Horrorfest 2014: Martin

I've wanted to see MARTIN a long time, ever since becoming a fan of director George Romero in high school, thanks to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD, the two most famous and influential zombie flicks of all time.

MARTIN is a little vampire coming-of-age flick Romero wrote and directed in 1976, in between his two most famous films. Romero himself says MARTIN is his favorite film. It's pretty damn good. It's kind of like... the HAROLD AND MAUDE, RUSHMORE or GRADUATE of horror cinema. If that makes any sense.

John Amplas stars as the title character, a shy young man who isn't sure if he is a vampire. On one hand he likes to drink blood, but on the other he doesn't seem to have any supernatural powers. Early in the film we're treated to one of his first attacks, in which he renders a woman on a train unconscious with an intravenous injection, slits her wrist with a razor, and then drinks her blood. Not very vampire-like behavior, right? Wouldn't a vampire just bite a victim's neck after lulling them into hypnotic cooperation?

So, maybe Martin's not a vampire. But the the rest of his family certainly seems to think he is. Apparently they've had a vampire curse that dates back generations, and as the movie opens, Martin arrives in a Pittsburgh suburb, sent to live with his uncle (Lincoln Maazel) who is steeped in vampire lore and ready to stake Martin if he makes one false move. Also living with the old man is his kind, if put upon, daughter (Christine Forrest) who approaches Martin with sympathy.

As Martin continues his forays into bloodsucking murder, he also begins an affair with a local bored housewife (Elyane Nadeau). He also regularly calls into a local radio program to fascinate the late night kook audience with his tales of vampirism. But, a funny thing happens as the film starts to unfold: Martin, slowly but surely, begins to grow up, which leads to him questioning himself. Here comes one of the most memorable moments in the film when Martin notices he no longer relishes picking victims and attacking them as he once did, and he wonders to himself if this might be because he's now getting laid on the reg?

This is classic Romero stuff: social commentary disguised as horror. I remember reading an article about BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER once in which the author of the article posited that a teenage girl threatened by and fighting monsters is not that far fetched, because when you're a parent, you literally worry that your daughter will be attacked by monsters. The same could be said for MARTIN. As much as a young girl might be afraid a monster's around the corner, a young man might be afraid a monster is inside of himself. Of course this could go the other way around as well. That's adolescence for you. Monstrous.