Now On Blu-ray: The Goetz Brothers' MARTYRS Is A Pale Shadow Of Its Inspiration

I know we just posted a review of the Goetz brothers' American remake of Martyrs a few days ago, so I will attempt to restrict my comments to the disc as much as possible. However, suffice it to say that I agree with Erik Ortiz Garcia's overall impression that the film is, "a worthless American remake."

Rather than rehashing the film's plot for the thousandth time, I'll leave it to Anchor Bay to get you up to speed:

Ten-year-old Lucie flees from the isolated warehouse where she has been held prisoner. Deeply traumatized, she is plagued by awful night terrors at the orphanage that takes her in. Her only comfort comes from Anna, a girl her own age. Nearly a decade later and still haunted by demons, Lucie finally tracks down the family that tortured her. As she and Anna move closer to the agonizing truth, they find themselves trapped in a nightmare - if they cannot escape, a martyr's fate awaits them...

Martyrs follows the plot of the original French work by Pascal Laugier fairly closely for the first third or so, but quickly devolves into something considerably less tense for the finale. What was once an exploration of the concept of martyrdom and endurance in Laugier's story becomes a by-the-numbers rescue/revenge story and completely loses the both literal and figurative visceral impact in its American iteration. All emotional connect and empathy for the lead is wiped away as the characters do an end-around on the deeper themes of Martyrs (2008), even after spending far too long explaining the minutiae of the cult much to this reviewers chagrin.

It's not a bad film, but it's also not a good film. Seen apart from its predecessor, it's perfectly serviceable as a revenge thriller, but even then, there is nothing that lifts the film out of the direct-to-video ghetto that truly is its only real home. If you've never seen Martyrs and are averse to subtitles (not exactly our core demographic), you may enjoy it. However, I get the feeling that ScreenAnarchy readers, even those who didn't love Martyrs (2008) the way I did, will be sorely disappointed.


The Disc:

Onto the good news, Martyrs looks great on Blu-ray! One of the benefits of film production at all budget levels moving to digital is that home video releases usually have very few problems reflecting the intended experience. Contrast, clarity, and detail are all quite beautiful. I saw no issues with the visual presentation. The audio is similarly impressive, as one of the film's few points of inspiration is the new background score by Evan Goldman. His music is well represented, the dialogue is clear and easy to distinguish, and the occasional surround action helps the film feel less flat on the screen than it actually is.

In terms of extras, we only get a very fluffy eight minute EPK (electronic press kit) with a few shots of behind the scenes action and some snips of interviews from the directors and the two female leads. Only once in the eight minutes does anyone ever allude to possibly ever having seen the original. Fine, that's not a prerequisite for making a movie, or at least not for accepting a job acting in one. However, it is a bit saddening that this film, one which has a small but rabid fan base, was so callously half-assed in this remake.

Disc looks great, movie kind of sucks. Your mileage may vary.