Pascal Laugier’s ‘Martyrs’ to Get Unnecessary US Remake
by Britt Hayes
Initially, I wasn’t going to do a write up on this. Several writer friends of mine have already tackled the topic, including John Gholson over at HorrorSquad and Scott Weinberg at Cinematical, and it seems redundant to echo the sentiment here. That said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t attempt to valiantly defend one of my favorite horror films, and one of the best horror films of the last several years.
Is the news of a potential remake of a film (especially a horror film) shocking to anyone anymore? Not really. It seems like at least once a week we’re talking about yet another proposed remake. The difference between most remakes and the planned remake of Martyrs boils down to a few things. With something like Dawn of the Dead, it’s a film that had been on the shelf for a while, and the idea of a virtually unknown director tackling the project with new ideas was a bit alluring. For Texas Chainsaw Massacre, there was already some trepidation (which has grown into a mixture of resentment and curiosity as Platinum Dunes and Michael Bay continue to stock up on 80′s horror franchises), but people were open to the idea because the films were older. When it comes to newer properties, especially foreign ones, there’s a bevy of reasons to be enraged at the prospect of a remake. Let Me In was a remake we were all pissed off about, but once Matt Reeves had a chance to open up about it and once Chloe Moretz was added to the cast, fears were generally quelled. (Also, I’ve taken a firm stance in making it clear that Reeves’ Let Me In is not a remake. It’s just another adaptation of the same book that the Swedish film was based on.)
Martyrs is something entirely different. The French horror film written and directed by Pascal Laugier tells the story of Anna and Lucie. Lucie escaped from a warehouse where she had been tortured for a long period of time before meeting and becoming fast friends with Anna in an orphanage. Fast forward 20 years and Lucie has tracked down the man and woman who drove her to the edge of madness and broke her spirit. The film begins as a loud and blunt thriller with a bit of the psychological thrown in, but quickly the story comes to rest on Anna as she unfortunately uncovers just how far the torturous ways of the man and woman who hurt Lucie travel. What starts with a bang ends in a cruel, unrelenting, and very emotional ride through the most depraved and deplorable abusive acts ever shown on camera (this is pre-Serbian Film, but there’s really no room to compare the two).
Pascal Laugier has said that he was in a state of extreme depression and misery while he created Martyrs, and it shows. This is not a light film you toss on and enjoy a snack with. Martyrs is a deeply affecting, beautiful, and absolutely horrifying film. It’s not a film that relies on jump scares or boogeymen, and not one that plays on traditional fears. It’s a film that reaches into your soul and beats you, mercilessly, for most of its runtime. Martyrs leaves you feeling hollow, beaten, and sad. In this way, it may be one of the most effective films in how brilliantly it elicits empathy for a protagonist.
And now, this film that is almost too perfect for words, is being remade. After jumping the gun on my initial Reeves/Let Me In reaction, I thought – for a second – that I may need to calm down and evaluate the potential of a Martyrs remake. But I can’t. Not when Bloody-Disgusting reports that Mark L. Smith has handed in the latest draft of the script. Smith wrote Vacancy (a fun horror flick) and its lesser sequel, as well as the upcoming Joe Dante film, The Hole (3-D). Also in the works for Smith is the script for the John Hillcoat-directed The Revenant, starring Christian Bale (a project that has plenty of my friends excited). I’m not saying Smith couldn’t possibly handle the enormity of something like Martyrs, but without a clear personal attachment to the film, it’s hard to believe he could translate the essence of Laugier’s film to a remake.
More troubling, though, is the producer of the project: Wyck Godfrey. Godfrey is currently producing the Twilight films, and his other credits include Daddy Day Care, Dear John, The Nativity Story, When a Stranger Calls, Eragon, Aliens vs. Predator, and First Daughter (seriously, I can’t make this shit up). His upcoming credits include the video game-to-film adaptations of Dead Space and Gears of War. Maybe he’s a guy who has found himself in a position to throw money behind profitable movies, good or bad, and maybe he has had and continues to have (as Scott Weinberg points out) every intention of producing quality films that just happen to miss the mark (frequently). Perhaps this is a film he’s passionate about financing. Who can say.
My guess? Godfrey is an opportunist. Martyrs is a popular genre film among serious horror fans. And it’s a film I mentioned in a recent article that exists infamously as one of those scary movies your friends dare you to watch as some sort of immature, outdated, horror fan litmus test. Regardless, it’s a film that has a following, and an American version would cash in on name recognition.
The biggest issue with this remake: The inevitable Americanization in which the film gets watered down to be more palatable for the masses. One of the greatest elements of Martyrs is its veracity and its visual extremity. Laugier is unflinching in his betrayal of torture, but unlike torture for the sake of torture (a la “torture porn”), his torture is deeply affecting, spiritual, and in some odd sense – beautiful. There is no way in hell that an American remake will go that far. American pop cinema rarely dares to push boundaries. Take the tepid Last House on the Left remake: where was the gut-wrenching brutality? The villains were completely stripped of their horrifying quirks and odd behaviors, and more importantly, gone was the humiliation and extended degradation and brutalization of the victims. It was a remake that focused too heavily on the revenge, and didn’t take it far enough.
When it comes to American remakes, the brand recognition, stylized camerawork, and pretty faces are all that matters. There is no soul, no new ideas, and there’s definitely no boundary to cross because these filmmakers aren’t interested in ever leaving the kiddie pool. I shudder to envision a Martyrs remake starring Kristen Stewart and Jessica Biel, a remake that glosses over the spiritual and emotional elements, and trades them in for cheap jump scares and ineffective CGI blood goo. No director has been chosen yet, and I hope it stays that way.
