Martyrs Watch -- Like, Seriously Man?!

Another day, another surge of Martyrs anticipation. It's almost becoming a parody of itself at this point, my longing to see a film that I won't see until at least early 2009, yet drooling over new bit of press and info that emerges.

First, a fresh take from some other lucky summa-da-bitch who has seen it, taken from Ain't It Cool News:

"The recent French horror resurgence is already mutating beyond anyone's wildest imaginations. Haute Tension [High Tension] may have gotten most of the attention from folks in the genre ghetto (and, in my opinion, undeservedly so) but more recent works like A l'interieur [Inside] have really started to push the envelope, taking the horror film in directions it's rarely gone before.

And then there's Martyrs. Good God. Fuck pushing the envelope, Martyrs tears up the envelope, burns it, mixes the ashes with blood and hands it back to you as a cocktail.
.....
One person puked at the midnight screening of this, and quite frankly I was shocked there weren't more such reactions, or more walkouts. Another person during the Q & A tried to unfavorably compare it to Haneke's Funny Games, but to me it's Funny Games that pales in comparison. Haneke showers his audience and characters with contempt, while Laugier has nothing but respect and empathy for his creations, even the monsters, and for anyone who watches them. This is a beautiful, horrible, tragic, ghastly, shocking, heartbreaking work of genius that lovingly scars you for life.

Martyrs is one of those films you can't unsee, and wouldn't want to."

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Next up, a brief news item that discusses how the film is practically banned in its own home country, thus proving that I'll have to settle with watching it on DVD eventually, not in a dark, comfortable cinema....beggars can't be choosers, they say....this taken from Bloody Disgusting:

"After the premiere of his French horror film, Martyrs, director Pascal Laugier took the stage in front of nearly 1,400 screaming fans, who gave the film a standing ovation. During the Q+A session, which took a very interesting turn (more on that soon), Laugier told the audience that the film received an "18A" rating in France - the equivalent to an X-rating here in the States. What's even more shocking is that Martyrs is the first film to receive the rating without containing a single scene of sex. From what we're told, this is as close to being banned as you can get. Thank God the film has been sold in nearly 40 countries, including here in the States, where Dimension Films will release it on DVD next year."