20 Most Controversial Movies Since 2000

4. Martyrs

Another film often mentioned in the same breath as Inside, Martyrs falls into the category of New French Extremity but bears a closer resemblance to Hostel - at least, on the surface. Years after being tortured as a child in a strange abandoned abattoir, Anna Assaoui (Morjana Alaoui) believes she's finally tracked down the perpetrators and calls on the assistance of a friend Lucie to help her clean up the mess.

Martyrs swiftly moves beyond this revenge thriller conceit upon the discovery of a concealed entrance leading down into a subterranean torture chamber where Anna discovers a half dead woman. When she is accosted by a group of strangers it isn't long before she finds herself being tortured. What sets Martyrs apart from other similar movies is the lofty aspirations which motivate the strange cult performing the torture - rather than getting off on it for their own sadistic gratification, they see themselves as part of a secret society seeking enlightenment regarding the true nature of death, and Anna's role, as the title implies, is not that of a victim but of a trailblazer into new insights into the human condition. Its downbeat ending is one of the most memorable of recent horror movies - needless to say, expect the nihilism to be stripped from the upcoming US remake, given that the first director on board said of the project, "The American approach would go through all that darkness but then give a glimmer of hope."