Martin (1976)

Martin ​is a 1976 American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero.

Romero claims that Martin is the favorite of all his films throughout his entire career. The film is also notable as the first collaboration between George Romero and special effect artist, Tom Savini.

Plot
As the film opens, a young man, traveling on an overnight train from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh, sedates a woman with a syringe full of narcotics, slices her forearm with a razor blade, then drinks her blood. The next morning, he is met at the Pittsburgh train station by a man in a white suit who escorts him to a second train destined for Braddock, Pennsylvania. The young man, Martin, claims to be much older than his appearance would suggest. He has romantic monochrome visions of religious icons, vampiric seductions, and torch-carrying mobs, but whether these are memories or fantasies is not specified. The man in white is Martin's elderly cousin, Tateh Cuda, who, in accordance with family tradition, has reluctantly agreed to give Martin room and board alongside Cuda's orphaned granddaughter, Christina.

Cuda is a Lithuanian Catholic who treats Martin like an Old World vampire, referring to him as "Nosferatu." He tries unsuccessfully to repel Martin with traditional methods, such as strings of garlic and a crucifix. Martin mocks these attempts and says bitterly, "There's no real magic...ever." Christina is also highly skeptical and critical of Cuda's beliefs, and thinks Martin should receive psychiatric treatment. Cuda warns that if Martin murders anyone in Braddock, he will stake him through the heart.

Martin begins seeking advice from a local radio disc jockey, who dubs him "The Count." He rejects many common perceptions about vampires, saying there is no "magic stuff." The DJ's listeners consider Martin to be a hit. While making deliveries for Cuda's butcher shop, Martin meets a lonely, depressed housewife named Abbie Santini. When she touches Martin during an attempt at seducing him, he flees. Unbeknownst to his family, Martin goes to Pittsburgh and targets a woman he sees at a grocery store. Believing her to be alone while her husband is away on business, he breaks into her house but finds her in bed with a lover. After a series of struggles, Martin kills and feeds on the man instead of the woman, then drugs her before leaving the scene. Back in Braddock, Martin has sexual intercourse with Mrs. Santini, and they begin a full-fledged affair which lessens his appetite for blood.

Christina becomes increasingly frustrated by her disagreements with Cuda, ultimately moving out of his house and bidding Martin goodbye. Worried about experiencing withdrawal, Martin goes on a feeding binge in the city, wherein he attacks a pair of homeless derelicts and narrowly escapes the police. Upon returning to Braddock, he visits Mrs. Santini only to discover that she has committed suicide by cutting her wrists in a bathtub. Cuda, who has learned of Mrs. Santini's death, believes Martin to be her killer and fatally stakes him through the heart before burying him in a backyard flowerbed.

As the credits roll, radio callers inquire and speculate about "The Count" while Tateh Cuda places a small crucifix atop Martin's grave.

​Cast

 * John Amplas - Martin Mathias
 * Lincoln Maazel - Taten Cuda
 * Christine Forrest - Cousin Christina
 * Elyane Nadeau - Abbie Santini
 * Tom Savini - Arthur
 * Sara Venable - Housewife Victim
 * Fran Middleton - Train Victim
 * Roger Caine - Lewis (as Al Levitsky)
 * George A. Romero - Father Howard
 * J. Clifford Forrest Jr. - Father Zulemus
 * Tony Buba - Drug Dealer shot by Police
 * Pasquale Buba - Drug Dealer shot by Police
 * Clayton McKinnon - Drug Dealer shot by Police

Production
Romero wrote the script for Martin based on literary monsters and their orientation in culture; discussing it, he said:

The character of Martin was initially an older man and an actual vampire. Romero saw Amplas in a Pittsburgh production of Philemon he decided to rewrite the part to suit Amplas and cast him in the role.

The film was shot on a budget of around $250,000. Filmed entirely on location, many of the supporting cast members were friends and family of the filmmakers. It was filmed in the Pittsburgh suburb of Braddock, Pennsylvania during the summer of 1976. Producer Rubinstein acknowledges that where he indicated a budget of $250,000, the actual budget was only $100,000, but he did not want anyone thinking that they could just commission a film for $100,000, so he inflated the figure to what he estimated would be a reasonable, independent budgeted amount.

The original cut of the film ran approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. Romero, who shot the film on color film stock, had initially wanted the film to be black-and-white, and disputed with producer Richard Rubinstein over the matter. The final version of the film as it was released is in color, with only Martin's fantasy and dream sequences presented in black-and-white.

In October 2021, a print of the black-and-white director's cut, previously believed to be lost, was located, and will undergo restoration.

Theatrical
Martin was screened at the Cannes film market in 1977 in hopes of securing a distributor. Libra Films International purchased distribution rights to the picture, initially giving it a limited release in the United States on May 10, 1978 around the Washington, D.C. area.

Similar to Romero's Dawn of the Dead, Martin was edited for the European market by Dario Argento and released in 1978 under the title of Wampyr. Its score was performed by the band Goblin. Wampyr is now only available in an Italian-dubbed version.

Home media
In the United States, the film received a DVD release by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The film was re-released on DVD on November 9, 2004 by Lionsgate. In the United Kingdom, it was released by Arrow Video in a two-disc DVD set on June 28, 2010.[citation needed] In April 2021, Second Sight Films announced that a 4K restoration of the film was underway, with Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD releases expected later that year.

Soundtrack
The film score by Donald Rubinstein was released on Perseverance Records in November 7, 2007. It was originally released by Varèse Sarabande in 1979.

Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Martin holds an approval rating of 90%, based on 30 reviews, and an average rating of 7.61/10. Its consensus reads, "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." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews".

A review published by The Austin Chronicle noted: "Martin is relentlessly downbeat and has a molasses pace, but is nonetheless worthwhile to watch if you're in the mood for an uncomfortable, depressing Romero-style take on the vampire legend."

Variety staff wrote: "Pittsburgh-based auteur George A. Romero is still limited by apparently low budgets. But he has inserted some sepia-toned flashback scenes of Martin in Rumania that are extraordinarily evocative, and his direction of the victimization scenes shows a definite flair for suspense." Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader called the film "quasi-comic", and added that it "remains his artiest effort, and in some respects his most accomplished work." Robert Sellers of the Radio Times awarded the film four out of five stars, calling it "a neglected minor masterpiece", and praised the film's intelligent story, atmosphere, and humor. TV Guide gave the film four out of five stars, calling it "a shocking, thoughtful reworking of the vampire myth"

The film was not without its detractors. Judith Martin of The Washington Post criticized the film's depiction of violence as well as the critical assessments regarding the film's underlying themes (such as alienation and satire of the literary vampire), writing: "Martin is pretentious in a way that pornography is when it is dressed up for people who don't want to admit to their taste. We're not really coming for that, it seems to say; that is just there because it is an integral part of the story."

Legacy
In the early 2010s, Time Out conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who had worked within the horror genre. They were asked to vote for their top horror films. Martin placed at number 87 on their top 100 list.

British synth pop/avant-garde band Soft Cell wrote a 10:16 song entitled "Martin" inspired by this film. Only available as a 12" single bundled with initial copies of their 1983 album, The Art of Falling Apart, it was included as a bonus track when the album was released on CD.

Upon Romero's passing, Ben Sachs of The Chicago Reader wrote about the film calling it "perhaps the most emotional in Romero's career." Jez Winship authored a monograph entitled Martin, an analysis on the film published by Electric Dreamhouse. In November 2021, producers announced the release of the three and a half hours director's cut of the film.