1. Martyrs (2008)
Yes, I have reviewed Martyrs before in an article about the New French Extremity but it is such a deeply transgressive film, I am reviewing it from scratch for this list. Young Lucie manages to escape from a disused abattoir where she has been kept captive and tortured by unknown assailants. She is placed in an orphanage and becomes very close to another young girl called Anna. Anna soon realises that her friend is haunted by a Grudge-like ghost who gives Lucie considerable torment. Fifteen years later Lucie bursts into a seemingly normal family's home and blasts them all dead with a shotgun. She calls an appalled Anna to help her clean up but Anna is doubtful as to whether this family have played the part of baddies in Lucie's life. Anna discovers the mother still alive and tries to help her but Lucie nips that plan in the bud by killing the mother. Extremely disconsolate that her demons won't go away no matter what she does, Lucie kills herself. Anna wanders around the house and finds a ladder to to a torture dungeon. It seems our family were not as sainted as they appear. Anna finds a poor woman who has been tortured to pieces. She tries to help her but really the woman is beyond her assistance. Suddenly some heavily armed people burst through the door, shoot the tortured woman and interrogate Anna. They reveal that they are part of a cult who wish to discover what goes on after death. By subjecting women to excruciating pain, they want to reveal a transcendental insight into the world beyond ours but so far, there have been no martyrs - only victims. The group seize Anna and force her into the dungeon, they ruthlessly torture and humiliate her in scenes that are painful to watch. Hallucinating a conversation with Lucie, Anna is told to give into her pain and embrace it. She is considered a perfect test subject and is flayed by a surgeon. Anna is now officially a martyr and the elderly woman who runs the cult is eager to hear what Anna has to say. Anna whispers into her ear and when the lady is asked later on by her followers what life after death is like, she sys "Keep doubting" and shoots herself in the head. An exceptionally nihilistic film, Martyrs plays less like a horror film and is more of a pure trip into hell. There can be few films that are as desperately transgressive and brutal in their execution. The whole thing is uncomfortable to watch from beginning to end. The idea of torturing women so they can reach a nirvana-like awareness of what life after death is like will appeal to few casual cinema goers. It is, however, fascinating for fans of transgressive films. Few go as far as Martyrs and few are as affecting. A horrible spectacle to behold, but utterly engrossing at the same time in a kind of "What the heck is going to happen next?" way.