5. Mademoiselle - Martyrs
This is tricky. I want to discuss the film but I don't want to give anything away here. So I'm going to hit this with a
SPOILERS note so you're aware. If you haven't seen the film I suggest doing so immediately. Much like The Woman from Inside, Mademoiselle hasn't a name outside of...Mademoiselle. And that's all I need. Martyrs is a great, great film and what really excited me about it is that it was about something greater than just bloodshed. I don't think it's quite the earth shattering, moving piece some consider it, but regardless of that it's rare when a horror film strives to be anything more than scares and screams. For those of you uninitiated with the film, check it out. It's a must if you're a horror fan and, second to Inside, another solid example that the French have found a new way to reinvigorate the genre by combining it with what they do best...being French. For those who have seen it you know what I'm talking about. Mademoiselle is in search of something far, far greater than just bloodshed and torture that it's insane. Whether or not you believe she's seeking something real, there's no doubt about it: she's bat guano crazy. I'm not sure how open they meant this ending to be since it seems fairly straight forward to me, but there are a lot of elements where Mademoiselle, and her group of hip, high brow crazy friends, could just be straight out of her mind. Anyone who's willing to put dozens of young girls through seemingly endless torture to try and understand what the afterlife is like, or what God is like, or try to ascertain anything about what lies beyond the grave is as nutty as a Baby Ruth in my book. What makes her one of the most frightening is that she doesn't actually perform any of this torture, she employs people to do it for her. Who would say yes to that? Granted there are some sick folks out there but it's not exactly as easy as throwing an ad up on craiglist looking for dudes proficient in skinning girls alive. You usually find out who those are by accident because they swear they're charming, handsome men and are soon skinning you. This is a lady hell bent on learning the unlearnable and decided the best way to do it wasn't to read the Bible or go to temple or meditate under a tree, no, she felt the greatest way to find God was to torture young girls. She's like an even more psychotic
Cruella DeVil who wants a lot more than the skin of puppies.