FrightFest

Martyrs is my pick of Frightfest. I find it interesting that a lot of people are talking about the religious angle as my understanding of the plot was that the group were torturing the women to a state of Martyrdom as a metaphyiscal state in itself rather than because of religious convictions. That was what made it interesting for me as more traditionally religious horror films, like The Omen, I can appreciate but emotionally I don't relate to them. I did relate to Martyrs.

Can someone tell me WHY when the word "p0rn" (minus the zero and replaced with the letter "o") is typed in these posts, it is automatically transformed into a flippin' SHELLFISH???

I've never encountered that particular automated idiosyncrasy before!

Is it because the actual word is some kind of legal red-flag search-term that could get the site into trouble in some way if it were left as the standard word/spelling?



But all this discussion of the topic has given me an appetite for prawn! (HA -- and NONE of you will know which of the two words I actually just typed!)

the prawn comes from a time yonks ago where the site got hit by a spam attack - with all the usual sex links etc - so to successfully combat this the flag words get automatically changed to quite funny other words.

1) On a different forum about the same subject, I read a reference to someone being very disturbed by the "feeding scene". Does this make sense in the context of the film (I haven't seen it yet), or did the person probably mean to say the "beating scene"???

2) I gather there's a moment in which Anna is shown some degree of tenderness or compassion by one of her captors. Does this moment come DURING the lengthy beating(s) she is subjected to?

3) Is the beating sequence composed of a time-compressed SERIES of beatings -- i.e. a montage, of sorts -- or is the infamous beating sequence actually one continuous beating?

4) What is she beaten WITH? And is she beaten on the head? Because, if so, how do her tormentors avoid giving her brain damage? Surely, that would be counter to the cult's ultimate aim of gaining profound spiritual insights from her, right?

5) Is Anna always beaten by the same person or by various people?

6) I've seen a disturbing-looking shot from the film that shows a nude girl attached to some kind of rotating steel structure. Standing to one side is a man in a black surgical outfit. Now, is that Anna strapped into that device, and, if so, is that when they are preparing to flay her?

7) Lastly, in the above-mentioned still, the girl looks as though she has one of those metal "blinding" visors attached to her head. If that's the case, I'm a bit confused because I thought that only the chained girl Anna frees earlier in the film has that visor. Is Anna also subjected to one of those?

Sorry for so many questions, but I'm just so damn curious about this film and it looks like we'll have to wait FOREVER to see it here in the U.S.!

I'll PM you directly so as not to spoil the film for those who haven't seen it!

3/5

Very average, runs out of steam after 45 minutes and doesn't have the balls to go through with it's 'controversial' premise.

Since Video Dead, and it was in 1987, I have never seen such stupid, yes, litteraly stupid, movie that made me think about my time spending with that kind of movies movies insted of doing something else, like, doing the cleaning of my garage, bathroom, garden... It was such a waste of time that I was also wondering about people who liked the movie (but not for long, because I do not care about ones that do not know )

Shocking movie? Not at all. New? No. French? Yes, but as with French history of movies they have never been able to make anything slightly simillar to what is consider a real quallity of a film, but they always wanted them to be presented as something speciall, one of a kind and differnet. And if it was not for the Bergman's "Monika" French would never have "new wave" and cinema at all, but still, they took just a surfice of Bergman and stayed on it till today.Shallow as ever in every story that they made.

The same goes for this one, with obvious fake blood and everything else, and bordom.Needless to say about the acting.I am not going into torture thing of todays teenage lust (but it will pass in 2-3 years).

So, this is also my no.2 worst movie that I have ever seen (finally "The Shinning" goes to no.3).

And hello to you all, I am new here

Hi Oly, welcome to the forum. Its good to have your insightful comments added to the mix. I also enjoyed your deconstruction of Drag me to Helljavascript:emoticon(':shock:'). Keep up the good work! Though I would have to ask if you are sure that you are in the right place

mark wrote:Hi Oly, welcome to the forum. Its good to have your insightful comments added to the mix. I also enjoyed your deconstruction of Drag me to Helljavascript:emoticon(':shock:'). Keep up the good work! Though I would have to ask if you are sure that you are in the right place

Are you saying the rest of our comments aren't insightful? hock: Well I NEVER!!!!

Oh and welcome to the forum Oly!!!!

Oly wrote:
So, this is also my no.2 worst movie that I have ever seen (finally "The Shinning" goes to no.3).

And hello to you all, I am new here

If The Video Dead, Martyrs and The Shining are the 3 worst films you've ever seen, you really need to check out some of the made for sci-fi (sorry 'Sy-Fy') channel movies. You're in for a whole new world of terrible

xLeft For Deadx wrote:

Oly wrote:
So, this is also my no.2 worst movie that I have ever seen (finally "The Shinning" goes to no.3).

And hello to you all, I am new here

If The Video Dead, Martyrs and The Shining are the 3 worst films you've ever seen, you really need to check out some of the made for sci-fi (sorry 'Sy-Fy') channel movies. You're in for a whole new world of terrible

Are you saying Anaconda 3 & 4 are BAD films?!?! One of them had the HOFF... Screw you dude!!! :P

Guys, thank you for your worm welcome, and yes, I am at the right place (Eddi reader would say that in on of her efforts) as many of you will see.

As for the movies for SF TV... this is a news flash for me that someone is calling them "movies"? They alwas looked like to me like they were made for televison for young people where they have an oportunity to learn where to put camera and how to make a handsome and young actors to talk to eachother and not to be aware of tehnicians around them. Of corse, they would never get another chance, none of them, that is, and nothing will come out of it, except waste of little money that someone would gave for that "director", instead of some other good cause, like feeding the poor, but you just gave them a compliment telling me that those are the "movies" also.

Anyway, once again thank you guys and girls, and I already saw that I can get along with some.

The thing with forums is that I just need to find someone with the similar or some other strong opinion differentor not than mine, but without insolting and being vulgar and stick to him/her. After that I can promise a good ride for us and a lots of fun. Until that moment I will have to read a lot here, pay atention more than usual to detals and be aware that many would not like my comments. But the thing is that I liked them.

Now, I have "Evgenie Onjegin" waiting for me in teather. Read and write to you soon.

Oh you will definitly find differences of opinions here

Kirspy!! You make my heart go Boomdy Boom!!!

Gonna have a french weekend on Blu me thinks, I bought THEM, got martyres and D13 + D13U to watch!!

Although I hated Martyrs after the first act but that's because at FF we had 'big 'ead' in the way of the subtitles

Good to see the effect I have on people.

For what it's worth, I liked Martyrs, it is nasty and it's very uncomforable viewing but the story carries it, even though I don't quite get it.

I don't find it as intense as Inside, one of the only few films that nearly had me reaching for the off button.