DVD OF THE WEEK

MARTYRS *****
Dir: Pascal Laugier
Starring: Morjana Alaoui, Mylene Jampanoi

I thought long and hard before making this my 'Pick of the Week”. Because Martyrs is an R18 (and I agree with the rating) which will probably be regarded as disgusting and horrible by the majority of you reading this.
And it is. This is a film of unmitigated cruelty and violence, brutal, unpleasant and containing scenes of graphic torture. It is also the most original, most unusual and most striking horror film of the decade, and far and away the best thing I saw this week.
Martyrs is a French film which, if you try and classify it, falls into the repetitive genre that has become known as 'torture porn” or 'gorno”, exemplified by the Hostel films and so many other recent outing where the only attraction is the realistic nature of extreme gore. Like slasher pics of the seventies and eighties these films only exist to turn a quick buck.
But a film like Martyrs reminds horror fans of why they are attracted to the medium. The film is a veritable kick in the guts and the surprising story twists keep kicking you at regular intervals. Martyrs opens with young Lucie, wandering lost on a deserted lane, who has escaped from unknown kidnappers after suffering God-knows-what. Taken into care she is befriended by Anna, another damaged girl. Flash to fifteen years later and Lucie takes horrible revenge on the people who abducted her.
That doesn't sound unusual. But that's only the first fifteen minutes - the less you know about what follows the better. Horror films at their best can explore transgressive extremes of society in a way no other genre can. Martyrs does that. You could even make a case that the violence on display is not gratuitous but essential to the story's greater themes. Watch it – if you dare – and be astounded.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (****) is the film in the where nothing much happens. Well, lots of little things happen, but not with the sort of stand-alone story that powered the first few Potter films. Here everyone is simply waiting for the dark wizard whose name cannot be mentioned to do something. But, in its own way, this is the strongest film so far in the series. Tension and suspicion are rife at Hogwarts, teenage hormones are enraged, and the slow burn – even at two and a half hours – is rather enthralling. And, yes, it's even darker than previous outings and the new seriousness suits it well.

If ever there was a film that seemed made by committee it was Night at the Museum. The same feeling permeates Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (***) - people just love titles with colons these days don't they? - which again assembles a staggering cast of great comedians and gives them little funny to do, because the marketing people know that what kids like best are lashings of special effects. And Ben Stiller getting hit by a monkey. It will, no doubt, make everyone involved a fortune.

Look (**) uses the exponential growth of surveillance cameras as its hook and follows several stories using only such footage. But is there really any point to it? You get vignettes about a paedophile stalker, illicit sex, corrupt cops and many others but, intriguing though the premise initially seems, there emerges no bigger agenda and the build-up of exploitative sleaze ultimately leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

At the opposite end of the horror spectrum from Martyrs is Friday 13th (*). The original was a cash-in cheapy - modelled after Halloween - whose massive box-office helped launch a thousand even less worthwhile imitators. This remake is devoid of all merit, a cynical cash-in and not even an interesting one. And those espousing the cult of horror 'icon” Jason should remember that he didn't even appear in the original film until a dream sequence in the final minute (itself ripped off from the infinitely better Carrie).