this movie with, so it's hard to say what movies are a bit a-like. 

I can only say that if you don't have a strong stomach, than this movie is not suitable for you. 

My personal rate: 8/10

DOUBLE REVIEW: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) / I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013)

I Spit on Your Grave

IMDB rate: 6,2

Genre: Torture, Revenge

Starring: Sarah Butler, Jeff Branson, Andrew Howard

I've never seen the original movie, Day of the Woman, but I actually quite liked this on. It's very brutal and isn't afraid to show some details. I think it resembles the movie The Last House on the Left a lot, but I Spit on Your Grave is even more brutal. It's definitely not a movie for everyone since it's very violent but it think there are quite some horror lovers out there that enjoyed watching this movie. I personally thought it was a very cool movie, the perfect revenge comes from an innocent girl and she really kicked her assaulters asses (sometimes literally). 

Writer Jennifer Hills takes a retreat from the city to a charming cabin in the woods to start on her next book. But Jennifer's presence in the small town attracts the attention of a few morally depraved locals who set out one night to teach this city girl a lesson. They break into her cabin to scare her. However, what starts out as terrifying acts of humiliation and intimidation, quickly and uncontrollably escalates into a night of psychical abuse and torturous assault. But before they can kill her, Jennifer sacrifices her broken and beaten body to a raging river that washes her away. As time passes, the men slowly stop searching for her body and try to go back to life as usual. But that isn't about to happen. Against all odds, Jennifer Hills survived her ordeal. Now, with hell bent vengeance, Jennifer's sole purpose is to turn the tables on these animals and to inflict them every horrifying and torturous moment they carried out on her... only much, much worse.

I really really enjoyed watching this movie. It was simply awesome because the girl was kick-ass. It was definitely not what I expected from it, since I expected that I bought another shit movie. But luckily, I was so wrong! I like seeing that a woman can defend herself, instead of always being the useless victim in a movie. She might have started as an useless victim but that changed a lot. 

I like that this movie is not afraid to show things. The girl is assaulted in many brutal ways and this is very much visible. Definitely not a movie for everybody. 

The thing what I liked most was the way she took her revenge. One called her a horse all the time, she let him be the horse. Another one never did anything and only watched, this time she let him watch. One is always busy with his appearance, and she makes his appearance very unflattering. And then the biggest revenge; ruining the life of an innocent girl, just like they did with her. Simply brilliant.

The acting is magnificent, very real and believable. I did think it was a bit strange seeing Daniel Franzese in a movie like this since I only know him as Damian in Mean Girls. Believe me when I say that this role is very different from that one! Not that that matters much, but it was just something I noticed.

I absolutely recommend watching I Spit on Your Grave. I think it was very surprising and absolutely not what I expected from it. It was brutal, sadistic and cruel. I thought it was absolutely brilliant. Expect the worst from it, because that's what you will get. I do not recommend watching this movie for those with a weaker stomach. Or if you're not much into gore, blood and violence; do not watch this! Definitely a great revenge movie ;D. 

My personal rate: 7,5/10

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I Spit on Your Grave 2

IMDB rate: 5,7

Genre: Torture, Revenge

Starring: Jemma Dallender, Joe Absolom, Mary Stockley

I Spit on Your Grave 2, another great revenge/torture movie. I must admit that I quite like these type of movies, they're cruel, gruesome, but so badass as well. I quite liked watching this movie, although I must say that it's not as good as the first part. Again, I still haven't seen any of the original movies, so can't say a whole lot about them. But when I've finally watched it, I'll write a review about it and I will compare all the movies.

Katie is trying to make it in the cutthroat world of modeling. When she innocently accepts an offer to have new photos taken for her portfolio, the experience quickly turns into an unthinkable nightmare of rape, torture and kidnapping. When a twist of fate finally frees her from her captors - beaten, battered, bruised, and broken, she will have to tap into the darkest places of the human psyche to not only survive her ordeal, but to ultimately find the strength to exact her brutal revenge.

Okay first of all, I'm from Europe and these movies are making me terrified about ever going to Eastern-Europe again. Watching all these movies (A Serbian Film, Hostel, Train) is absolutely not good for a countries good name. I mean, basically if you're watching a horror movie and there's someone from Eastern-Europe in it, you better start fucking running because there's no way that nothing is going to happen. 

What I really liked about this movie was the beginning. In every horror movie there are annoying scenes where a girl doesn't scream or doesn't try to run or something, that didn't happen in this movie. The girl immediately starts screaming when she figured something was wrong, she took a taser gun and instead of just treating that she's going to use it, she actually starts using it immediately. Even though she has three locks on her door, she managed to escape her room but unfortunately she got caught by her molester. In this time she was able to scream, and guess what? Somebody heard her and tried rescuing her! That didn't go well, but still, three horror cliches weren't used! I loved it!

The thing with these I Spit on Your Grave movies is that we've seen the previous parts already. Meaning that we know that a girl will be attacked and she will survive that, and then she will have a very brutal revenge. So the mystery of it isn't really there anymore. Nevertheless, the revenge scenes are always very tasteful and very amusing to watch. 

What I did not like a whole lot were the dialogues. So the first part of the movie is where the girl, Katie, is being raped and tortured. Her offenders say all these cliche things to her and that does not mind a whole lot, but eventually the roles are switched, meaning that Katie will attack her offenders. But to make things more brutal, she's saying the exact same things to them as what they said to her. Sure, I get the point of that, but after a while you can't help but think "I've all heard this a few times already, become a bit more original dude".

The acting was decent. Nothing special, but not terribly bad. Seeing Katie's crying and screaming face was a bit funny, so I had a bit trouble taking her seriously, but besides that her performance was good. The lightning was a bit poor at times. When she's buried under the ground we suddenly hear a lot of noise and suddenly she seems to be in a cave or something. I don't know but it seemed a bit random, especially because this cave led to people's living rooms. Perhaps the floor broke, I don't know but it was a bit of a weird and dark place.

The torturing scenes were again awesome, Georgie looking all infected and stuff, while Ivan's ball were smashed. All fun stuff to look at again.

Great movie, not as good as the first part, but certainly very enjoyable. A lot of brutal scenes that make you sick in your stomach and a lot of blood. Original deaths, and just look at this image above, how sick does his legs look? Brilliant.

I absolutely recommend watching this movie for fans of a bit more brutal movies. Believe me, it can be hard to watch at times. I thought it was worth it.

My personal rate: 7/10

Tuesday Night Screening: Hostel 2005

Hostel

The highjack review

Well, seeing as that our dear Mel has some computer issues it would seem that you poor sods are stuck with me on this fine evening. But don't worry, I won´t talk about were-turkeys or flesh eating strippers this time, instead, we’ll be looking at everything that is wrong with modern horror movies in this little mess called Hostel, directed by one of my least favorite director and professional butcher of anything resembling cinema, Eli Roth.

This train wreck of a story follows a unlikable and underdeveloped characters and their quest that defines any Eli Roth’s character’s motivation: get drunk and screw around. This time this group of idiots tours through Europe and end up in the Czech Republic where they quickly find a hostel to spend the night with a few babes. Bad move on their part as it turns out that an elitist organization of ‘hunters’, led by a bunch of middle-aged rich white guys, have made it their home turf to kidnap, torture and kill tourists for the thrills and giggles. And the story pretty much goes exactly where you expect it to go, they all get kidnaped and tortured one by one in a cheap effort to gross the viewer out with effects so cheap and bland they’ll test your limits until you’ll do the sensible thing and turn this mess off.

So yes, if it wasn’t obvious, I’m really not a fan of Roth’s directing. Now as an actor, he’s alright, but as a director? It’s painful.

It’s not just that he is a racist, homophobic and juvenile farce of a guy, it’s also that nearly every single one of his movie manages to piss me off in some way. But the Hostel series, somehow is his crowning achievement in establishing his place as one of the worse horror movie director in my opinion. To deconstruct everything that is wrong with this movie would be like trying to explain why you shouldn’t watch Water Power while eating, there’s too much sh8t to make any sense of it.

But let’s start with the most obvious question one can ask when looking at any movie: what’s the point?

A few guys get kidnapped, tortured and killed and that’s about all the plot you’ll get. How can anyone enjoy this? who was the demographic for this, people who get off on it? Well, I’m pretty sure they’ll find it lackluster as the effects are pretty bad, even though most of them were practical. So I ask again, who was this movie supposed to please?

In a few interviews, Roth tries to talks about the impact of gore movies such as “blood sucking freaks” and even a few scenes in the very first “Alien” movie, and how it affected him. It’s pretty obvious that somehow, in his warped mind, he’s trying to make a movie that honors the gory days of such classics as Evil Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dead-Alive. Unfortunately, Roth doesn’t seem to understand exactly why people liked these movies, and now we have one of his many pathetic attempts to re-create the feeling we had when Ash found himself covered from tip to toe in blood while the walls were giving him one of the worse interpretation of a bukake I’ve ever seen.

It’s not because there’s blood and guts on the screen that we’ll turn into whimpering little girls, the gore has to accompany the horror, not the other way around. If you don’t have a story and just the gore and you play it like a serious thing, you just end up with this, Torture porn

So the gore is overdone and just seems like mindless violence just for the sake of gore, the story is pretty much non-existent and the characters are all twats, what else could go wrong? Try insulting an entire country.

Yes, it seems dear ol’ Eli somehow finally managed to piss off an entire country by insulting them of being a bunch of human-trafficking, torturing assh8les. You can begin to guess the response of the Czech officials after this movie was released and they saw how their people were depicted. And I’m not saying that The Czech Republic is perfect, I’ve been there multiple times for extended periods of time so I know it’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but this movie gives eastern Europe such a bad rep, that I actually know some people who actively refuse to go anywhere near it.

Quinten Tarantino, one of my favorite movie director of all times, was quoted saying that Eli Roth was the future of horror movies, and I’m afraid he might be right. With the advance of the Saw franchise and even movies like A Serbian film and The Human Centipede, it seems that there is an audience for pure shock and the grotesque. All I hope is that’s it just a curiosity that will soon leave our minds, but if not, then Eli Roth would indeed be the new face of this revolution with awful stories, hateful characters and cheap gore. But if my advice still counts for anything, avoid this movie like the plague, it’ll do nothing but pissing you off and waste your time.

Personal Rating: 2/10

Critical rating: 4,5/10

Things I’ve learned from Hostel:

- The creepy train guy from Euro Trip just got a whole lot more menacing.

- pasting the name of Tarantino on any movie is sure to give it some appeal, no matter how misplaced it can be.

- I was rather dissapointed by the lack of pancakes induced rampages in this movie.

- This movie is still somehow better than the sequels…be afraid people.

- Toilet revenge…just toilet revenge…