Quoted from ReaperCreeper That being said, I appreciated it,  mainly because it shows graphic violence the way it should be: ugly and depressing. It was not aiming to excite you (Saw) or make you laugh with intentional camp (Hostel) -- to me, THAT is deplorable -- to make jest of something so serious. Martyrs shows it like it is, and few or no movies these days have the balls to do that.

Dead right, Julio, couldn't agree with you more.

The same arguement can be said for the violence in the recent "The Killer Inside Me"

I thought the first half of Martyrs was much more interesting than the last.  I saw what the filmmaker was trying to say about crossing the point between humanity and the divine, but I don't think he said it as well as he could have.  I thought the first half of the story, the girl's brutal search for vengeance, was far more involving.  Come the second half, when her friend is captured and goes through what she goes through, I checked out.  Such a quick shift in storlyine, logic and plausibility put me right off the movie.

I wasn't offended by the gore at all.  Longtime horror genre fan, here, I've seen it all.  But despite my appreciation for the filmmaker trying to make a movie which extended beyond the genre's inherent trappings -- to whit, his attempt to tell a thoughtful, jarring and profound story and not just hammer us with relentless violence and gore -- I think the story contradicts itself for the sake of effect over logic.  Just my opinion, nothing more.

Director: Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism)

Good news: "And no, Kristen Stewart, contrary to early reports that polluted the web, will not be starring in the redo."

Bad news: "Martyrs 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." - Stamm

Source: http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=17212

Didn't see The Last Exorcism. Heard mixed things. I don't know. Not going to see this anyway.

Quoted from Lon I thought the first half of Martyrs was much more interesting than the last.

I felt the opposite. The first half was just (although brilliantly shot and acted) violence followed by violence while the second half gave (crazy as it was) the motivation behind the events. I know suspension of belief was required to buy into what the secret society were attempting but I was still fascinated nonetheless. It was gonna have to take something that far out to justify the extremities of what we had seen and I thought it succeeded. Sure, I woulda loved to have known what Anna whispered to Mademoiselle about what she had seen but regardless I still found the ending satisfying.

Quoted from James McClung "And no, Kristen Stewart, contrary to early reports that polluted the web, will not be starring in the redo." .

I'm not so bothered about Kristen Stewart as much as this statement:

Quoted from James McClung (quoting Daniel Stamm) "Martyrs 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.".

Fu?k him. First sign of the ever inevitable watering down treatment Hollywood loves to bestow upon any material that carries a bit of bite. This, it looks, will be no exception. Again, it’s the prioritising of commerce over art. Poo.

The nihilism of the film is what makes it so interesting.  "A Glimmer of hope."  That's what's wrong with this country (America), we so often cater to those who need a happy ending.  What makes a horror movie horrific is that it doesn't let the audience off the hook, it can look at the meaninglessness of existence and not make an excuse.  It can hold death up to us and say, "This is what waits for us all."  If that's not your cup of tea, I totally get that, but don;t take what many consider a modern classic in Martyrs and water it down for American consumption.  I think America has consumed enough mediocrity.

Well this blows. I was afraid they were going to hire someone like Rob Zombie to direct; but at least he wouldn't be bothering with some happy ending bullshit. Of course, he would've some how thrown in a couple of redneck rape scenes, but still...

There is a way to transpose this story to make it relevant to an American audience, but watering it down and diluting the existential nihilism is not it. Done right, this could have completely redefined the modern American horror film, but now it's nothing but another nail in Hollywood's coffin.