Martin (1977)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

George A. Romero

Writer:

George A. Romero (writer)

Release Date:

7 July 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

A Vampire for Our Age of Disbelief

Plot:

A young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a small Pennsylvania town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Razor Blade | Blood | Hypodermic | Marching Band

Cast

John Amplas	...	Martin Madahas
Lincoln Maazel	...	Tada Cuda
Christine Forrest	...	Christina
Elyane Nadeau	...	Mrs. Santini
Tom Savini	...	Arthur
Sara Venable	...	Housewife Victim
Francine Middleton	...	Train Victim (as Fran Middleton)
Roger Caine	...	Lewis (as Al Levitsky)
George A. Romero	...	Father Howard
James Roy	...	Deacon
J. Clifford Forrest Jr.	...	Father Zulemas
Robert Ogden	...	Businessman
Donaldo Soviero	...	Flashback Priest
Donna Siegel	...	Woman
Albert J. Schmaus	...	Family Member

Also Known As:

George A. Romero's Martin (Australia)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2005) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | France:-16 | Iceland:16 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Braddock, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Laurel Entertainment Inc.

Trivia:

Romero has confirmed that there is no known existing copy of the legendary 2 hour 45 minute cut at a recent screening of the film in New York City.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Martin stabs the cheating wife's lover in the neck, he has a red shirt on. In all scenes prior to this, the man never has a shirt on.

Quotes:

Mrs. Santini: I can't have kids. I can never have kids. I have something wrong inside. I don't know, what do you think? Is that good for me, bad for me? No opinion? That's why you're so nice to have around Martin. You don't have opinions.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Dead Will Walk (2004) (V)

me and Martin go way back

I probably watched it 100 times in high school, although I probably haven't put it on in this decade. And how does it look now that Uncle Fuzzy has replaced my old Betamax copy? Well the first thing I noticed was the fine detail of the bored-housewives this teenage vampire gets mixed up with, and how that milieu really does affect their behaviour and hence the plot. I noticed that the bits of romantic dialogue that I used to find shudderingly cheesy are DELIBERATELY that, because that's how these people would actually talk. I noticed that old Tata Cuda, the colonel-sanders-like uncle who is out to save Martin's soul, is not completely unsympathetic, not due to anything the conservative old codger actually does, but due to the fact that Lincoln Maazel's performance is - I can hardly even type it - UNDERSTATED. I noticed that Romero's smoking-priest cameo is even more hilarious and apt than I remembered it. I saw how this guy can barely pack into one movie everything he's trying to get across, new stuff just keeps happening - he's not connecting the dots or marking time, he's inventing something new. And I asked myself again whether this puberty-parable-for-grownups is an even greater film than Romero's anticapitalism-for-teenyboppers. And once again I just dunno.