With this his second film, it appears that French director Pascal Laugier has decided that horror is his bag. Hollywood looks like agreeing with him too, as he’s already been snapped up to re-make Hellraiser. Yes, another re-make of a horror film that doesn’t need remaking. However, on this evidence, Laugier’s involvement might mean it will be worth a look.

However, Martyrs is more horrific than an out and out horror. Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï) was abducted as a child, and was forced against her will, to stay in a facility where unimaginable terror reigned. Although she managed to escape, the traumatic experience never left her.

Well, shaving that fluff off my chin was a big mistake.

Fifteen years later, she breaks into a home, unleashing her rage and revenge upon the well-to-do family living there. Her friend Anna (Morjana Alaoui), whom she met in hospital when they were both young, is on hand to help her out. However, the pair soon find themselves surrounded by armed troops who are all too aware of the secret the house holds. Beneath it exist rooms of torture, and it’s only now that Anna comes face to face with the pure evil Lucie faced as a child.

Laugier’s style is reminiscent of Michael Haneke, specifically his Funny Games (either version). As with that film, Laugier builds a tension from the confines of a house. It’s claustrophobic for both characters and viewer, especially when the action takes place and there’s no place to run to for them or us.

Another motif he seems to have borrowed from Haneke is in the use of violence. It’s brutal without ever being glamorous. However, in places, he lets the physical abuse of one of his female leads go on for far longer than necessary. Okay, okay, we get the idea, you can stop that now.

Unfortunately, the pseudo-religious implications at the end of the film feel a little tagged on. Understandably, the film at this point needed an exit strategy, but the one chosen, doesn’t sit well with the rest of the film.

That said, Laugier shows flair and skill with both story (which he also wrote) and camera. If he can hold onto his vision, and not have it watered down to a tepid puddle by Hollywood, his best work maybe yet to come.