Before The Substance, French Cinema Gave Us the Most Extreme Body Horror Ever Made

What immediately comes to mind when you hear the words French сinema? For many, it means heartfelt comedies with Pierre Richard. Others think of Jean-Luc Godard and his colleagues from the New Wave.

And only true cinephiles know that it was the French film industry that gave us the most brutal, bloody and uncompromising horror films in the world.

The Substance made by Coralie Fargeat was impossible to miss – it received five Oscar nominations. The movie criticizes the male gaze and objectification of women, while remaining a bold body horror.

However, all the cruelty shown in Fargeat's film pales in comparison to one of the most important body horror films made in France 17 years ago – Martyrs.

What Is Martyrs About?

Lucie had been missing for almost a year when she was suddenly seen running along a country road. The girl was terrified and brutally mutilated.

The police quickly found where she used to be imprisoned, but they found nothing more than the instruments of torture. After unsuccessful attempts to find the culprits, the case remained unsolved.

Lucie was placed in an orphanage, but she never returned to normal – haunted by horrific images and a constant sense of danger. This continued for fifteen years – until Lucie, now an adult, tracked down the people who had ruined her life.

Pascal Laugier's Martyrs Started a New Horror Subgenre

French horror director Pascal Laugier made a name for himself as a daring auteur with his brutal and provocative Martyrs. Along with Alexandre Aja's High Tension, Xavier Gens' Frontier(s), and Gaspar Noé's Irréversible, Martyrs is considered part of the New French Extremity.

And the level of brutality in Martyrs is truly extreme: it often appears on all sorts of lists of the scariest and bloodiest films of all time.

At first glance, it may seem like a purposeless massacre, but in fact, with each passing minute, the movie transforms into a heavy and gruesome drama, and towards the end, it practically turns into a study of the relationship between divine enlightenment and death agony.

Don't Watch This Movie if You're Not Sure You Can Handle It

Watching the movie requires endurance, patience, and strong nerves – so think before you turn it on. In general, this is why Martyrs has a large number of negative reviews from viewers – apparently, they were not prepared to watch it.

In fact, this is not only a movie with a lot of blood and violence, but also a lesson: when we watch violence, we get involved in it.