Martyrs

A surprisingly decent horror remake, Martyrs details the carnage that ensues after a young woman (Troian Bellisario’s Lucie) tracks down the people responsible for her abduction years earlier – with the narrative primarily detailing the impact Lucie’s assault inevitably has on both herself and her best friend (Bailey Noble’s Sam). Directors Kevin and Michael Goetz, working from Mark L. Smith’s screenplay, offer up a first half that hews closely to the structure of Pascal Laugier’s 2008 film, with the added emphasis on the two girls’ relationship as children ensuring that their bond, which is seriously tested later on, is developed more thoroughly than it was in the original movie. And although the pervasively familiar atmosphere results in an opening half hour that isn’t exactly enthralling, Martyrs pushes into a midsection that captures the spirit of its predecessor while also boasting a number of unexpected twists and turns – with the Goetz siblings punctuating the narrative with several impressively tense sequences. It’s worth noting, too, that the movie’s comparatively conventional approach isn’t as disastrous or troublesome as one might’ve anticipated, with the decision to eschew the original’s extreme torture paving the way for a far more palatable second half – which ultimately does compensate for the absence of shock value concerning the premise. The end result is a better-than-expected remake of an almost iconic horror effort, with the movie, in the end, more than justifying its existence and almost standing as a template for what to do (and what not to do) when adapting a foreign chiller for the English-language market.

*** out of ****