Review of Martin (1978) by Andrew S — 07 May 2009

George A. Romero's Martin is a low-budget, revisionist horror movie about a troubled teenage boy who is brought to an economically depressed Pennsylvanian town to live with his cousin. Martin's side of the family is said to have a curse, and he may or may not be an 84 year old vampire.

Martin himself claims there is no such thing as "magic" and he doesn't conform to standard vampire lore, like having fangs or an aversion to sunlight. Instead, he uses razor blades and hypodermic needles to attack his victims.

Most vampire movies are allegories of one kind or another; here, Romero subverts traditional vampire mythology as a means of exploring the ways that distrust and superstition destroy families. The vampire theme also serves as a fascinating metaphor for teenage alienation: the town of Braddock offers Martin only the most mundane kind of future, and his ambivalent, yet compulsive, drive towards vampirism is a manifestation of his inner turmoil.

Romero followed this intimate masterpiece with the epic Dawn of the Dead (1978).