A George A. Romero Retrospective: ‘Martin’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

‘Things only seem to be magic. There is no real magic. There’s no real magic ever.’
- Martin

There is a prevailing belief, that many of the monsters that populate the horror genre, are grounded in some semblance of reality and there is merit to that particular line of thinking. After all, we have come to learn that poison from puffer fish can make people appear to be dead and alive at the same time, which could serve to explain the origin of the zombie. Plus, we’ve all seen how hypertrichosis can motivate the human body to grow excess hair, lending credence to how legends of the werewolf came to be. And of course, we’ve come to learn as the years have rolled along that a lack of solid understanding of how the body decomposes, led some to believe that bloated bodies were a sign that a corpse rose from its eternal slumber to feed upon the blood of the living, leading to our belief in the vampire.   
 
But what matters most about those legends, is that they all share a common thread; a lack of knowledge and understanding. For a great many mysteries in our world can be explained away by a proper understanding of science. But despite the fact that mankind has come to figure out most of the world’s mysteries, to the point where we are now turning our attention to the stars and the universe as a whole, that lack of understanding still exists within our world. For there are those who believe that proven vaccines are dangerous to mankind, and there are others who deny the physical makeup of our world and in 2020, there are those who firmly believe the pandemic raging across the globe is nothing more than a lie. 
 
Which begs quite a few questions. Specifically, what is it that drives people to deny science and facts and embrace mythology? And for that matter, why is it when they are presented with indisputable facts, they double down on their beliefs and refuse to open their minds to the truth? If anything, the sad reality that such a diverse group of people have turned to fantasy over facts, may prevent us from ever getting a solid answer to those questions. But that certainly doesn’t stop filmmakers and storytellers from exploring this problem and offering up their own understanding of the matter. And it just so happens that George A. Romero tackled this issue years before it became mainstream by way of his next film. Which makes Martin quite the powerful and poignant horror film. Because this particular tale really does dive deep into what makes us believe in falsehoods over reality and how Romero accomplishes this is outright fascinating.
 
For in many ways, George takes the time to ponder upon the possibility, that one element that might drive people to indulge in silly notions over facts, is our inability to understand the harshness of reality. For in many ways, Tata Cuda simply cannot comprehend that there is some kind of natural explanation for the horrible things his nephew does, and rather than help him seek proper medical care for his obvious issues, he would rather believe that Martin’s incredible behavior is attributed to him being an honest to god vampire. One that can only be destroyed in the classic manner, despite the fact that Martin isn’t harmed by sunlight or garlic or anything else that would normally kill Nosferatu. And making him a monster, allows for Tata Cuda to process Martin's cruelty and gives him options in how to deal with such nightmares of his own accord.

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​But what’s truly incredible about this part of the story, is the sheer fact that Martin has bought into this line of thinking as well. For he absolutely believes he is 84 years old and has lived multiple lifetimes and that his proclivity to drink blood and murder people violently to get what he needs, is because he is indeed cursed and there is no hope for escaping said curse. Which speaks volumes to the possibility that another reason that people abandon reality for fantastical thoughts, is because the lie they are presented with; is supremely intricate and detailed and enticing. Because Martin’s family has done a phenomenal job of building up the wonder of the ‘family curse’ and how it is a shame upon all of them, one that must be handled with violent and disturbing force and well, all of these elements are what truly draw the audience into this story and keep them on the edge of their seat. 
 
Simply because you’re dying to know as to whether or not Martin is a vampire and the ambiguity that Romero keeps rolling as the story goes along just adds to the experience. Because he peppers in just enough in regard to hints and clues as to what is really going on, that the audience is able to infer that if Martin isn’t a vampire, he has to be a woefully disturbed individual, one that is suffering greatly from a form of mental illness. Because there would be no other explanation as to why he would take the time to stalk and murder people and offer up great care to ensure that he isn’t caught. And that beautiful little back and forth with the audience is once again Romero's way of allowing for the audience to make their own call as to Martin's true nature, so that everyone who watches this particular motion picture finds some semblance of satisfaction and peace from a chaotic and horrifying story.  
 
But truly, it is the commentary that this motion picture offers up that allows for it to shine. Because it really does put on display an American problem in regard to facts vs. fantasy, one that is only continuing to get worse as time goes on and really this film poses a horrifying question to the audience, in that, what exactly is it going to take, to snap people out of their fantastical beliefs? Because if Tata Cuda couldn’t see the evidence right in front of him, even after being up close and personal with ‘Nosferatu’, then there may be no hope for others that have bought into the Anti-Vaxx and Flat Earth lies. Because for some reason, their beliefs and being right about them, matters over anything else. Yet while this movie is supremely cerebral in what it has to say about modern society and its relationship with science, make no mistake about it, this is also a terrifying horror film.
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Because Romero holds nothing back in regard to Martin’s bloodlust and we are privy to disturbing scenes where innocent people are hunted down by a young man that is quite frankly like-able, and the echoes this has to real life serial killings definitely leaves the audience in an uncomfortable place for certain. In the end however, this is just another brilliant film from Romero, one that demonstrates how his skills as a writer and director were growing since this movie features some poignant and powerful commentary and sadly, this is one that didn’t catch on with viewers initially. In part because its distribution was limited in America and also because… what Romero brought to the table with his next feature, greatly overshadowed this incredible gem. But thankfully, it is finding new legs, as it should, since this is a unique and twisted horror film from a true master of the genre.

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