Good goddamn, this is a great movie.

The thing is, as you say, in terms of movies about torture, I found this one dramatically more “higher purpose-y” than films like Hostel or any of the Saw films (even though I confess I loved the first Saw and recognized at least an attempt at thoughtyness in the second one).

While I actually sort of bristle at the descriptor “torture porn,” if I had to apply that term to something Hostel would be the movie I applied it too. The torture in that film served no interesting or thoughtful purpose that I could reckon. It made no real statement about humanity that I could do anything productive with. It’s only point seemed to be that humanity can be incredibly fucking sick — a terrifying point, but not a terribly original or thought-provoking one.

Martyrs, though, is a completely different animal to me. I felt like several interesting points were trying to be made, one of which happened to be a point that really resonated with me in large part because of something I’ve been going through personally of late. In Hostel, I think Roth was just trying to shock and alarm me. In Martyrs, though, I think Laugier was actually trying to make me think. To make me this uncomfortable, in fact, because it would make me really THINK.

In that way, it sort of reminded me of Haneke’s Funny Games, except that in that case, Haneke was pretty open about the fact he was actively trying to make his audience feel SHAME for watching his movie (oh, the irony lost on you, Mr. Filmmaker. . .). Here, I think something more . . . I don’t know quite what. . . was going on. I didn’t check the DVD for an interview with the director (couldn’t handle more of that movie at the time), but now I’m sort of interested to go back and look for something like that. I’d like to hear what the makers of the film were thinking while they made it. What their opinion of the film’s purpose is. Did you happen to see or read anything like that?

In any case, I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not sure what my final feelings about this film are. It’s possible I’ll never have any final feelings about it. I’m trying to embrace that fact, I guess, as another intriguing aspect of the film itself. But I’m really glad to hear from someone else who’s seen it and been unsettled enough by it not to be sure exactly what to say. Whew, not alone.

All that said, even if I end up unable to reconcile my feelings on the last half hour or so…the first hour of this movie is undeniably AMAZING horror.

Hubby and I quote “The Rules” all the time when we are watching other things. And I still want a damn twinkie.