This is a very interesting vampire story by George A. Romero. Storytelling is completely different from the Living Dead series of the same director in which there are several different stories about the daily life of Martin that are blended so nicely with each other. Director cleverly uses some filming techniques like black-and-white flashback sequences, close-up shots and nice background musics which remind of French movies. It is a little slow-paced but the ending is impressive.
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stimpy_tr28 June 2021
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claudio_carvalho5 June 2015The unbalanced teenager Martin Mathias (John Amplas) travels to Braddock, Pennsylvania, by train. During the night, he breaks in a cabin and kills a passenger in a peculiar way, injecting drug with a syringe and draining her blood to drink in a careful way. Then he meets his old cousin Tateh Cuda (Lincoln Maazel) in the station and they go to Cuda's home where Martin will live. Martin was raised by his dysfunctional mother and believes that he is an 84 year-old vampire. The religious Cuda also believes that the teenager is Nosferatu and uses crosses and garlic in the house to protect himself and his granddaughter Christina (Christine Forrest) that lives with him from Martin. Along the days, Martin befriends Christina, who has a problematic relationship with her boyfriend Arthur (Tom Savini), while continues to attack persons every now and then. Further, he uses the telephone to tell the truth about vampires to a radio show. Martin has a love affair with Christina, but when she commits suicide, Cuda does not believe that his granddaughter killed herself.
"Martin" is a strange and bizarre low-budget vampire movie with a totally different story. There is a documentary on the DVD where George Romero gives details about the production that uses real locations. He also tells that "Martin" is his masterpiece. Martin's daydreams with black-and-white are ambiguous and the viewer never knows whether whey we recollections or his imagination. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Martin" -
edeighton15 November 2017Eric Deighton's review of "Martin"
*spoilers alert*"
There isn't any magic. It's just sickness." says Martin (John Amplas) in response to Cuda (Lincoln Maazel), his old-country Catholic uncle. George Romero delivered a movie that strips away all magic from the vampire mythos and replaces it with the gritty realism of sickness...so of course it was filmed on location in Pittsburgh in the Braddock neighborhood. The extras were local residents from the Braddock neighborhood of Pittsburgh and this movie really reminded me of the year I spent in school in Pittsburgh. George Romero cast his own wife, Christine Forrest, as the female lead "Christina". She has a very pretty but vaguely Eastern-European look as does Lincoln Maazel who plays Uncle Cuda. For some reason these characters seemed very familiar to me and oddly comforting. Many of the extras and actors and actresses looked like other people I had encountered during my own time in Pittsburgh, twenty years after this film was made. The music in this movie is a haunting religious sounding score. The shots of daily life in 1977 Pittsburgh were useful in grounding this vampire movie and presenting vampirism as just another shitty disease. Rather than exhibit mystic powers to lure and attack his victims, Martin is an awkward young man who stalks very average non-glamorous women and injects them with drugs and even then only barely beats these women in battle. Then Martin sucks the blood from their unconscious bodies after slicing them open with a razor blade. Martin then hides his crime by making the woman's death by making it look like a suicide. Braddock is one of the most run-down sections of Pittsburgh — the decay evident in the movie contrasts nicely with Martin's fantasies, shot in black and white like a romantic vampire movie, where women willingly give up their throats to him. Pittsburgh (similiar to Cleveland) has always been a talk radio town so the scenes involving Martin calling into a local DJ ring true. Martin becomes a regular caller known as "The Count" on a late night radio show. I enjoyed the movie and will probably check out other Romero movies. -
Nightman8528 December 2005Over the years George A. Romero has created a number of landmark horror films for the genre. This modern 'vampire' flick ranks among his very best films!
Shy teenager, who believes himself to be a century old vampire, comes to live with his superstitious old cousin in Pittsburgh.
Romero's Martin is a truly unique, one of a kind psychological thriller. It is a memorable journey from its disturbing opening sequence to its chilling conclusion. Martin, like most of Romero's classics, is a film with plenty of social commentary and believable characters. The driving force behind the films premise is the question of whether or not our title character really is a vampire. Martin has no fangs, no fear of the sun, in fact he actually uses razors and syringes to seize his victims. Yet, Martin has memories of an attack that apparently he did ages ago and his elderly cousin fully believes his young relative to be an evil creature. Romero throws out all of the old fashion vampire conventions for this symbolic clashing of the ways. Romero's direction is, as always, very nicely done with plenty of suspense, atmosphere, and gruesome moments. Romero makes this drama stylishly operatic and adds an occasional moment of dark humor. The haunting music score also adds greatly to the atmosphere.
The cast is excellent, but it's star John Amplas who really drives this show. Attractive youth Amplas is a greatly sympathetic character, even as he is the films monster and hero all at once.
A film unlike any other of the horror genre, Martin remains a terrific low-budget masterpiece that is as hauntingly effective today as ever.
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George A. Romero will always be associated with his innovative and spectacular zombie trilogy ('Night Of The Living Dead', 'Dawn Of The Dead' and 'Day Of The Dead', all classics). Dig deeper and you will find he has made several less discussed but worthy movies, including this one, quite possibly the best movie he has ever made.
'Martin' manages to be both a disturbing psychological drama and a genuine horror movie at the same time. It is complex and mult-layered enough to be read in more than one way. It's up to you, the viewer, to decide whether Martin (John Amplas, in an impressive debut) really is the vampire he claims to be or is simply deluded. It's a pity that this movie slips through the cracks. Hard core horror nuts often undervalue it because it isn't what they expect from the genre, and movie buffs who can appreciate downbeat 70s classics like Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver', and Toback's 'Fingers', will dismiss it as "just another horror movie", not realizing just how much it has in common with the aforementioned. Too bad. 'Martin' is a real gem, and highly recommended. I think it's absolutely brilliant, and a classic. -
SnoopyStyle29 June 2015Martin boards a train from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh. He sedates a woman with an injection, strips her naked and drinks her blood. His elderly relative Tateh Cuda picks him up and they ride the train to Braddock. It's his new home with Tateh and cousin Christine after the death of his family. Tateh is a religious old man who tries to contain Martin using old style anti-vampire tactics. None of it works. Martin is forbidden to speak to Christine.
This is a wonderful twist on the vampire genre. This is a great contribution from George A. Romero that isn't a zombie movie. It is surprisingly fresh. The actors are amateurs but they fit their roles very well. I would love a remake by somebody with both edge and visual style. Romero did his best with this no-budget indie. -
Quinoa19846 March 2005One of the two horror film sleepers of 1977 were not necessarily definable under the usual typecasts of the genre: David Lynch's Eraserhead, which drew itself more to a kind of surreal horror from paintings and animation; and this film, George A. Romero's Martin, where the horror is not what is usually expected from the director. Indeed, before I saw this film I generally related Romero to the status of a horror-film maverick, where he brings out much of the violence and tension in his films that we as the audience wouldn't get on TV. His subversion's of the genre, however, can be sensed in his zombie satires, as he makes his characters and situations, for the most part, far more believable aside from the dark fantasy/graphic comic-book quality of the designs and look of the films. There's something to think about with his films, even as flesh and blood get tossed about.
But this time, for Martin, he made a story that deals with the human relationships even more so than the creepy and supernatural elements of his other works. Martin is a vampire movie, and there are some key scenes that deliver the good for the fans (and, again, going against expectations, as if Romero was a "new-wave" filmmaker from Europe), but also giving something for people who may not be expecting depth in the themes and situations with these people. The main characters of the film, aside from the protagonist Martin (a twisted and very confused protagonist at that), are all developed very well, and aren't necessarily one-sided or even two-sided portraits of caricatures in other vampire movies. For example, the sort of 'Van Helsing' character in this film is in the form of Martin's uncle Tada Cuda, played by Lincoln Maazel. He's the only one that knows, and is terrified of, Martin's secret life, and upon first bringing him into his home, Tada tries to use crosses and holy water on Martin. Martin can't be fooled, and so Tada resigns, for the moment.
While Tada is the kind of typical, harsh old man that acts like something of an antagonist for him and Tada's daughter, he may not be entirely one-sided by the end of the film. The theme of Christianity, as shown in certain variables as the film cuts to black and white flashbacks, explores it in a very on-target way. Why do vampire movies have this kind of magical ability to wash everything with a cross and silver and garlic? Martin seems to ask these same questions, when he calls up a radio show (his only real output of his frustrations, though a media that still treats his despair as a joke). Martin himself, played in a peculiar, low-key way is John Amplas (an actor who has his peak in this film, having only appeared in bit parts in other films, mostly Romero's). He is often observing, never sure what it is he'll say, and much to how his character is and evolves, has skills of a predator. He was perfect for the role, as he has a level of vulnerability and sincerity that can be connected to, while at the same time in a conflict about what to do with his craving for blood. That the other actors, all indie actors (one of them, Christine, played by Romero's wife), are really quite good with the material, helps the feel and flow of the film.
Some directors can't stand editing their own films (John Ford once said he hated sitting in on it, as other have as well), and while they sit in with the editors and make notes, few actually go to the machines and do the work themselves. Romero is one of the few that seems to really enjoy the process, and has fun with it. In some ways his movement within the frame, and with the pacing of Martin's sense of reality and of the past, makes the film seem like it should almost belong in an art-house (so to speak) as opposed to at a midnight cult-horror theater. That's not to say he doesn't have it in him to give people their money's worth expecting to get the pants scared off their waists. In fact, there is one big sequence in the film (where Martin stalks and attacks, needle in hand, a married woman who's having an affair) that is one of Romero's most suspenseful and unusual. Not to mention there is an ending that wraps everything up rather terrifyingly- one knows something like this would be coming, but not from this direction.
Simply this, Martin is smarter for it's regularly intended audience out for simple thrills and cheesy characters- it's a drama that involves searching for companionship, the significance of religion on people, and trying to fit in to one side or another. And it's also a low-budget 70's horror film with a few scenes that hit more on a visceral level than on cheap effects (not to say there aren't a couple, ho-ho). To put it another way, I viewed the film for the first time on a video released in the 80's. Now I'll be on the look-out for the DVD a.s.a.p. -
unakaczynski7 November 2005Martin
I'd heard a lot about this film for quite a while, and, Romero fan that I am, I finally decided to get it. No, I didn't just rent it to see how it is, I out-and-out bought it having never seen it. Luckily, by "bought" it, I mean that I paid for it with a free Visa gift card I had. With no financial harm to me. So.... is this legendary early Romero work really all it's cracked up to be...?
Martin is about a young man who likes drinking blood. You know, a real vampire. Except not a real vampire. Just a real boy. But his senior citizen cousin who takes him in believes he really is a vampire. It's all part of an apparent family curse, you see. Well, the film follows Martin around as he tries to deal with "normal" people and the awkwardness he feels. His cousin's daughter is roughly his age and she's played by George Romero's wife and her boyfriend is Tom Savini. She struggles with her life as well, but to a lesser extent. The film is about poor Martin after all.
Here's the breakdown:
The Good: --Unique take on the vampire mythos--it is an interesting story with some interesting characters. --Some good shocking moments and some decent tension. --The cinematography is really nice, as are flashback sequences of Martin's youth.
Didn't Hurt It, Didn't Help: --Average acting. --The blood/gore isn't all that good--it's really dated and not quite up to par with Romero's following film, Dawn of the Dead. Light gore, a mild amount of blood. --Decent Atmosphere, but not Romero's best.
The Bad: --The movie creeps along at a pretty slow pace and with Martin saying very little through the whole thing, it can really drag at times. --The music is rather poor quality and it adds nothing--but then, lets find some 70s' films with exceptional music carrying us along. Star Wars? Exorcist? Anything else? Not really? Well, that's the 70's for you. --Flashback sequences never really explained.
The Ugly: --Rather ugly 70's decor in these sets. I mean, bloody hell, was everyone stoned back then or what? --The community Martin ends up living in sure seems to have a high number of harassing black people on the street and cheating housewives....
Memorable Scene: --The film has a nice climax.
Look For: --George Romero as a priest.
Acting: 7/10 Story: 9/10 Atmosphere: 7/10 Cinematography: 7/10 (generally average, but good flashback/fantasy sequences) Character Development: 7/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 4/10 Nudity/Sexuality: 4/10 Violence/Gore: 6/10 Sets/Backgrounds: 4/10 Dialogue: 6/10 Music: 4/10 Writing: 7/10 Direction: 7/10
Cheesiness: 1/10 Crappiness: 1/10
Overall: 6/10
Well, it's an early Romero work and pretty much only going to be really enjoyed by Romero fans. While I liked it, I think it could've been a helluva lot better. Recommended to horror fans with an interest in older films and Romero fans. People who love vampire stories may enjoy it.
www.ResidentHazard.com -
I am a huge Romero fan but had never seen this gem due to poor video distribution. I just picked up the new DVD and watched Martin for the first time. It truly demonstrates Romero's genius. He takes the classic , Gothic vampire movie that we've seen done a thousand times and manages to put his unique stamp on it creating a deep, philosophical social commentary.
Is Martin really a vampire? What is the definition of a vampire in modern society? Just because Martin does not have fangs, garlic has no effect on him and he is more or less immune to sunlight that doesn't mean he is not a vampire. Romero leaves a lot of questions open ended in this film like Martin's mortality or immortality and whether he physically needs to drink blood to survive. Maybe he really is nothing more then a mentally ill, sexual deviant ....but is that really different then any other vampire that we've seen portrayed in any other movie? As you can tell by my comments, this movies raises more questions then it answers and it certainly will make you think more then the average horror movie...which isn't a bad thing.
Stylistically, I love the way Romero weaves the current time (the late 70's) in color with the black and white footage of the turn of the century era Martin. That gives a nice contrast between the Bela Lugosi Gothic vampire image and the updated version that is Martin. The cinematography is great and it is just a well crafted film.
At it's heart this is the same vampire movie we've seen remade over and over just with some new twists on the genre and in an updated setting. But it is more then that because it really is a mashing of various genres. There are the excorisism sequences which are not common in vampire movies, there are elements of the serial killer thriller genre, some elements of the teenage coming of age story and even hints of melodrama but it all blends seamlessly and keeps the viewer's interest throughout. -
denigmatic5 October 2021I'm not a big fan of George R Romero film, but this film have one of the most unique story in horror genre. I love how he combined Myth and Serial Killer story in this film.
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Irishchatter14 April 2017I don't get why anyone would really enjoy this, the quality is so poor even after all these years and the storyline seems to be skipping a lot. As well, it seems like a Pre-Twlight movie so I'm assuming the author of Twlight managed to copy a dopey vampire teenage guy who is suppose to be the vampire where he is actually not. He only has those stupid teeth things in his mouth that look as if it was forced in his mouth. Seriously this is just so stupid, I have nothing more to say about this movie but its pure rubbish to hell!
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jonathan-57710 January 2007I probably watched it 100 times in high school, although I probably haven't put it on in this decade. And how does it look now that Uncle Fuzzy has replaced my old Betamax copy? Well the first thing I noticed was the fine detail of the bored-housewives this teenage vampire gets mixed up with, and how that milieu really does affect their behaviour and hence the plot. I noticed that the bits of romantic dialogue that I used to find shudderingly cheesy are DELIBERATELY that, because that's how these people would actually talk. I noticed that old Tata Cuda, the colonel-sanders-like uncle who is out to save Martin's soul, is not completely unsympathetic, not due to anything the conservative old codger actually does, but due to the fact that Lincoln Maazel's performance is - I can hardly even type it - UNDERSTATED. I noticed that Romero's smoking-priest cameo is even more hilarious and apt than I remembered it. I saw how this guy can barely pack into one movie everything he's trying to get across, new stuff just keeps happening - he's not connecting the dots or marking time, he's inventing something new. And I asked myself again whether this puberty-parable-for-grownups is an even greater film than Romero's anticapitalism-for-teenyboppers. And once again I just dunno.
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cassiewright-8952027 October 2020George Romero breathes some new life into the tired vampire subgenre with Martin. While the story and concept are unique and full of life, the film can sag a bit at times pacing wise. It fixates on Martin, a mentally deranged young man who believes himself for be an 80-something vampire who has no friends or close family bonds. He moves in with a family member, is told not to kill anyone, but he eventually does and can't stop his blood lust.
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Willneill8723 May 2010I saw this film a few years ago, so my memory isn't great... Martin is a film I first saw as a matinée for 50p, and I wish I could get that back. First of all, the picture is HORRIBLE. It all seems just... sh*t. I know it was the 70s but they should have had some production values. It might symbolise something, but I don't get it at all. Secondly, the ending seems rushed. I mean really, really rushed. All I remember was "NOSFERATU!" *stab* Finally, I was shocked that it was George A. Romero who made this. I can't say it's all bad, It is possible to look at it as a vampire satire. (Although, again,if it was I definitely missed that), plus it isn't as bad as the vampire abomination that is Twilight.
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howlermonkey17 June 2003Sometimes it seems to me that the "users" who comment on movies here go out of their way to miss the point. The horror storyline here isn't just "vampire nonsense" nor does Romero succeed in spite of his "lowbrow intentions." The film IS a horror film, as successful in "revising" the typical vampire films as other 1970's classics like McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Point Black were in "revising" the western and gangster genres respectively. The film would hardly be as interesting if it were some kind of slick production with the usual trappings. Instead Martin is a low-key intense underplayed film that reverses the usual expectations without rejecting its genre.
I don't think Romero is somehow upholding the ideals of faith either; the religious zealot, Martin's uncle, is the least sympathetic figure in the movie, though he may be right in thinking that Martin is "nosferatu." Or his fanaticism may have created the delusion in Martin's mind, an attempt to reject the religious dogma by adopting its traditional/mythic opponent. In any case, Romero's take on faith is very complex and is as interesting in this film as his complex take on individuality and consumerism is in Dawn of the Dead.
Romero makes great use of the depressed area of Braddock Pennsylvania, the kind of down on its luck, conservative, fading neighborhood I know from my own experience. The setting is essential to the movie, but Romero doesn't overplay it. The radio talk-show angle isn't as well handled but it is interesting.
I thought this film was very impressive in its deadpan update of the vampire story and Martin is a strangely moving character. Ultimately the movie is a much more convincing dramatization of the "serial killer" figure than we get in most films now, despite the current fascination with that type. (P.S. Romero was so good in the 1970s..how did he fall to the likes of Creepshow?) -
Captain_Couth21 February 2005Martin (1977) was a classic vampire film written and directed by legendary horror film maker George A. Romero. He envisioned a modern day tale of old world vampires and insanity. The end results are Martin. The film follows the daily life of a man who may or may not be a vampire. He has been marked by his family as a blood feeder and claims to be in his eighties. The only thing we do know about him is that he has psychotic tendencies and lives out of a suitcase.
One day his uncle invites him to live with him in a suburb of Pittsburgh, a small town called Braddock. He claims that he'll save Martin's soul and then destroy him. Uncle Cuda has a grandchild living with him. He tells her not to make any kind of contact with Martin, he's a Nosferatu (the living dead). She thinks her Grandfather's crazy and Martin's one strange dude. Whilst in Braddock, it doesn't take long for him to go back to his old ways. Eventually his Uncle catches on and does what he promised to do (without salvation) and murders Martin in his bed. Uncle Cuda buries him in the back yard without any remorse.
Was he a vampire? Martin's more like a victim of his family's inherited madness. Everyone in the family apparently suffers from it. Especially the Uncle and Martin. It doesn't help poor Martin being called a vampire everyday. He probably suffers from a form of untreated psychosis misinterpreted as vampirism. Martin can walk in the sun light, doesn't sleep in a coffin and is not afraid of religious relics and items. Who knows who or what he is. But I do know that he's a real life monster, a serial killer who stalks people for a strange desire for human blood.
Highest recommendation possible. -
HumanoidOfFlesh22 May 2001"Martin" is about a young disturbed boy who believes himself to be a 77 years old vampire.Martin drugs women and drinks their blood after slashing their wrists with a straight razor.He becomes a radio sensation known as The Count when he describes his crimes nightly to a late night radio DJ."Martin" is a weird and atmospheric tale,with John Amplas character being alternately creepy and charismatic.The cast is surprisingly good,and the atmosphere is beautifully surreal with hypnotic flashback sequences.Romero builds up a great amount of suspense with the good use of locations,story and a little bit of gore.Recommended viewing for horror fans and vampire enthusiasts.
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George A. Romero did an outstanding job with this movie. It is not your usual vampire flick. Martin can walk in sunlight, garlic does not work, crosses don't work, and he does not even have fangs. He simply cuts his victims after putting them to sleep. This is also a very odd but beautifully shot picture. It has a low-budget gritty feel, almost handheld but it fits the story perfectly. It also uses some great Black and White photography. The acting is top notch. There are no names just people, although sometimes weird people.
Also Tom Savini is in it. He has a small role but he is a good actor. It really is too bad he really has not caught on to more mainstream movies. But he also did the FX for this movie. It does get bloody. But it never is gory. But do not get me wrong, the FX is felt. Overall this is a must see vampire movie. It is great. -
lastliberal11 July 2009I wasn't exactly sure whether Martin (John Amplas) was a vampire or a necrophiliac. He is not your usual vampire, if he is one. He has no fangs and goes out in the daylight. He uses razors and syringes to draw blood. Is he real or just delusional? His cousin Tada (Lincoln Maazel) is a strange one.
Romero, who also plays in the movie, is trying to take us in a different direction here. Just as he made a statement on consumerism in Dawn of the Dead, he is making a statement on religion in this film. It will not meet the needs of the horror-obsessed, but it is true horror; more in the Taxi Driver mode.
It really gets funny when he plans a kill and gets a big surprise.
He finally manages to hook up with a depressed housewife for what he calls "the sexy stuff," but that ends badly and Tada finally loses it.
It won't be for everyone, and you will never know if he is a vampire or just psychotic. -
Martin (John Amplas) is a misunderstood young man, who is also a rapist and a murderer towards young woman or anyone gets in his way. Martin thinks, he lived the life of a vampire before. He has a few problems with his eyes. He creates a illusion or that could be from his pass life, when he starts out as a vampire. But he's craving for blood towards young woman but he has problems with his cousin or it could be his uncle Cuda (Lincoln Maazel), who believes in the family curses of vampires.
Written & Directed by George A. Romero (Bruiser, Creepshow, The Dark Half) made an original horror drama with an dark sense of humor. This is one of Romero's best and it is also Romero's most personal film.
DVD from Lions Gate Entertainment. DVD has an good anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer and an fine digitally remastered-Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD has an new and fun commentary track by the writer/director:Romero, Producer:Richard P. Rubinstein, Make-Up Effects Artist:Tom Savini, Director of Cinematography:Michael Gornick and Music Composer:Donald Rubinstein. DVD also has an making of a featurette, new photo gallery, original t.v. spots and original trailer.
The original DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment, which it's now out of print. DVD has an fine Pan & Scan (1.33:1) transfer and an good-Dolby 2.0 Mono Sound. DVD has an excellent commentary track by Romero, Savini and actor:Amplas, original trailer and collector's booklet. Romero gives his most interesting film yet, this has an unusual premise with tongue in cheek humor. Romero comments in the commentary that his first cut runs 165 minutes but that cut is missing. The European Version of Martin has been re-edited with an new music score by The Goblins (Dawn of the Dead, Suspiria). Romero appears in a funny cameo as a Priest!, Christine Forrest Romero (The Director's Wife) appears in a supporting role, Tom Savini appears in a bit part. Amplas gives an excellent performance. Maazel is also very good in the film. Producer:Rubinstein appears in a cameo. Director of Cinematography:Gornick can be heard as the Radio Talk Show Host. This is an unusual and an unique film from the talented independent horror filmmaker. (**** ½/*****). -
jordondave-2808520 October 2023(1977) Martin PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR
Edited, written and directed by George A. Romero with an original idea for a story about an isolated high school teenager, Martin (John Amplas) with dysfunctional parents convinces himself he needs blood like a vampire! More of a psychological study than a horror film because the movie is more of a character examination about Martin himself.
The budget is quite low, but nevertheless original and not for the faint of heart as they're some graphic stuff, gore conducted by Tom Savini who is synonymous for providing some of the gore effects for some the most gruesome horror films such as "Dawn of the Dead" and Creepshow to name a few. -
flounder5820 July 2005I am a huge horror fan, and for some reason this movie just did absolutely nothing for me. 45 minutes intro the flick i still had no idea what the hell this movie was a bout. Now, I'm not stupid when it comes to films. I own over 400 and mostly horror, i am a big fan of Fulci, Argento, Romero and the likes. But i read all these other comments and i just didn't see it. It felt contrived and uninspired. Although I will watch again someday soon to really get the full effect. Right now its wasn't my cup of tea. Although most popular for the Dead sagas. I went into his film open minded, a Romero vampire flick, sounds interesting... sounds interesting. The character of Martin I just couldn't figure out if he was retarded acted retarded or just didn't know what the heck was going on. If he was a vampire and you can make your own assessment, he was just a kid who needed rock'em sock'em robots and a girlfriend and he wouldn't drink blood. Watch this movie if you like Romero but if your looking for a cool vampire movie rent something else
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MWNiese22 August 2008Few horror movies have dared to be so different. This may be one of Romero's finest moments. The cinematography is brilliant and the directing is genius. This film shows Romero's creative ingenuity, unspoiled by studio interference. "Martin" is raw. It's realism is intertwined with haunting scenes of abstract flashbacks. The musical accompaniment is beautifully alluring and emotional binding. Every shot has meaning, nothing is wasted or taken for granted. This film gives us a Romero that has been lost in our modern culture based on selfishness. "Martin" should conjure strong feelings for those of us that remember the 70s and be a learning experience for those whom were not yet born. This film has certainly been overlooked by mainstream movie goers.
"Martin" is about a young man with a need for fresh human blood, similar to that of a vampire. But Martin isn't a vampire: He has no fangs, he walks in the sunlight, garlic has no effect, and has no fear of crosses. Yet, his need for blood compels him to kill. "Martin" is a one of a kind vampire film, if it can be called a vampire film at all. Doing so conjures up images of Hollywood's slick portrayal of vampires, which couldn't be further from Romero's work in this picture. "Martin" is far from Hollywood's idealistic vampire showing. Romero defies contemporary vampire conventions by steeping Martin's vampirism in realism and the harsh light of day in a dying city.
"Martin" certainly isn't for everyone. As an avid Romero film patron, this film means much more to me than a Romero novice will most likely take away from this picture. Romero does a cameo appearance as a priest, which is a must see for Romero admirers. I can see how this film might be difficult for younger film goers or for film goers that don't have a true understanding of cinematic production and creation. The cinematography is original and invigorating as it uses a dying urban backdrop to create an emotional plethora of depression, death, and hopelessness. At the same time this urban backdrop offers reconciliation and hope to even the lowest ranks of American society.
This film is simply beautiful. It is more art than film. And for those of us that can't see the special nature of this production, I recommend that you stick to Michael Bay movies. Is "Martin" a perfect film? Far from it. BUT! It's filming techniques are an excellent lesson in the art of camera placement, editing, lighting, and direction. This is a film that should be acknowledged more for what it does do than for what it does not do. And what it does do is offer us a rare glimpse into intelligent film-making at a time and place that is now lost. "Martin" is an inspiration and deserves to be at least respected by informed film-goers. -
Dr_Coulardeau21 May 2008That was the time before profiling and before scientific police, and even before the plague known as AIDS. Romero in his young age had to play the priest in this film of his, be the screenplay writer and the director. He had to do what so many others had done and have his own true, real Nosferatu or vampire or Count Dracula film. And here it is. Though it is shown as an old superstition from the old continent that has moved to the new continent, there is no rejuvenation, no renaissance, no second life to the myth and the end is to be expected and not to be in any way suspected or doubted. Then the film loses all its power because there is no escape for the poor Martin and no way out for the whole story that is self contained and locked up in a dying if not dead myth. Now does the technique used by Romero give a second life to that myth? Certainly not. A syringe does not frighten anyone. Some thick red blood does not disgust anyone. So it is flat and there is no way to find any depth in this cheap film.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines -
kannibalcorpsegrinder21 July 2017Arriving in Pittsburgh, a young man visiting his cousin realizes that his vampire nature is continually getting the better of him as he stalks the residents of his small-town and finally forces those around him to put him away for good before his rampage puts the family in danger.
For the most part, this one is quite an unconventional and troublesome effort. Most of the film's problems actually center around the fact that the change done to the central figure brings about plenty of rather troubling inquiries. By shifting away from the traditional form of the bloodsucker who now doesn't need piercing fangs to drain his victims and can't pass the curse on like a transmitted disease, much of the fear is taken completely out of the main character who now comes off merely like a nominal psychopath. Drugging people and using razors to slice them open so he can feed are tactics that just don't in the slightest appear to induce fear or scares in the main lead, and since this is the attack method for the film that leaves so many of the scenes without any kind of tension that usually appears in the genre's efforts. The fear mainly comes from his antics and the fact that he's going around on the prowl, but that doesn't generate as much as the more clichéd elements generate which is why those clichés are often featured since the behavioral changes don't really make this feel like a true horror film. That also reduces the actual stalking scenes into an incredibly tired and laughable tactic of him hitting and running away which is completely against the normal vampire rules of attack that the extended nature of these scenes are caused merely by the inclusion of such behavior changes. Likewise, there's also the fact that the film's desire to spend a vast majority of time on the home-life between the family where everyone's continually trying to get through their lives without being interrupted by his condition makes for some really bland and boring scenes as the family dinners or scenes of him out delivering meals from his work that are just so dull and bland. They're just so uninteresting that there's little about these that raise the film up into any kind of watchable status as so little of the film really strikes a chord, even the other subplots such as the affair with the housewife or his cousins' desire to start her own life which take up so much of the film. With so few attacks here to really generate any kind of interest, the film is instead forced to try a series of incredibly artistic and rather bland tendencies to try to generate interest in between these segments, either by going for a series of haunting black-and-white flashbacks to silent sequences showing him at work or preparing to go out which injects some life in the film but really highlights how few scenes of him attacking others there actually are in the film. Those, though, are where the film actually works the best by providing this with so much of its original moments. The opening action-packed attack on the train is rather chilling with the darkened stalking, the brawl in the car and the eventual aftermath of what happens gives this a strong opening. The lengthy attack on the cheating couple is rather enjoyable, despite the length because of his attack style, and the finale in the shop makes for a nice conclusion which is rather frenetic and ends on a fine note. It does get points for creativity, but that's about all it has going for it.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, Graphic Language and drug use.