A low-key, realistic vampire film with great Pennsylvania rust-belt atmosphere.

Flipping vampire lore and mythology on its head, "Martin" is one of the hidden gems of the 70s and a sublime example of a genre movie that revels in blurring and subverting its genre conventions. A weirdly wonderful mash-up of socialist realist vampire movie and intense psychological portrayal of a highly unstable mind with insightful commentary on peer pressure, mass hysteria and - to a lesser extent - pop culture. Loved how they kept Martin silent for the first 30 min. Pretty ballsy.

In completely eschewing the traditional vampire mythos, Romero raises several interesting questions in Martin, and provides no simple answers for the viewer. Quiet and deliberately paced, yet powerful and creepy in parts. Dexter Morgan owes a lot to the Martin character.

I'm really astonished at the across-the-board high ratings this gets. The actors are terrible, the writing is worse - enjoyable in style only.

This take on the vampire movie reminds me of Altman's genre deconstructions. Stripping away the tired, superflous conventions - putting the traditional dialectic, an alienated outcast dependent on human contact, into the new salient context of the troubles of an angsty youth - Romero also quite brilliantly keeps it ambiguous whether Martin was born a monster or gradually made into one. Killer ending.

At a point in time where the Vampire genre was almost flogged to death, Romero takes it in another direction. The link between vampirism and sex is intact, but Romero's vampire is not as much a bloodthirsty count invading the secular world, but rather an unstable teenager insecure about the 'sexy stuff'. Visually it juxtaposes social-realistic contemporary Pennsylvania with expressionistic black and white 'flashbacks' and thus both pays homage to the old vampire films and is refreshingly new.

Offbeat, funky little (sort-of-)vampire film. As an added bonus (or detriment, if you want the terrorists to win) it oozes 70ies style from every pore. It's a shame Romero didn't do more of this small-scale weird shit cause it made me happy. In my pants.

Bizarre, interesting, glad I've seen it. Didn't really enjoy it.

Further cemented George Romero's status as one of America's best independent filmmakers, both artistic and scuzzy, with dollops of humor and political commentary.

Subtly thoughtful with a great ending. Too bad the pacing seems off (maybe intentional, either way it irked me) and the acting is spotty. One of Romero's better films.

I'm usually ambivalent about Romero's flicks, but this one caught my interest and didn't let go. It was an intriguing and original interpretation of vampire mythology.

Night of the Living Dead is the classic and Dawn of the Dead may be the fan favourite, but Martin is the BEST film Romero has made.

A really interesting take on the vampire myth. Both repulsive and heartbreaking at the same time.

I've decided, I'd really like to do it with you BAM!

One of the most boring movies I've ever seen.

81.125

Romero invented the Zombie genre so why not try to reinvent and modernize the vampire genre? Too bad..religiosity is here to stay awhile so vampires will fear crucifixes and holy water until more people get a clue, like Romero.

Beautiful and ugly, simple and complex. All at the same time.

slow, stylish, and bloody

This film is in a league for itself when it comes to the exceptional fusion of explicit violence, a gloomy atmosphere and a quiet characters-study, everything complementing each other perfectly, so that the end result is a delicious, frightening, dark, colourful and feverishly moody film; Romero's artistry is definitively present in this compelling tale of human insecurity, compassion and sometimes dangerious obsessions.

Daringly tackling the vampire mythology in a unique fashion, Romero uses Martin's fragile, crumbling mind to also mirror a small town's urban decay as the 70s came to a close. Mixing in eerie flashbacks that speak to the young man's disturbed imagination, this is a movie that brings its subject full bore into the 20th century. Although the ending is something I saw coming a mile away, it does not harm the film's originality. Both an underseen classic and one of the best of the vampire movies.

Deep, very cool variation on the vampire theme. All hail George A. Romero

A very personal and intriguing film from Romero. What it lacks in budget and technical achievement (the acting, writing, and cinematography are ok but unspectacular - though I did like the "flashbacks"), it makes up for with its strange and enigmatic nature and the fact that this was clearly a labor of love for Romero and others involved in the project.

A positive surprise. Martin is a perfectly paced, quiet film, that occasionally bursts out in violence. Has a kind of fragileness to it, that reflects the emotional insecurity of the protagonist.

An intensely sad film, which surprised me. I love how well the ordinarily grandiloquent trappings of the vampire film transposed to a depressed blue-collar American town. Definitely feels like it's missing something (the legendary first cut ran about 165 minutes) as its narrative ambitions outstrip its run time, but thankfully the mood survived intact.

Great cast, and keep an eye out for special fx LEGEND Tom Savini

Romero devises a new twist on traditional vampire lore. Impressive, offbeat approach to modern horror.