Martyrs 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Martyrs 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 4, 2025

Pascal Laugier's "Martyrs" (2008) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with Pascal Laugier; new program with critic Alice Haylett Bryan; new program with critic Xavier Aldana Reyes; archival documentary; promotional materials; and more. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Note: The text below was first used for our review of Optimum Home Entertainment's Region-B release of Martyrs in 2009.

A severely traumatized girl, Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï), who has been missing for well over a year, is discovered by the French police. She is in stable condition, but unwilling to talk about her captors. The few bits of information the police are able to extract from her reveal that she has been tortured at an unknown location. A lucky break then helps the police identify the location where Lucie was held captive -- in an abandoned industrial building with a sophisticated torture chamber -- but, for some unspecified reason, the case is dropped.

Fifteen years later. Lucie rings the doorbell of a lavish suburban house. A man appears, and Lucie immediately blows him apart with her rifle. Then, she proceeds to kill the man’s wife, teenage daughter, and teenage son. Not too long after that, Lucie’s best friend, Anna (Morjana Alaoui), appears, too. She attempts to clean up the mess, but something very unusual happens.

Pascal Laugier gathered plenty of attention with Martyrs. Because Martyrs was initially scarred with the French equivalent of our NC-17, and then, after much publicized support from several top French critics and film directors, promptly rerated, it earned significantly more publicity than its creators had hoped for. The controversy also helped Martyrs in foreign markets, where many people went to see it precisely because of it.

But this controversy was not unjustified. (For what it's worth, it was also not part of a smart publicity campaign). Martyrs is, as some of the people who defended its initial rating have claimed, a genuinely disturbing genre film. It is an intelligent genre film, too, which is a quality that makes it even more disturbing. So, if the original rating was an honest attempt to make this clear to potential viewers, and it appears to have been, then it is very easy to argue that it was entirely justified.

Three key shifts reset the narrative and transform Martyrs into a unique genre film. The first shift occurs early, after Lucie kills each member of the suburban family, and crucial clues about what is to come next begin emerging. If these clues are correctly identified, predicting where Martyrs would go is not all that difficult.

The second shift occurs after the torture chamber is revealed. This is where Martyrs abruptly evolves into a skin-crawling endurance test that justifies its initial harsh rating. The material from the endurance test is carefully conceived and very effectively shot to leave deep mental scars.

The third and final shift occurs approximately twenty minutes before the finale. Here, Martyrs engages the mind in a way a 'serious' film would, and, after a few more curveballs, moves into a territory that conventional genre films, and especially horror films, avoid. It is what makes it a borderline controversial film.

Many years ago, I attended a theatrical screening of Peter Hyams’ Outland, a futuristic action thriller about an ambitious police marshal who confronts a group of drug smugglers on Io, Jupiter’s innermost moon. Halfway through Outland, one of the drug smugglers is detained. He is given a special suit with a hose attached to an oxygen tank and thrown into a vacuum chamber that functions as a prison cell. Later, someone unplugs the hose, and the man in the suit explodes. Hayms’ camera gets close enough to show what is left of him, a mish-mash of scattered soft pieces of human flesh, and then zooms away. This sequence caught me off guard and, without my approval, my mind instantly stored it somewhere. Then, for years, my mind refused to discard it.

Martyrs, in its entirety, is now stored somewhere in my mind, too. It caught me unprepared, just as that graphic sequence from Outland did a long time ago, and it genuinely terrified me. It really did. However, while viewing Martyrs is a very intense experience, it did not terrify me because of what Laugier's camera shows. It is how it justifies it that did the trick. It makes the disturbing look utterly real.

Martyrs 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Eureka Entertainment's release of Martyrs is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. At the moment, I do not have a Blu-ray copy to confirm its region status.

Please note that all screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Martyrs made its high-definition debut with this Region-B Blu-ray release, produced by Optimum Home Entertainment in 2009, which is the only release of the film I have in my library. I used it to perform several quick comparisons.

The combo pack introduces an exclusive new 4K makeover of Martyrs, prepared on behalf of Eureka Entertainment and French label Wild Bunch by TransPerfect Media. In native 4K, the 4K makeover can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view with HDR.

The overall quality of the visuals is easy to describe as very good. In well-lit footage, delineation, sharpness, and clarity are outstanding. However, Martyrs has a lot of nuanced darker footage, some of which is carefully stylized, and here there are various fluctuations. Close-ups tend to look most impressive, I think most also boast a better appearance than the one they have in 1080p on the previous presentation, but the HDR grade darkens the remaining material a bit too much for my taste. With HDR turned off, these areas looked better on my system. Color reproduction is very convincing. I did not encounter any anomalies to report in our review. Some highlights are reproduced marginally better, but these improvements will be difficult to pinpoint without direct comparisons with the previous 1080p presentation. The density levels of the visuals are excellent. For this reason, I feel that the native 4K presentation looks a bit better on a larger screen, though I would have loved to test a 1080p presentation of the new 4K makeover and see if there are any meaningful discrepancies. The entire film looks very healthy. So, should you consider an upgrade if you already have the previous Blu-ray release? If you have a very large screen, I think that an upgrade would be justified because in different areas, there is an obvious, undeniable increase in detail. In some areas, the same can be said about the dynamic range of the visuals. However, on my system, viewing the native 4K presentation without HDR was the most satisfying option.

Martyrs 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I revisited the film with the 5.1 track. It is a solid track without any flaws. However, even when I initially viewed Martyrs on Blu-ray, I repeatedly felt like the 5.1 track could have been more aggressive. Various parts of it offer suitable material for such an improvement. However, there is a greater emphasis on nuanced dynamics that create a specific type of atmosphere, which is perfectly fine. The English translation is very good, and I like the size of the subtitles a lot.

Martyrs 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Revisiting the Belfond House - in this program, actress Mylene Jampanoi recalls how she was cast to play her character in Martyrs, her preparation work and interactions with Pascal Laugier, and some unique challenges she faced during the production process. Jampanoi also comments on the reputation Martyrs has earned since its premiere in 2008. In French, with English subtitles. (18 min).

• Beauty and Brutality - in this program, critic Alice Haylett Bryan discusses Martyrs and its placement between French extreme cinema and French horror cinema. In English, not subtitled. (25 min).

• Over Her Flayed Body - in this program, critic Xavier Aldana Reyes discusses visceral horror cinema and Martyrs. In English, not subtitled. (20 min).

• Organic Chronicles - this archival documentary offers an in-depth look at the conception and production of Martyrs. Included in it are clips from interviews with Pascal Laugier and cast members, as well as raw footage from the production process. In French, with English subtitles. (86 min).

• Pascal Laugier - in this archival program, Pascal Laugier reveals what inspired him to shoot Martyrs and comements on its development. In French, with English subtitles. (20 min).

• Benoit Lestang - in this archival program, special effects and make-up artist Benoit Lestang discusses his contribution to Martyrs and interactions with Pascal Laugier. In French, with English subtitles. (15 min).

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by critic Nia Edwards-Behl.

• Promotional Materials -
  
  1. Teaser Trailer - original French teaser trailer. (1 min).
  2. Theatrical Trailer - original French theatrical trailer. In French, with English subtitles. (2 min).
  3. Masters of Cinema Trailer - new trailer for the 4K restoration of Martyrs. In French, with English subtitles. (2 min).
  4. Stills Gallery - a collection of promotional stills. Presented with music. (8 min).

• Book - a 100-page book featuring new cover artwork by Nick Charge and writing on Martyrs by film critic Anton Bitel and horror scholars Reece Goodall, Steve Jones, Mary Going and Laura Mee, as well as technical credits.

• Poster - a limited edition fold-out poster featuring new artwork and original poster art.

Martyrs 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pascal Laugier argues that his film does not bear any similarities to Saw and Hostel, which is true because, at a crucial point, it moves into a territory that conventional genre films, and especially horror films, avoid. Why? Because this is a territory where the rational mind easily shoots down their tricks, and without them, they instantly begin to look very, very amateurish. Martyrs goes there and becomes a legitimately scary film, much like The Entity did back in the early '80s. I cannot say that I am a fan of Martyrs because it is too extreme for me to enjoy, but if you are one, this upcoming combo pack release should be on your radar. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.