Frequently in the genre of horror cinema, a new film will become the rave of the moment and be praised to such an extent that viewer expectation inevitably leads to disappointment when the film is finally seen. Now that I’ve been privileged to see Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs, I’m pleased to report that on this occasion my expectations were not just exceeded, they were completely blown away.

Introduced at Frightfest as “the most extreme thing we’ve ever shown”, Martyrs is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Impossible to compare to anything else, the film’s description of “multiply Inside by Frontier(s) and Switchblade Romance” simply doesn’t do justice to Laugier’s masterpiece. Closer in tone to Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible and Eric Stanze’s Scrapbook, Martyrs surpasses them all. Constantly unsettling, frequently unflinchingly, gut-wrenchingly violent, this is horror cinema at it’s most challenging.

What at first seems to be a fairly standard revenge thriller very quickly becomes something altogether different. I don’t want to reveal any more of the plot than is absolutely necessary because the less said the more of an impact the film will have. It begins with the escape of Lucie, a young girl who has been subjected to horrific physical and mental (but not sexual) abuse. We are shown her relationship with Anna, another patient at the institution the severely traumatised Lucie is sent to, who becomes her only friend. The film then flashes forward 15 years and depicts the terrible revenge Lucie takes on the family she believes to have been responsible for her ordeal.

I was reasonably sure I knew where Laugier’s story was going but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Perfectly paced, totally gripping, with a pair of magnificent gutsy performances from the two lead actresses, this is a film I would recommend to everyone with a strong stomach and a love of ground-breaking extreme horror cinema. In the Q & A session following the showing we were told that apparently a couple of people had gone outside to throw up. And this was a crowd of hardened horror fans who did not attend Frightfest expecting Snow White. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Inevitably Martyrs is going to be lumped into the torture-porn sub-genre with the likes of Hostel and Captivity. Don’t be fooled. Martyrs is so much more. Despite the violence, the film seems to ooze sadness and melancholy, and I found it incredibly moving. It also has one of the most thought-provoking conclusions the genre has ever produced. In short, this is one of the most important horror movies in decades.