Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs is my favorite of the ultra-violent French horror resurgence for several reasons. It’s dark, brutal, frightening, and unlike anything I’d seen before. My opinion of the ending changes daily, but my overall impression is one of awe. So I was happy to hear that Laugier had been attached to direct the remake of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser… until that fell through in dramatic fashion.
Now Laugier is attached to another film designed as his English-language debut, and while it’s no Hellraiser, it still seems to have some pretty interesting potential.
Per ScreenDaily, the French director has written and will be directing The Tall Man, and he’s bringing toned and tanned beauty Jessica Biel along for the ride. The plot appears to be about a woman whose child is taken by the mysterious tall man, and I say “appears to be” because this Frenchman is nuts and the other comparisons made in ScreenDaily’s post are odd. They call it a “a suspenseful thriller in the vein of the early films of M. Night Shyamalan,” and they quote Laugier himself saying “I like to think of The Tall Man as a sort of Panic Room… outside! It is a ‘woman in jeopardy’ movie with a lot of twists and a strong female character that you feel very connected to.”
Whatever. I love Martyrs. I love looking at Biel. I’m in for The Tall Man.
The Tall Man begins lensing this September.
What do you think of Martyrs?
Related Topics: Casting
