Nearly fifteen years after its release, Pascal Laugier's 2008 extreme psychological horror film Martyrs is finally getting a brand new and uncut Blu-ray release, thanks to Australian distributor Umbrella Entertainment!
The collector's edition release features the "definitive copy" of the completely uncut film, loaded with extras, an exclusive full image slipcase to hold your o-ring Blu-ray and pure-bound 48-page book that will help peel away what Martyrs really means. Umbrella has also selected key stills from the movie to design unique lobby cards. And finally, a reversible A3 poster featuring the classic Martyrs poster on one side and an international poster on the reverse.
Arriving September 7th, 2022, the Blu-ray is up for pre-order now and is only available from the Umbrella webstore.
Extras Include:
EXCLUSIVE TO THE WEBSTORE (Limited to 250)! Martyrs - A Collection of Interviews, Experiences & Art perfect bound 48-page book with custom artwork Full art slipcase for Blu-ray and book 8 lobby cards A3 reversible poster
NEW! Audio commentary by film historian Dr. Lindsay Hallam
BFI at Home - Horror à la Française online panel with Anna Bogutskaya, Alexandra West and Dr. Lindsay Hallam
Organic Chronicles: The Making of Martyrs
Interview with director Pascal Laugier
Make-up interview with Benoit Lestang
New French Extremity trailer reel
Stills Gallery
International Poster Gallery
Theatrical trailer
Teaser trailer
Easter Egg
Many movies come to mind when you hear the term "torture-porn". Saw, Hostel, The Human Centipede. But, in France, they turned the extreme acts of inhumanity into more than just gore. Martyrs defined the genre known as New French Extremism amongst the likes of Irreversible and Inside.
Director Pascal Laugier (Incident in a Ghostland) has said Martyrs is not about pain but about suffering. The Umbrella release of Martyrs is completely uncut and doesn't shy away from the brutality it confronts you with. Yet it gives dark meaning to the gore, that means what you feel will stick with you just as much as what you see.
In Martyrs, "Lucie, a frail, frightened, adolescent girl flees an abandoned slaughterhouse. Her opaque skin suggests she has been missing for many months. She is found filthy, starved, and unresponsive. Something horrific has happened to her. But what? Flash-forward 15 years later when the quiet tranquillity of a home nestled in a sparsely populated French forest is interrupted by a knock at the door – it’s Lucie, embarking on a gory quest for revenge."
Pascal Laugier’s 2008 sophomore feature garnered a notorious reputation after audience members attending the premiere at the Festival de Cannes were left wide-eyed and mouth agape. Its reception so shocking, it was immediately threatened with censorship in its home country, with calls for the director to be imprisoned. Martyrs is a brutally confronting and provocative example of the French New Extremity a work of dark brilliance and vile beauty. A genre-defining classic so profoundly traumatising, it transcends all constraints of your average horror film and dives into the murky depths of human degradation and suffering.
