Jacob's 31 Days of Halloween - Day 12: Martin

Jacob's 31 Days of Halloween - Day 12: Martin

Dark, grimy, and realistic, George Romero’s Martin (released in 1978) is an entirely original take on the vampire mythology, and what a sad, lonely take it is.

Spoilers. (The last sentence is my spoiler-free recommendation.)

Despite coming out the same year as Dawn of the Dead (or perhaps, because for it), Martin is a very low-budget kitchen sink drama that takes place entirely in Pittsburgh. It’s about a young man named Martin (who is actually an 85 year old vampire) who moves in with his cousin who knows he’s a vampire and wants to destroy him. However, Martin spends most of his time running errands for local folks around the neighborhood and occasionally attacks, drugs, rapes, and sucks the blood of a few women around town. These attacks are realistically sloppy, with side-by-side comparisons of how it would go in a more romantic, typical vampire story.

Much like A Clockwork Orange or Mike Leigh’s Naked, Martin features a protagonist who does absolutely reprehensible things and all the viewer can do is watch. It’s slightly different in that Martin has to suck blood to survive, but the sexual assault aspect is entirely on him. He’s a sad, lonely character who doesn’t fit in anywhere, but he’s also very much a monster, sort of like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. He longs to do “sexy stuff” with a woman who actually wants to (and eventually meets a desperate housewife who does), but in the meantime he settles for assault. He’s both unforgivable and somewhat sympathetic, the same as many classic movie monsters.

I love how low-budget and simple the film is, almost like a spiritual sequel to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (as opposed to its actual sequels). The acting is very good from the main leads, and there’s some fun supporting performances, including one from special effects artist Tom Savini (who also did the effects for this film), as well as Romero himself as a young priest. The filming style is very simple, shot mostly indoors and never feeling particularly grandiose. The attack scenes are mostly shot handheld, creating an appropriately anxious tone to compliment the terrible situations he‘s put himself in. The sets all seem to be real houses (with some strange but memorable 70s decor), and the exterior shots are all shot in and Pittsburgh.

It’s sad, violent, fascinating, and overall a great example of indie filmmaking. If you’re alright with watching something pretty gross and depressing, this is a great little movie to check out.