[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Martin. George A.Romero. 1978.

Given Romero's recent passing i thought it was time i reappraised this one. Its been about 12 years since i last watched it and i found it rather dull then.
Most will be familiar but the basic plot goes like this Martin has the appearance of a young man, yet he believes himself to an 84 year old vampire. He arrives in a small rundown Pittsburgh town to live with his highly superstitious, possibly equally mad Uncle Tata Cuda. Oddly Cuda clearly believes Martin is indeed a vampire, he refers to him as Nosferatu and warns him that he will save his soul and then destroy him.
He also tells him that he is free to come and go but that if he kills anyone in the town he will destroy him without question or any chance of salvation.
Thats pretty much it. Although it is worth mentioning, and i don't consider this a spoiler, that Martin isn't your conventional bloodsucker. He sedates his victims via syringes and draws blood with razor blades rather than fangs.
I still think Martin is a somewhat slow clunky film. Though i did find more to appreciate this time round. The score for one is in places eerily gothic in contrast to the industrial wasteland the film seems to take place in. I hadn't really considered before the implications of Cuda's belief in Martins claim, not to mention the faith he has in the whole mythology of fighting vamps with crucifixes and garlic. Add to that the b&w sequences and i suppose to begs the obvious question, is there any truth to it all. The film at least to my interpretation remains ambiguous but i certainly left more to the viewers discernment this time round. Also of merit are the performances. Typical of Romeros films (for me at least) none of the characters are particularly likeable or endearing but that doesn't mean they aren't played very well, particularly John Amplas as Martin who really does look as if he could be an aging vampire in a young body. Lincoln Maazel too plays Cuda very straight, balancing the character between madness and devout integrity.
Romero himself turns up as a local priest and actually comes across as a decent actor.
The problems with Martin are that its a little too inconsistent for my liking. Why has Martin not been caught? He's a bit sloppy. Doesn't seem to have ever heard of fingerprints. Also why do his victims take so long to go to sleep? Should he not be upping the dose? The other characters he has to bounce off such as Cuda's daughter Christina and local housewife Mrs.Santini a lonely lady whom Martin does oddjobs for, are well played but lack any real charisma making Martins interactions feel a little lacking in depth.
I only have the older original Arrow dvd containing a single cut of the movie presented in 4:3. I'd be interested to know what the later 2 disc edition contains.
Anyway I'm rambling a bit. Martin, not a bad film. Nowhere near as good as Romeros debut or the rest of the original dead trilogy but far far better than The Crazies.

Oi!!!

I find that the uneasiness of tone is what makes (emphasis) both TC & Martin imhsto. In context with concurrent Waters productions, they paint a vulgar picture of a broken America indeed (YES ... The Slayer as well )

I digress ....

Kudos

Great reappraisal ...