Rating: 
Summary: "A Vampire for Our Age of Unbelief"
Review: "Heir to the Blood Lust"
Horror master George Romero's 1976 film MARTIN is one of those studies in ambiguity where the edges of reality get pretty fuzzy. John Amplas delivers an engaging and affecting performance as the titular character, a young man who believes himself to be the victim of a family curse in which one member is every so often born as Nosferatu (i.e., a vampire). Romero's script, however, abandons traditional vampire lore--Martin isn't bothered too much by sunlight or Christian crosses, he eats garlic, and instead of fangs, he uses razor blades to access the precious crimson fluid of his victims. So is Martin actually a vampire, or just a severely disturbed young man? What, really, is the distinction? After all, he IS killing people and he IS drinking his victims' blood--so what if he doesn't have fangs? And his elderly cousin, steeped in the ways of the old country, definitely believes, and HE is determined to save Martin's soul or else destroy him.
Films like this don't come along too often, and they rarely come out of Hollywood. Produced a few years before DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978), the first sequel to his magnum opus NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968), MARTIN is one of Romero's more thoughtful and thought-provoking works. Characters stripped of cinematic romanticism, gritty on-location shooting in Pennsylvania suburbs, and brilliant use of grainy black-and-white footage for flashback sequences--actually, are they flashbacks, or has Martin blurred reality with sequences from his favorite films?--help to create a moving and realistic portrait of a young man who, in spite of his murderous habit, is both sympathetic and genuine.
The influence of this film on later indie filmmakers is obvious, most notably on the relative newbie Larry Fessenden. Indeed, Fessenden's 1997 work HABIT would make a nice companion piece--or perhaps the second of a double feature--for Romero's MARTIN, as both offer a slice from the life of a bloodsucker without making it really clear whether or not the preternatural is involved. In actuality, the two films differ in point of view only. MARTIN tells the story basically through the vampire's eyes; HABIT has viewers following things from the victim's standpoint.
The Anchor Bay DVD edition of MARTIN offers a good transfer of the film in the 1.33:1 Academy Ratio. An excellent film that most genre fans will find is well worth the price of admission.
Rating: 
Summary: Bizarre disturbing profile of a serial killer
Review: "Martin" is a strange film and not without flaws as well as highlights. Romero crafts the tale of a lonely, withdrawn young man who likes to call a radio talk show and talk about what it's like to be a vampire. His grandfather is convinced (and has convinced Martin) that he is an 84 year old vampire. Yet Martin goes out in the daytime, eats food, and seems perfectly benign-until he starts brutally killing people. The murder scenes are really hard to stomach, particularly the murder of a woman and her lover. If you can get through those, however the ending is really intriguing. Also interesting are the flashbacks (or fantasies depending on whether you believe Martin to be a vampire or not) in black and white of some beautiful young girl. Martin is an aimless youth for sure, and the only real human connection he makes is with a Mrs Robinsonish unhappy woman starved for love also. Martin is confusing, entertaining and brutally violent all at once, but I think it is ultimately a rewarding piece, if you can ignore the trademark (though restrained in this film) bloodletting rape and gore.
Rating:
Summary: Romero's At His Finest!! HIGHLY Recommended!!
Review: "Martin" is definitly one of Romero's BEST films! (Romero himself said at one point that it's his best film!) It stays away from the cliches of the average film dealing with the mythology of vampires and shows a breath of fresh air in addressing it. Romero's take on vampires is more associated with drug addiction. Be warned however! This film IS a horror film but mainly because of it's association with vampires. Though a great film, it doesn't really have "scares" (though the 2 sequences where Martin attacks his victims for blood are well paced and errie as hell!) and the film might be considered too "indie" by some (if you're one of these people, PLEASE be open minded to this great piece of filmmaking!) Nevertheless, this is another classic from one of the best independent filmmakers!
Rating:
Summary: Very Beautifully Made and Time Signatured Movie
Review: "Martin", along with "Dawn of the Dead" has got to be one of my top 3 favorite Romero films, along with "Day of the Dead". This movie has to be one of the best vampire films ever made, even though it doesn't purely deal with vampirism; it benefits from a range of topics all wrapped up into one great movie. Also, it's very beautifully made in that it portrays an almost lost era of quiet town life in the most wonderful areas from the '70's. The music is a great treat, also. I give this movie 5 stars all the way!
Rating:
Summary: A very modern vampire movie.
Review: 'Martin' begins with a sequence one might more readily associate with the overwrought films of Dario Argento, but filmed with the dispassionate intensity of a Robert Bresson. We see a gentle, shy young man boarding a train headed for Pittsburgh, eyeing a pretty young woman. Because this is a horror movie, we assume he is a serial rapist or killer, and his precise use of tools - an anaesthetic so that he can violate his unconscious victims - furthers the suspicion, as do the usual screams, tussles and shredding of clothes. But there are three breaks from the exploitative norm in this sequence. First is the unsettling meekness of the attacker: far from being shadowy, violent and menacing, he tries to genuinely soothe his victim. Secondly is that Bressonian style I mentioned - no camera movement; the dynamics of the action proceeding by clean, propulsive, interlocking editing that emphasises objects and the hands making ritual use of them. The style distances the exploitative content, and suggests a meaning or purpose beyond the generic norm. Thirdly, Martin is not a rapist or psychopathic killer, but a vampire - the moment his fellow passenger zonks out, he slits open her arms and gorges. Martin is being sent to his granduncle, an elderly Catholic shopowner who lives with his granddaughter, and who intends to save Martin's soul before destroying him, as if the boy were a drug-addict undergoing cold turkey. As he did with his classic zombie films, Romero takes a horror myth long made ridiculous by parody and camp, and firmly fixes it in the contemporary world, through which prism is presented a satiric view of modern captalism, consumerism, the media, gender, racial and class politics, work, families, a culture of confession etc. Though nominally 84, Martin is in his late teens; part of his problem is that his bloodlusting has diverted him from consummating the other kind of lust. Stuck in a town stale with old folk, the young having long emigrated in search of work, he finds himself an object of interest for bored housewives, with his pious grandfather more like a stern parent who won't let his son go out late. The familiar vampire myths are sent up, mostly during Martin's conversations with a talk radio host, but also in a paralell narrative iintercut with the modern story, a fey, grainy, monochrome pastiche full of candelabra, lipsticked Counts, nubile Hammer horror dames and rampaging vigilantes. The fragmentation of action instigated by the Bressonian editing soon transfers to the narrative itself, which splinters down bizarre byways, with Martin as a mysterious Fantomas-style haunter of pristine bourgeois homes, supple and fleet in a tight black costume. As ever with Romero, sobriety and earnestness are meticulously built up to such an intense pitch that the only release is in a baffling comedy that doesn't negate what went before, but renders the film even less graspable. He is aided in this by a brilliantly, flute-flitting score that switches between menace and mirth without ever revealing the joins.
Rating:
Summary: a slightly campy, but truly disturbing film
Review: .... I thought I would very easily be able to write it off as just another campy '70's horror movie~but i soon realized it was much more. I have been a life long horror film fan, and i love a good cheesy horror movie almost as much as a truly frightening one. And i confess, I thought i would be able to put "Martin" into the first catagory. But by the end of the first 15mins, i realized it was something a lot more. I can honestly say i have never seen anything quite like "Martin" before. The opening sequence where Martin claims his victim on a train in the dead of night, is truly disturbing. The entire film gave me a very uneasy feeling~hard to explain really, but then it's a rare thing for a horror film to actually leave an impression on me. I have just seen so many, that i guess i have become jaded to it all. But every once in a while i see a movie that gives me the hibbie-jeebies~and Martin was definitely one of those movies. This movie left me thinking about what i had just seen, long after it was over. I will say that i found some of the dialogue not only written, but delivered in a more then slightly campy manner~having said that, i think that John Amplas was perfect for the role, and can not picture anyone else being able to pull it off so well. I guess the most intriguing part of the film, is trying to figure out if Martin truly is a vampire, or just a frighteningly disturbed young man~and i think that leaving the question unanswered is part of the reason i found the movie so unnerving. Not to mention the ending which was both shocking and tragicly sad. And just the mere fact that you actually come to care about a character like Martin, after everything you see him do during the course of the film, is probably the most disturbing thing of all.
Rating:
Summary: A fine presentation of Romero's personal favorite
Review: Again a super presentation of an unusual film. George Romero himself has stated that this is his favorite of the many fine films he has directed. This is not precisely a vampire film, and I'm not even sure it is properly called a horror film. Martin is a young boy living with his uncle, who is convinced that Martin is an 84-year-old vampire. Martin shares few characteristics of a traditional vampire (he walks around during the day, and eats ice cream sandwiches) but he is certainly a murderer. Of course, Martin is conflicted about his impulses and rationalizes his murders. He's not a sadist; indeed, he anesthetizes his victims (right before opening their arteries with a razor blade). But is Martin a vampire? Is he even sane? Is his uncle right, or is he also part of a mutually supporting delusion? I think its open to interpretation. Savini's makeup effects are phenomenal given the budget and available technology, and look out for an effect towards the end that you won't forget (it is so good it may even be a little out of place in this picture). Chris Romero and Lincoln Maazel give fine performances in supporting roles, much better than typical late 1970s low-budget fare. There are big cars, but nary a wide lapel to be found. The film comes with one of the truly great director's commentary tracks with Romero, star John Amplas, and costar/make-up artist Tom Savini. These guys don't mumble inanities (i.e. "this was a hard scene to film, this is a great actor"). You get lots of atmospheric detail about the 1978 filming, and it adds to the replayability. George Romero is getting older and he won't make films forever. He has never been mainstream, but he graces us with personal insight into this great film that would otherwise be lost to film history. In coming years (centuries, I hope) we'll have this work and audio commentary digitally immortalized for future horror fans.)
Rating:
Summary: One of the best and most moving vampire films of all time
Review: George A. Romero's "Martin" is a nearly perfect film. While firmly rooted in the postmodern, "Martin" also gives the attentive viewer a good idea of how vampire myths may have originated; with the hysterical superstitions of old Europe trying to come to grips with a serial murderer like the eponymous Martin, played convincingly and sympathetically by John Amplas. Filmed in an economically depressed steel town in Pennsylvania, this film echoes "Nosferatu" (1922) in its depiction of a moribund city devoid of youth and life. Shot in 16mm, "Martin" is strangely beautiful, and a perfect visual documentation of the mid-1970s. Amplas makes one of the most memorable vampire protagonists in the history of film. Even in a tight yellow t-shirt, blue jeans, and tennis shoes, he exhibits as much sinister grace as Christopher Lee, Delphine Seyrig, or Max Schreck. "Martin" is easily one of the best and most strangely moving vampire films of all time.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best and most moving vampire films of all time
Review: George A. Romero's "Martin" is a nearly perfect film. While firmly rooted in the postmodern, "Martin" also gives the attentive viewer a good idea of how vampire myths may have originated; with the hysterical superstitions of old Europe trying to come to grips with a serial murderer like the eponymous Martin, played convincingly and sympathetically by John Amplas. Filmed in an economically depressed steel town in Pennsylvania, this film echoes "Nosferatu" (1922) in its depiction of a moribund city devoid of youth and life. Shot in 16mm, "Martin" is strangely beautiful, and a perfect visual documentation of the mid-1970s. Amplas makes one of the most memorable vampire protagonists in the history of film. Even in a tight yellow t-shirt, blue jeans, and tennis shoes, he exhibits as much sinister grace as Christopher Lee, Delphine Seyrig, or Max Schreck. "Martin" is easily one of the best and most strangely moving vampire films of all time.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: I saw this film months ago but it still lingers in my memory. I checked it out because I very much enjoyed Romero's zombie films. I already knew many consider it a classic.
From the brooding opening to the unexpected shock of the ending, this films delivers non-stop tension. The disturbed (and disturbing) main character acts wonderfully. Actually, the whole cast is fine.
I recommend it wholly.
Bottom line: As may be expected, there is some blood.
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