Rating: 
Summary: there is no magic
Review: i'm really not one to obsess over vampire flicks but this is by far one of my favorite movies of all time. anyone can enjoy this and find some way to relate, especially a teenager.
Rating: 
Summary: A social commentary masquerading as horror
Review: If your looking for nothing but action and gore, you'll probably be disappointed. If you are looking for a multi-dimensional horror movie that delves into social constructs and the then unique character of a guilty vampire, you won't be disappointed. Martin is probably Romero's true masterpiece. Horror, humor, sentimentality, and tragedy are all nicely packaged in this movie. If you like this genre, don't miss this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Romero's return to greatness.
Review: Martin (Geroge Romero, 1977)George Romero's debut film, Night of the Living Dead,
is a Hollywood legend, a movie that over thirty years
of release has grossed over a hundred thousand times
its cost and turned into a bona fide wordwide
phenomenon. Romero was widely hailed (when not being
described as Satan incarnate or scaring folks so badly
they introduced the MPAA ratings system) as America's
next big thing, the filmmaker who would change the
face of Hollywood-- now that they realized he existed. Then came a string of films for which "unwatchable" is
the kindest possible term-- two (There's Always
Vanilla and Jack's Wife) stock seventies melodramas so
bad that they faded into obscurity in about ten
minutes apiece, and one (The Crazies) attempt to
return to the horror genre that lacks, well, horror.
For nine long years, it looked as if Romero were
suffering through a neverending sophomore slump. Then someone got a brilliant idea-- why not combine
Peyton Place-style melodrama and elements of horror?
Hey, Cronenberg did it in 1975 with Shivers and got a
half-decent audience response, right? The result was Martin, Romero's fifth film and the
beginning of the career that should have started just
after Night of the Living Dead was released. It was a
long, long time afetr this before Romero released
another bad movie (and some say he still hasn't; all
depends on your opinion of The Dark Half). Romero took
the same approach with Martin that he did with Night
of the Living Dead: cast a whole lot of unknowns,
shoot on the cheapest possible film, make the movie as
far outside the confines of Hollywood as possible. And
it worked, and it worked tremendously. Martin is the story of, depending on whom you believe,
either a conflicted teen who's been brainwashed by his
family or an eighty-plus-year-old vampire intent on
terrorizing his family (in either case, it's John
Amplas in his screen debut). Martin has just moved to
Pittsburgh from Indiana to live with his
grandfather/cousin (again, depending on to whom you
listen), Cuda (Lincoln Maazel, Lorin's father, in his
only screen appearance) and cousin/niece, etc.,
Christina (Christine Forrest). Upon arrival, Cuda
makes no bones about his belief that Martin is a
vampire and relegates him to the same outcast status
enjoyed by Christina. Eventually, though, the family
feeling of the neighborhood wins out, and Martin
starts developing friendships, even a sexual
relationship with a lonely housewife, Mrs. Santini
(Elizabeth Nadeau). He also becomes a regular caller
to a late night talk showunder the moniker "The
Count," and he and the host try to work out some of
the family neuroses that plague Martin throughout the
movie. What stands out about the film, aside from Romero's
direction and the naturalness of the actors (there's a
reason casting unknowns is a popular trend for
independent directors), is the exceptional subtlety in
the script. Martin is so befuddled by his family he
really doesn't know if he's a vampire or not; neither
do we. His relationships point to both social and
sexual virginity, though we're well aware that Martin
is neither (the original cut of the film was X-rated;
Romero was forced to cut a grand total of two seconds
to achieve the R), and the way the various characters
sympathetic to him allow Martin to start to flower as
a person is touching-- something unexpected, to say
the least, in a horror film. For lack of a better
word, the whole thing is quite nice, and would have
been a minor, obscure coming-of-age flick if not for
Martin's alternately horrifying and humorous attempts
to live up to his supposed birthright and his
grandfather's head popping up now and again and
hissing "nosssssferaaaatuuuuuuuu!" at him. A wonderful movie. While it didn't live up to the
changing-the-face-of-American-film thing, Romero had
already done that with Night of the Living Dead;
looked at by itself, Martin is a remarkable little
movie, and one that deserves a wider audience. ****
1/2
Rating:
Summary: Romero`s Best & Personal film.
Review: Martin (John Amplas in a excellent performance) is a misunderstood young man, who is also a Rapist & a Murderer towards Young Woman or Anyone gets in his Way. Martin thinks, he lived the life of a Vampire before maybe? He has a few problems with his eyes. He creates a illusion or that could be his pass life, when he starts out as a Vampire. But he`s craving for blood towards young woman but he has problems with his Cousin or could be his Uncle Cuda (Lincoln Maazel also good) who believes in the Famuily Curse of Vampires. DVD`s an fine Pan & Scan (1.33:1) aspect ratio & an good Dolby Digital 2.0 mono Sound. Written and Directed by George A. Romero gives his Most Interesting Movie yet, this has an Unusual Premise with Tongue in Cheek Humor. Including an excellent running commmentary track by Director:George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Bruiser), Actor:John Amplas (Day of the Dead) & Make-up Artist:Tom Savini (The 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead). Romero`s First Cut was 165 Minutes but that Cut is Missing (As he said in the Commentary Track) and Euporean Version has be Re-Edited and Has an Different Score from the Goblins (Suspiria, Dawn of the Dead). Also included an very interesting trailer. George A. Romero`s best work as a Director & His most personal film to Date. An unusual and a unique film from the Horror Director. Grade:A.
Rating:
Summary: Color Me Blood Red...
Review: Martin (John Amplas) is a lad with a serious problem. He simply must kill and drink the blood of his victims. Is he a vampire? A serial killer w/ an interesting twist? A compulsive blood addict? We are left to decide this for ourselves. Martin moves in with his cousin Cuda (Lincoln Maazel), who is totally convinced of Martin's vampirism. Is he correct, or just an overly zealous religious fanatic? Cuda bombards Martin with all the tired old anti-vampire stuff of legend, like crosses, garlic, mirrors, etc. to no avail. Martin fears none of these things. He is a complex individual who just might be schizophrenic, as his b&w "flashback" sequences could imply. But then again, he may be nosferatu as well! Either way, Martin is a murderer. His prey are drugged with hypodermics, then stripped and drained of their precious red fluid via razor blade. Martin is very careful about not getting caught, covering his tracks well in an age before DNA technology and superior forensics. I really enjoyed this movie. MARTIN is one of George A. Romero's forgotten classics (like THE CRAZIES), and deserves to be in every horror collector's crypt! ...
Rating:
Summary: A sad and haunting look at insanity.
Review: Martin is a disturbed young man who comes to the wasting away town of Braddock to live with his elderly cousin Tata Cuda. Both Martin and Cuda believe that Martin is an 84 year old vampire, not the quiet and shy youth others see. Martin has no supernatural powers (sedative and razors take the place of hypnosis and fangs) and sunlight only bothers his eyes a little when he starts getting 'shaky'. Cuda promises to care for Martin as long as the boy does not take anyone from town... Martin was the movie that proved Night of the Living Dead was not a fluke and that George A. Romero was an intelligent and visionary director in the horror movie arena. John Amplas does a marvelous job making a monstrous character sympathetic. Those wanting cheap thrills need look elsewhere, this is adult horror, disturbing and thought provoking in its look at legend and insanity playing off of each other. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A sad and haunting look at insanity.
Review: Martin is a disturbed young man who comes to the wasting away town of Braddock to live with his elderly cousin Tata Cuda. Both Martin and Cuda believe that Martin is an 84 year old vampire, not the quiet and shy youth others see. Martin has no supernatural powers (sedative and razors take the place of hypnosis and fangs) and sunlight only bothers his eyes a little when he starts getting 'shaky'. Cuda promises to care for Martin as long as the boy does not take anyone from town... Martin was the movie that proved Night of the Living Dead was not a fluke and that George A. Romero was an intelligent and visionary director in the horror movie arena. John Amplas does a marvelous job making a monstrous character sympathetic. Those wanting cheap thrills need look elsewhere, this is adult horror, disturbing and thought provoking in its look at legend and insanity playing off of each other. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Deeply Disturbing Film By George Romero
Review: MARTIN is a very disturbing film directed by the creator of "The Living Dead" series, George Romero. John Amplas plays the character of Martin, who may or may not be a vampire. He moves to a poor, dying steel town in Pennsylvania to live with is relative Tata Cuda (Lincoln Maazel). Cuda believes him to be a vampire & has vowed to destroy him to save his soul. Martin works around Cida's store while trying to fit in society. The only ones who treat him fairly is his cousin Christine & an older woman who he has sexual relations with. All the while, Martin seeks out victims to satisfy his sick bloodlust. This is a forgotten classic that is tragically overlooked by horror film fans. The viewer is left to decide whether Martin is indeed a vampire or a very disturbed young man. What makes this film very disturbing is that he shares a lot of the deranged traits of serial killers. The other thing that makes this film very disturbing is that the storyline itself is very POSSIBLE. With a lot of serial murderers out there who has the same characteristics as Martin has, it's easy to feel uneasy while watching this film. This is Romero's most personal film. He shot this film on 16 mm, hired unknown actors to make this film on the cheap & delivered a very disturbing horror film. Martin, without the extreme horror, could very well be a teen age film that deals with the everyday angst of being a teen. Very well done, MARTIN is gem!
Rating:
Summary: A Dark and disturbing character study
Review: Martin is one of the best character studies in cinema history right up there with Taxi Driver. Martin is not just another Horror film but a gritty and thought provoking suspense drama about a young man who thinks he is a vampire. The ending is one of the most shocking and brutal scenes I've ever seen even though I have witnessed this act played out on screen numerous times it never had such an impact on me and as the credits role all I could do was stare in amazement and listen to the voices.
Rating:
Summary: They're just like us!
Review: Martin isn't like other kids his age. He's cunning, smart & conceited (he doesn't care about what others think of him, yet acts as though he thinks people should just get it.). The only way he feels comfortable with being around people is when he has physical controll over them. Yet what he really is is a lost & scared kid that's just trying to be like everyone else. He moves in with his much older cousin Cuda, a religious fanatic determined to rid his family of the "curse" of vampirism that's supposedly plagued his family for centuries (Cuda believes Martin was born in 1892). At some times, even Martin himself considers himself a sort of old soul. However, Martin knows this isn't true & blames this thinking on his cousin's religious rantings. Martin knows he needs help, but is afraid to seek it for fear of being found out & riddiculed. He finds solace in the host of a radio talk show, much like a teenager may find comfort in reaching out to a celebrity who, they feel, may have gone through the same things.
The black & white clips were at first confusing because I had no idea where these scenes were going at first. But then I saw how it fit with Cuda's belief that his family was cursed. The ending is a beautiful, but tragic reminder of how society is both intolerant and ignorant of what they can't (or very often refuse to) understand. A must see for any student of psychology and/or sociology!
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