Remy – Anna from Martyrs
And the winner for the person who takes the most physical punishment in a film, yet still continues to fight on, inexplicably, is Anna from Martyrs. There is a nine minute stretch in this movie that is just her getting punched in the face by a massive hulk of a man, she gets fed slop, and is eventually flayed. Luckily, she talks to God, and even though she is planted somewhere between life and death, she realizes self actualization through her punishment, which is EXACTLY the reason I have a girl, bound and gagged, in my basement right now.
I want to bring her closer to God….
(Dammit! Remy made it so long without being too offensive!)
Mad Dog in The Raid: Redemption
Alright, since Remy took a non-horror pick with Alba, I’m going to cheat a little bit too and round out my list with Mad Dog from The Raid: Redemption. Sure, every main character goes through a pretty grueling action experience, but none were as brutally beaten as Mad Dog, mainly because he just wouldn’t die.
Again, while every single fight scene in Gareth Evans’ insta-classic was crafted with showmanship, skill, grace, and beauty, the three-way fight scene between Mad Dog, our hero Rama, and his brother Andi is nothing short of perfection – making it two against Mad Dog. What transpires is a 5:30 long fight scene that never stops for even a second, in which every character goes farther beyond the pain threshold than any man should. Looking specifically at Mad Dog though, he’s punched and kicked every which way, his head is slammed repeatedly against he concrete, he’s thrown around, slugged out, and then gets stabbed in the neck by a broken piece of tube lighting. With blood pouring out of his neck like a spout, Mad Dog CONTINUES TO FIGHT for about another minute, until he’s finally brought to the ground and finished off with a nice throat opening.
If Mad Dog didn’t take a wound to the neck, I’m not sure Rama and Andi would have walked out of this one alive.
Oh, if you’ve never seen the scene I’m talking about, do yourself a favor and check the clip below. Well, honestly, you should really watch the entire film, as it’s easily one of the best action movies since 2000, but if you’re too lazy to go find it, here’s just a taste:
Alright, so which brutally bashed characters did Remy and I miss? Any poor saps suffer worse thrashings than our selections?
*A special thanks to Remy for stepping in to guest write! Feel free to follow either of us on Twitter for even more insanity and updates:
Matt Donato Follow @DoNatoBomb
Remy Carreiro Follow @RemyCarreiro
Like what you read? Check out last week’s article where Remy and I talk about why slasher villains are always such tremendous cockblocks!