Movie Review: Martin (1978)
Director George A. Romero will forever be synonymous with zombies, but he actually made what’s probably my favorite vampire movie ever in Martin.
Martin is a slow low budget ($250,000) movie that trades in the gothic setting most associated with vampires for a more rundown, decrepit urban setting. This is very much a Pittsburgh movie, and it utilizes its filming locations to great emotional effect. The entire movie feels very melancholic — the music, the performances and characters, and the setting itself. And it’s the perfect backdrop for this kind of cynical story about vampires.
Martin Mathias (John Amplas) is not a vampire in the traditional sense. He doesn’t have fangs, and he wanders around in the sunlight all the time. But he’s driven to drink blood nonetheless, and he drugs women with needles so that he can do it.
Martin moves in with his uncle, Tateh Cuda (Lincoln Maazel), who knows he’s a vampire, but makes him promise not to prey on anyone in their town, but instead go into the city to do it.
Cuda is an old school Lithuanian Catholic, and Martin makes fun of his beliefs, pointing out that things like crucifixes have no effect on him, and frequently saying, “There is no real magic.”
The entire movie just has this sad feeling to it. You really like Martin as a character, even though you see him do these horrible things. You start to think that maybe it’s all in his head, that he’s not actually a vampire, but people like Cuda’s insistence that he is has pushed him to this point.
Whether he is or isn’t a vampire isn’t really the point of the movie, but it’s an interesting thing to think about. He ultimately believes it, so it’s true for him.
Martin makes some friends with some very lonely people, including Abbie Santini (Elayne Nadeau) and his cousin, Christina (Christine Forrest). These relationships are interesting, and again, you want to see him be able to connect with people.
This movie also has one of my favorite sequences ever in a horror film, when Martin breaks into a woman’s home because he knows her husband is away, only to find her with another man.
Throughout the movie, Martin has these visions of more gothic type vampire stuff that we’re familiar with, only to be confronted with the reality of his situation, and this is the most satisfying instance of that. He invisions himself as having relationships with these women that he rapes and kills, and this is taken as an insult.
The scene is genuinely horrifying, as Martin drugs the man, who goes after him. It’s really tense, and it’s got to be my favorite scene in a George Romero movie.
The entire movie is pretty great. It’s definitely a different kind of vampire film, but a very memorable one, with good characters and an interesting perspective.
Rating: 8/10
