A martfüi rém (2016) Reviews

• Grisly, atmospheric n a lil tough to sit thru but definitely one of the best serial killer film.

  Fella_shibby2018-04-05

  Saw this on a rented dvd few days back. The trailer n premise was intriguing for me. Definitely for blokes who liked Marshland, Memories of murder n True Detective. It is about a sick n pervert serial killer n also about an innocent man who is put behind bars for the murders. The film explains the actions n consequences of both these men. Warning, this film is very grisly n the necrophiliac scenes r explained in details rather than off screen which i wud have preferred. Also the male rape n torture scenes were too much. I feel the director went overboard with the grisly scenes but he did a terrific job in making a good serial killer film. The night time photography is striking. It is eerie n atmospheric. The direction, acting n cinematography r all good but they needed some work on the editing.

• Grim and unsettling serial-killer thriller from Hungary

  Coventry2017-04-09

  "Strangled" is the international title of the Hungarian horror/thriller "A Martfüi Rém" – which roughly translates as "The Martfü Monster" – that is set in the politically turbulent period of the late fifties and early sixties, and is based on the true story of a vicious serial killer that terrorized a little industrial town. I reckon that every country has its own morbid serial killer case, and this is definitely one of the darkest pages in the history book of Hungary. "Strangled" is a very intense, stoic and grisly film and writer/director Árpád Sopsits certainly didn't bother to palliate the facts. In 1957, in the little community of Martfü where almost everybody works in the shoe factory, the corpse of a young woman is discovered in the river. The police are put under a lot of pressure to solve the crime and inspectors Botá and Katona quickly arrest the victim's weak and gullible boyfriend Akos Reti. When Reti confesses, he gets sentenced to life-imprisonment while inspector Katona gets promoted to district attorney. Seven years later, however, the mutilated bodies of multiple women are once more discovered in Martfü, and a few girls who narrowly survived the encounter with their attacker are scarred and traumatized for life. Botá receives a brand new, young and ambitious colleague who wants to re-open the 1957-case, because they may have convicted the wrong man to prison, but the district attorney Katona is too concerned about his reputation and obstructs the investigation. In parallel, the film depicts how Akos Reti literally decays in prison and even follows around the real murderer as he prepares for his next sickening and repulsive crime. The film benefices tremendously from the gloomy time period and the sensitive political climate that both have been wondrously recreated! Practically the entire town of Martfü's population of Martfü comes walking out of the bombastic shoe factory gates. The people return to their tiny grey homes or depressing apartment blocks, while the more influential authority figures arrogantly refer to each other as "Comrade" and revert to corruption in order to save their slightly more luxurious social position. "Strangled" allegedly was a giant box-office success in its home country, which is surprising because the subject matter is extremely sinister and director Sopsits certainly doesn't restrain on showing uncompromising violence and misogynist cruelty. Many sequences are not for the squeamish, including bits of necrophilia, and the atmosphere is continuously bleak with eerie music and desolate photography. The film isn't entirely flawless, mind you. With 118 (!) minutes, "Strangled" is about 20-25 minutes too long. There are several moments of long silence between the lead characters, but those sequences are suspenseful and shouldn't have been cut. Instead, we could have done with fewer dialogues between the coppers about their cover- ups.

• Engaging and intense crime thriller

  TwistedMango2017-10-04

  Police hunt a predator in 50s Hungary, while another man rots in prison for the crimes In a nation still reeling in the aftermath of a crushed uprising against their Soviet overlords, a woman is murdered and raped after leaving her job at the local shoe factory. A lover is rounded up, he admits to the crime and is sentenced to life, and the townsfolk continue their existence. Yet seven years later Martfű is beset by similar murders, and the race is on for the police to unravel the mystery. Strangled is an engrossing if challenging work, echoing some of the great crime thrillers while maintaining a local flavour. The setting itself captures the drabness so associated with the Eastern bloc of the Cold War, shots of workers streaming out of the shoe factory reminiscent of Metropolis. There is also no attempt to shy away from the heinous crimes, and neither does director Árpád Sopsits let the period setting overpower the film narrative. The graphic nature of Strangled's depiction of murder and necrophilia at first come across as close to mere sordid titillation. As the film progresses, it becomes clear how important it is to depict these scenes within the plot, giving an idea of what these women and the community as a whole had to suffer. The drunk local cop, the precocious outside detective, the commander who wants the whole thing shut down quickly with no loose ends. We've seen all these character templates before, but that's not to say they're all adequately delivered here. It's also clear that in this Iron Curtain environment no-one is to be trusted, and no-one is going to give you a medal for doing the right thing. Though while there is a lot of talk of how the city of Martfű is paralyzed with fear, rarely does the audience feel it outside of the core characters focused on. A greater focus on the community and a little less on the police machinations could have aided the overall film. There is also a tacit belief in the audience's previous awareness of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, which affects the investigation into the initial murder. It is refreshing to see an international film which is not afraid to tell a story without pandering to outside audiences, though an unawareness of this event could leave viewers somewhat confused at points. The production is well made without being flashy, dramatic set-pieces fitting in well with the overall drive of the police to catch the killer. A particular highlight is Inspector Zoltán (Péter Bárnai), racing a train to see if the details of a case match up. There are also fleeting moments of beauty in this film, shining out amongst the monotony of the town and the horror of the crimes. Though a grim sense of inevitability pervades some of the events in Strangled, there is plenty of twists and turns right up to the film's final moments. Strands of the films successfully interweave, both the supposed killer in prison (played well by Gábor Jászberényi), and the killer on the loose. Only a couple of scenes feel unnecessary in this taut and engrossing plot, its basis on true events adding to its verisimilitude. christophermarchant.wordpress.com

• Very high quality movie based on a fascinating story

  sandorteli2018-03-03

  I just want to congratulate all the creators of this movie. It kept my attention from the first second to the last and never ceased to be interesting throughout the movie. Well done!

• Very impressive but not an easy watch.

  christopher-underwood2018-06-18

  Quite a find, this one, shown apparently at the London Film Festival last year, this seems not to have had a theatrical release, outside Hungary. Bleak and disturbing, this is an uncompromising look at what we are told is a true story going back to the late 50s/early60s. There is some attempt to set this horror within the political upsets of the time but I have to say, at least to an outsider, these seem rather unconvincing. Not so the main thrust of this daring film, however, which certainly visits areas not often visited in tales of brutal serial killers. The film begins with great style and carefully composed scenes and ends similarly with beautiful period vehicles and street posters, the rest of the film though is not pretty at all and the harrowing tale is realistically told in dark and subdued lighting with nothing too pretty at all. Very impressive but not an easy watch.