Martin
1977Dir. George Romero
Insecure teenager Martin believes he is actually an 84-year-old vampire and that he must drink the blood of humans to remain alive. His belief is reinforced by his elderly cousin, Cuda, with whom he is sent to live. Cuda is convinced vampirism is part of a family curse. Driven by his insatiable blood lust, the frustrated and confused teen forces himself to kill and feed, drugging his victims to reduce their suffering before opening their veins with a razor blade. However, his inhuman desires are almost overcome when he begins an affair and he starts to question his vampirism…
Criminally undervalued by audiences and critics at the time of its release, Martin is now generally accepted to be among Romero's finest work to date; it’s certainly the director’s personal favourite of his own movies. With Martin, Romero slyly subverted the conventions of the vampire myth and added a truly fresh angle to the vampire movie genre; in its wake came films such as The Addiction and The Hunger, in which vampirism was utilised as a metaphor to explore concepts such as addiction and obsession. Romero keeps things ambiguous – we never really find out if Martin is an actual vampire or if he’s just an extremely confused young man. As the eponymous anti-hero, John Amblas provides a sensitive, sympathetic and moving central performance. There is an interesting dichotomy in his gentle demeanour and the atrocious acts he carries out to sate his appetite for blood – particularly in the film’s shocking and blunt opening scene set aboard a night train.
The film has an oddly European feel to it, most notably in the music and editing. The narrative is penetrated by black and white inserts that may be flashbacks to Martin’s previous life or flights of fancy he has conjured to lend his current crimes a more romantic edge. The events depicted within them more closely resemble typical imagery of vampire flicks – flaming torches, brandished crucifixes and candelabrum-carrying victims.
Romero touches on the notion that Martin’s vampirism is all in his head, and a number of times throughout, Martin himself says that ‘there is no magic – it’s a disease.’ He also has a distinct lack of fangs (his tools are a razorblade and hypodermic needle), and he has no aversion to daylight, garlic or crucifixes.
Interestingly, and rather humorously, he rejects the romanticised ideas of vampires as tortured and tragic lovers – though to an extent that’s exactly what his 'condition' has rendered him. Martin’s latent necrophilia is explored too, particularly in his timid and burgeoning relationship with Mrs Santini (Elyane Nadeau) and he gradually confesses to being too shy to do ‘sexy stuff’ with girls, particularly when they are awake. Martin appears to long for human contact, yet he shirks from it when it presents itself. He is essentially crippled by his own repression. Aside from Martin and his draconian cousin Cuda (Lincoln Maazel), most other people, including Cuda’s granddaughter Christina (Christine Forrest) – the film’s only voice of reason - basically believe him to be extraordinarily naive and sensitive; someone to be pitied not feared. Cuda however sees Martin as pure evil, having inherited his dark inclination from a family curse. He makes Martin’s life very difficult and even refers to him as 'Nosferatu'. The tension generated from their various altercations provides the film with some of its most resonant drama. There is something genuinely sinister in the scene where Martin gets his own back, mocking his cousin while dressed as a vampire; complete with swishing cape and false fangs, in an empty playground at night.
Interestingly the town where the film is set is depicted as economically and socially deprived. Cuda seems to represent the views of most of the older inhabitants whose archaic ways and stubborn customs threaten to stunt the growth of the town. The idea of traditional values and small towns dying out because of ‘brain-drain’ and their failure to move with the times, trapping their inhabitants and stunting their potential, is subtly explored through the predicament of Cuda’s daughter and her boyfriend (Tom Savini). The film is not without its humour too – notably Romero’s cameo as a wine-loving priest and the scene in which Martin prepares to visit a woman whose blood he wants to drink. Black and white scenes of him pursuing her through a huge house as she fearfully glances back at him are intercut with him actually making his way into the house and to her room, only to burst in and find her sleeping with another man. The moment quickly becomes suspenseful however, as Martin struggles to overcome both people, and the sight of the woman trying to call the police is quite taut, as Romero wrings every last drop of tension from the moment.
The measured pace serves to better pull viewers into the story, and events remain utterly compelling - all the way to the blunt, brutal and quietly powerful ending...
Martin is a witty, shocking and intriguing tale of addiction, violent sexual appetite, obsession and vampirism as (possible) metaphor for mental illness.
Martin (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Arrow Video on 28th June 2010. Special Features include: the original theatrical cut of the film with 5.1 and Stereo audio options plus a choice of 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratio presentations; ‘Wampyre’ – the Italian cut of the film - reputedly edited by Dario Argento - featuring Italian dialogue (with optional English subtitles) and musical score by Goblin; ‘Making Martin: A Recounting’; Documentary on George A. Romero; TV and radio spots; original theatrical trailer; photo gallery; four sleeve art options; double sided poster; exclusive collector’s booklet; six original poster art postcards.
