Martin

R

1978

1h 35m

Horror

List

90%

42 Reviews

Tomatometer

76%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Young Martin (John Amplas) is entirely convinced that he is an 84-year-old blood-sucking vampire. Without fangs or mystical powers, Martin injects women with sedatives and drinks their blood through wounds inflicted with razor blades. After moving to Braddock, Penn., to live with his superstitious uncle (Lincoln Maazel), who also believes Martin is a vampire, Martin tries to prey exclusively on criminals and thugs but stumbles when he falls for a housewife (Sara Venable).

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Critics Consensus

George A. Romero's contribution to vampire lore contains the expected gore and social satire -- but it's also surprisingly thoughtful, and boasts a whopper of a final act.

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pierce k

romero knows how to make a movie and he did a very good job.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/04/23

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Taylor L

There's apparently an as-of-yet unreleased three and a half-hour cut of this 95-minute film. Only one physical print exists, which sold for $50k at auction but didn't convey the distribution rights, so ... what are the odds that we'll see that unofficial 'Director's Cut'? Both a modernization and a satire of the vampire myth transposed to 1970s Pittsburgh. With the time period, a dingy urban American setting, lower-budget practical effects, the sense of social isolation, and recurring interesting monochrome fantasy cutaways, Martin feels like George Romeo was taking some inspiration from John Waters in writing a new take on bloodsuckers. John Amplas's Martin is an interesting character, an individual convinced through a combination of family lore and difficulty with communication that he's a vampire in the classic sense, tying in his thirst for blood with a series of rapes committed via sedative to fight a fear of intimacy; it's intended to be a series of alternative takes on genre conventions, both tragic and a bit comic - taking a classic movie monster usually portrayed as powerful and scheming and replacing him with an alienated kid that commits violent acts because he lacks the confidence to conduct himself 'appropriately'. Romero's ideas on social isolation messing with morality and conduct have proved to be remarkably forward-thinking. Interesting and a bit spooky based on what someone will do based off of their own beliefs about identity. Amplas is this unusual combination of awkward, ordinary, and vicious; his pedestrian appearance and slower energy make his crimes that much more brutal. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/05/22

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Luca D

A very unique low budget horror movie. This is a precursor to the Donnie Darko plot where two questionable ideas are presented. Either the kid is schizophrenic and everything presented is in his mind is in their imagination, or everything presented in their thoughts is truly happening but everyone just believes their crazy. I love these plots because they are usually left with loose ends leaving multiple possibilities.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/17/21

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Audience Member

Starting point is suggestive, but although the situation is described quite vividly, the action does not help to see an evolution in characters.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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steve d

Not bad but nowhere near as good as his zombie films.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

Like Baltimore is to John Waters, Pittsburgh is to George A. Romero. The pervasive gloominess of the old steel town inhabits every sidewalk, train station, and living room in this profoundly sad urban vampire tale. More Cassavetes than Hammer or Tod Browning, Romero's shy, awkward bloodsucker is miles away from the suave, menacing Counts with which most film fans have become familiar. Instead of inhabiting a cobwebbed European castle, this Nosferatu lives in a shabby, working-class Western Pennsylvania neighborhood. And while Dracula subdued his victims with an hypnotic gaze before sinking his fangs into their throats, Martin must resort to sneaking up on unsuspecting women and drugging them with a syringe. Working part-time delivering groceries to lonely, suicidal housewives may not sound all that scary, but in the hands of the maestro Romero, the mundane never felt so frightening.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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George A. Romero

Director

John Amplas

Martin

Lincoln Maazel

Cuda

Christine Forrest

Christina

Elyane Nadeau

Mrs. Santini

Tom Savini

Arthur

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Michael H. Price

Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com

Romero demystifies legendry with with respect.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 28, 2022

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

Guardian

Overlong, underfed with ideas, and almost bereft of any real excitement.

Sep 28, 2022

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Bill Cosford

Miami Herald

A film full of style, full of twists on the conventions of movie horror.

Sep 28, 2022

Full Review

Kat Hughes

THN

A film that helped to reinvent and reshape the vampire mythos, Martin is another example of Romero at the top of his game.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 28, 2023

Full Review

Niall Browne

Movies in Focus

A film that was caught-up in the UK’s Video nasty kerfuffle in the 1980s, Romero often referred to Martin as his favourite film. It may lack the visceral thrills of some of his other work, it’s easy to see why the filmmaker would think so fondly of it.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 19, 2023

Full Review

Marylynn Uricchio

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Enigmatic and intriguing on many levels... the age-old fascination with vampirism is contrasted with urban angst, and one may be seen directly linked with the other.

Sep 28, 2022

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Synopsis

Young Martin (John Amplas) is entirely convinced that he is an 84-year-old blood-sucking vampire. Without fangs or mystical powers, Martin injects women with sedatives and drinks their blood through wounds inflicted with razor blades. After moving to Braddock, Penn., to live with his superstitious uncle (Lincoln Maazel), who also believes Martin is a vampire, Martin tries to prey exclusively on criminals and thugs but stumbles when he falls for a housewife (Sara Venable).

Director: George A. Romero
Screenwriter: George A. Romero
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Nov 9, 2004
Runtime: 1h 35m