Martin

You don't see anyone make a film like this anymore. Shot on 16mm but absolutely gorgeous looking. Low budget but has a very unusual and quite fine OST(modern classical/jazz sounding I guess?). Great characters and performances. Some of the performances are simple but are usually always quite charming. Romero was able to create a great look by using locations that happened to be available through family and friends. Martin exemplifies the beauty of doing a lot with a little. Re-watchable because there are so many clever details to be found. People looking for tired vampire movie formulas and a bit of T&A will be disappointed with this film. What's impressive is how little the film actually covers the standard themes of vampires. Instead, the actual social construct of vampirism is brought into question. Viewers are left to figure out and discuss what the main character is all about on their own. One of the finer moments in 70's semi-independent cinema. On par with Season Of The Witch in terms of weirdness and style. The creativity and integrity seen in Martin will seldom be seen again as long as Hollywood continues to be run by spineless, cowardly producers.

"martin" is one of the most intelligent, restrained, subtle and yet effective horror films i've ever seen. romero really pulls it off with this radical variation on the traditional vampire theme. martin is a young boy who is either mentally ill or an ancient victim of that terrible disease known as vampirism, and what i love about it is that romero deliberately makes it ambiguous. most people who have seen this movie simply assume that martin's flashbacks are not flashbacks at all, but deranged fantasies or the delusions of a mentally abnormal individual. i believe this is clearly a mistake, and that either position is equally legitimate. in any case, as regards the need for blood, it does not really matter if martin is a mythical monster or a deranged sicko, since either way he takes many lives by the end of this film. he is not, however, a monster, and we even get the impression that this is a very sensitive, sweet, introverted kid who is suffering from either a pathological mental disorder or something even more ominous. remember how horrible it was being a teenager? well, don't be so quick to pity yourself;martin has to deal with all the insecurities of a young kid on top of being aware that he may be an ancient vampire, doomed to solitude and isolation by his need for the nourishment of blood and his oddly inverted disposition. this is actually one of the only successful and truly effective attempts at a blend of horror and satire that i've ever seen, although i would still be slow to encourage directors to dabble in that confused genre, since the result is usually an ineffectual, mediocre movie. the atmosphere and surreal scenes in this one are at times genuinely touching, because they reveal martin's insatiable lust for blood but at the same time cause us to feel pity for him because he has (or he believes) that he has been persecuted by the uncomprehending majority for centuries. he has an affair with a somewhat pathetic and lonely middle aged neighbor who finally seduces him successfully after many failed attempts, and this ultimately leads to his downfall in an ironic twist which should not be told to the viewer in advance, although the movie would still be more than worth watching even if he or she did know. this little known gem is also unusually substantive for a horror film, as all of romero's are, and in this one he seems to be taking shots at our ludicrous superstitions and assumption that man is the and all and be all of all things, and so believes he is attacked by supernatural evil when in reality his beliefs are absurd and entirely unfounded. a true ego deflation and a genuinely touching horror movie, "martin" is a must for lovers of film.

Over 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.

**** out of ****

Night of the Living Dead(1968) and Dawn of the Dead(1978) are the director's famous films and most beloved by leigons of horror fans around the globe. However, in this writer's humble opinion Martin(1977) is the best film the director has done in his career for a couple of good reasons. At the forefront is a complex protagonist who is a sexually confused young man that believes he's a vampire. Also, the acting and the direction are low key and sombre. Finally, the ways that the director plays againsts the cliches atributed to vampires which makes this film a pleasure to observe. Martin behaves in the manners of a vampire because its what society expects of him. So if Cuda believes his nephew is a vampire then according to Martin it must be true. Uses a first person voice over narrative that's in the same vein as Hatchet for the Honeymoon(1969), and Maniac(1980).

An early film Tom Savini worked on before he became famous among the horror community. The makeup effects are very good for a film of its budget. Opening moment in train may have been inspired by the opening sequence in Hatchet for the Honeymoon(1969). Covers sexual frustration and confusion with more human depth than a previous Romero film called Season of the Witch(1975). The black and white flashback sequences I feel were part of an alternate story in order to compare past and present. After all, the director did do a 3 Hour black and white version which unfortuately was stolen from him(thus, the black and white scenes are leftovers of a different film). I would love to see the 3 hour version come to frutiation because of the added depth new scenes might give to character and story. Martin(1977) is an underrated horror classic of the 1970s that is a change of fresh air because its not with the usual vampire elements.

The 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"