Movies
[Review] ‘Martyrs’ is an Impassioned But Watered-Down Remake
It is difficult to review Martyrs without comparing it to Pascal Laugier’s phenomenal 2008 film of the same name. So let’s just get this out of the way: Kevin and Michael Goetz’s (Scenic Route) remake is a watered-down version of the original that is nowhere near as visceral, affecting or memorable. Martyrs 2016 is 10-15 minutes shorter than Martyrs 2008. At a mere 86 minutes, the film feels rushed in many places and doesn’t take some of the necessary beats that the original did in order to deliver a real sucker punch.
Where Laugier’s film was bleak and open-ended, The Goetz Brothers’ remake is more hopeful and features a less ambiguous conclusion. Martyrs 2008 was poignant. Martyrs 2016 is cathartic. The original was less a film and more an experience. The remake is “just” a film. With that out of the way, let’s focus on what the remake gets right. Taken on it’s own (or if you have never seen the original film), Martyrs 2016 is a passable thriller with an emotional core at its center that will still satisfy some viewers.
When Lucy (Ever Prishkulnik) escapes from a group of people who have been torturing her, she is sent to a Catholic orphanage where she befriends Anna (Elyse Cole). Over the years, the two girls become best friends as Lucy deals with the psychological ramifications resulting from her time spent in captivity. 10 years later, a now grown Lucy (Troian Bellisario, a far cry from her role on Pretty Little Liars) believes she has found the people responsible for her torture and she means to make them pay, with or without Anna (Bailey Noble, True Blood).
Plot-wise, the first act sticks pretty closely to the original, matching it scene-for-scene. It is at the end of the first act that screenwriter Mark L. Smith (Vacancy, and co-writer of The Revenant) takes the film in a completely new direction. It is this aspect of the film that is admirable. Knowing that he would be unable to replicate the genius of Laugier’s film, Smith has opted to look at the philosophical approach from a different angle, and while it may not be completely successful, you’ve got to give him credit for trying something different.
In the interest of keeping the film fresh for viewers who have never seen the original (are there horror fans out there who haven’t seen the original?), I won’t delve too much more into the plot. Just be aware that the second half of the film is quite different from the second half of the original.
One smart decision was casting TV starlets Bellisario and Noble in the lead roles. These two actresses have proven themselves on the small screen (Bellisario more so than Noble, but I digress) and they each do commendable jobs in Martyrs. Bellisario delves into the mind of an unhinged character with aplomb and Noble plays the skeptical friend to great effect. Kate Burton (playing a somewhat more malicious version of her Scandal counterpart) shows up later in the film and brings the necessary amount of menace to the proceedings.
The film’s limited budget becomes apparent in its numerous attempts at CGI. Those moments are few and far between, but when CGI effects rear their ugly head, they are not good. Since the film is far less violent than the original film, there aren’t many opportunities for practical effects. That being said, the few practical effects in the film are well done (and don’t worry, a certain flaying is still featured, albeit not as extensively).
As mentioned earlier, fans of the original may be put off by the toned-down violence. This is understandable, and it does hurt the film in some ways, since the violence was so iconic in the 2008 version. Though the violence in the original never felt gratuitous. It was always serving the story. That is not always the case with Martyrs 2016.
Martyrs, surprisingly, isn’t a complete misfire. It is bold enough to go in a different direction than the original, though it certainly doesn’t best that film. While it may not completely succeed in everything it attempts to do, it’s still enough of a different beast to merit a rental.
This week’s new releases offer everything from giant monsters to Spielberg aliens to ass-kicking martial artists and even an ash-eating medical student. Do we have your interest?
Here’s all the new genre movies that released on Friday, June 12, 2026!
These aren’t all HORROR movies, but we want you to be aware of them all the same…
Norwegian creature feature Kraken is now available on Digital.
The film was also unleashed in select theaters. Check your local listings.
In the monster movie Kraken, “unnatural behavior in wild salmon, followed by inexplicable deaths in Norway’s deepest fjord, points to the mythical Kraken. The ancient, multi-armed monster has awakened, ready to crush everything that moves or makes a sound.”
Pål Øie (The Tunnel) directs Samuel Goldwyn Films’ Kraken from a script by Vilde Eide, Kjersti Jelen Rasmussen, and Natasha Arthur. Sara Khorami, Mikkel Bratt Silset, Øyvind Brandtzæg, Jenny Evensen, Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes, Jon Erik Myre, Hans Morten Hansen, Steinar Klouman Hallert, and Filip Bargee Ramberg star.
An all girls trip into the desert for escapism fun instead implodes in violence in the revenge thriller Find Your Friends, now streaming only on Shudder.
In the film, “Amber and her four best friends flee Los Angeles for a girls’ trip in Joshua Tree, only to find themselves unwelcome in a desert town simmering with quiet hostility. As isolation sets in and encounters with aggressive locals grow more threatening, festering resentments within the group begin to surface.
“What begins as fun and reckless escape spirals into a violent struggle for control and survival, as past wounds and present dangers collide in a night that turns their trip into a nightmare.”
Bella Thorne (The Babysitter), Chloe Cherry (“Euphoria”), Helena Howard (I Saw the TV Glow), Sophia Ali (Uncharted), Zion Moreno (“Gossip Girl”), and Chris Bauer (“True Blood”) star in the feature debut by writer/director Izabel Pakzad.
Steven Spielberg is more sure today than he was when he made Close Encounters and ET that aliens are very real, and with Disclosure Day, he aims to make you a believer too.
Okay so it’s not a horror movie, but the sci-fi blockbuster is now playing in theaters.
The vague synopsis for Disclosure Day reads: “If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people. We are coming close to Disclosure Day.”
The film stars SAG winner and Oscar® nominee Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer, A Quiet Place), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown), Oscar® winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Kingsman franchise), Eve Hewson (Bad Sisters, The Perfect Couple) and two-time Oscar® nominee Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin).
Based on a story by Spielberg, the screenplay is by David Koepp, whose previous work with Spielberg includes the scripts for Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Combined, those films earned more than $3 billion worldwide. Koepp also wrote the script for Jurassic World Rebirth.
Steven Spielberg is of course no stranger to extraterrestrial encounters, directing two of the greatest alien movies of all time: Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977 and E.T. in 1982. It’s an arena he returned to in 2005, directing an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds.
Here in 2026, Steven Spielberg sees hope in the existence of aliens. He notes in the final trailer for Disclosure Day, “How will disclosure change us? I believe for the better.”
Another movie that’s not a horror movie but worth mentioning here is the violent martial arts revenge thriller The Furious, which is now playing in theaters from Lionsgate.
Xie Miao (The New Legend of Shaolin) and Joe Taslim (Mortal Kombat) star.
After his daughter is kidnapped by a criminal network and he receives no help from the corrupt police, Wang Wei sets out on a rampage to find her himself.
His only ally is Navin, a relentless journalist whose wife has mysteriously disappeared. Fueled by a furious vengeance, the unlikely duo ruthlessly fights against the kidnappers.
Kenji Tanigaki (Enter the Fat Dragon) directs from a script by Mak Tin Shu (Kung Fu Jungle), Lei Zhilong, Shum Kwan Sin (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In), and Frank Hui.
A disturbing weight loss craze involving human ashes opens up a haunting world of hurt for a young woman in Saccharine, which is now available on Digital outlets at home.
From writer/director Natalie Erika James (Relic, Apartment 7A), the Australian supernatural body horror film follows lovelorn medical student Hana, who becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.
Midori Francis (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$), and Madeleine Madden (“The Wheel of Time”) star in Natalie Erika James’ latest nightmare.
From directors Arturo Ambriz and Roy Ambriz, I Am Frankelda is billed as the first ever full length stop motion movie from Mexico, and it’s now streaming on Netflix.
The history-making stop-motion film is a dark fantasy set in a world of monsters.
Here’s the synopsis: “In 19th-century Mexico, Frankelda is a gifted writer whose dark tales are ignored and dismissed. Forced to suppress her voice, she refuses to give up, even as many try to silence her. But when she is thrust into her subconscious, the very monsters she created come to life.
“Guided by Herneval, a tormented prince trapped between dreams and nightmares, she must restore balance between fiction and reality before both realms collapse. Meanwhile, the sinister writer Procustes and his conspirators plot to seize control. As Frankelda and Herneval grow closer, their bond becomes both a strength and a curse.
“To rewrite their fate, she must confront a love that defies existence and reclaim her power as a storyteller—before dark forces consume her imagination and reveal horrors beyond her creation.”
The directors said in a joint statement, “As brothers, we grew up inventing worlds together, drawing, playing, imagining. Over time we understood that fictional characters were not only companions but guides. Sometimes they felt closer than the people around us. They provided us courage, wisdom, and solace. We believe fiction is not an escape from reality but a way of understanding it. A way of converting truth into palatable chunks. I Am Frankelda comes from a lifelong love of storytelling.”
Mireya Mendoza, Arturo Mercado Jr., and Luis Leonardo Suarez lead the voice cast.
Meagan Navarro writes in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “Mexico’s first stop-motion animated feature is a macabre beauty.” Meagan also notes in her review, “I Am Frankelda is a gothic fantasy feature whose boundless creativity is matched by its ambition.”
The lines of reality and delusion blur in Time of Death, now available on Digital.
Michael Kelly (“The Penguin,” Dawn of the Dead 2004) stars with Kevin Pollak (End of Days), Mena Suvari (Vampires of the Velvet Lounge), and Dennis Haysbert (Send Help).
In the horror-thriller, “When a prisoner vanishes without a trace, Detective Frank Morley (Michael Kelly) is sent to a decaying prison on the verge of shutdown. What begins as a routine investigation quickly spirals into a dangerous search for answers.”
Will Wernick (Escape Room 2017, Follow Me) directs from a script by Jason Rosen. They also produce alongside Kelly Delson, Jeff Delson, and Kyle David Crosby.
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