10 Terrible Horror Movies That Tricked You Into Thinking They’re Good
9. Martyrs
In 2008, French director Pascal Laugier helmed a co-production between his home nation and Canada.
In Martyrs, two women who were abused in their childhood seek revenge again a secret society hellbent on accessing the afterlife through the systematic torture of young women.
So far, so pleasant.
It's hard-hitting subject matter and strong religious themes landed it plenty of praise, with IGN naming it among the 100 Best Horror Films of All Time. It wasn't to everyone's taste though, as you might imagine a film that involved a woman being flayed alive might be.
And then there's the 2015 remake.
In this Americanised version of the story, several key beats were changed and a lot of the ambiguous elements that made the original film so gripping have been tidied up. It's also a lot less gruesome, which is good if you want to keep your lunch down but not if you want to view some challenging cinema.
The number of people who must have been fooled into thinking they were watching the original Martyrs is quite upsetting. Laugier himself even passed comment on the film, calling it "junk."
Ouch.