Martin (1977) – Vampiric Projections V: Blood Junkies

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Martin USA 1977 Regi George A. Romero Med John Amplas, Lincoln Maazel, Christine Forrest, Elyane Nadeau 1t 35m DCP Engelsk tale, engelsk tekst Aldersgrense 18 år

George Romero’s Martin, from 1977, stands out from his zombie and other more graphic films in many ways. Indeed, the Night of the Living Dead filmmaker mentioned on multiple occasions that Martin was his favorite among his output. Its treatment of vampiric blood consumption, set in the Pittsburgh town of Braddock, is special in the repertoire.

Film critic Robin Wood wrote much about Martin, in a couple of essays published in his book On the Horror Film; Collected Essays and Reviews.
In the essay Apocalypse Now: Notes on the Living Dead, Wood writes: “The metaphor of America as graveyard is central to Romero’s work, the term “living dead” describing the society of Martin as aptly as it does the zombies.”

On the other hand, Tony Williams, in Chapter 1 (A Director and His Traditions) of his book The Cinema of George A. Romero: A Knight of the Living Dead, notes that “Romero’s Martin depicts an environment whose decline not only expresses the collapse of American heavy industry but also that of human development and potential.”

George Romero himself, in an interview with Stanley Wiater in 1992, stated that “Martin is about a kid who in my mind was affected by everything from the pop culture on.”

In another essay by Robin Wood, titled Neglected Nightmares, the writes notes that: “the structures and values of low bourgeoisie [in Martin] are presented as equally constricting and demoralizing”.

Martin is part of the chapter Blood Junkies from the Vampiric Reflections series at Cinemateket Trondheim, curated by Oscar Debs. The selected films tackle the consumption of blood as addiction.

Oscar will read excerpts from the suggested readings after the screening.

Suggested readings:

Apocalypse Now: Notes on the Living Dead
&
Neglected Nightmares
– excerpts from On the Horror Film; Collected Essays and Reviews, by Robin Wood

Chapter 1: A Director and His Traditions
&
Chapter 6: Martin
– excerpts from The Cinema of George A. Romero: A Knight of the Living Dead, by Tony Williams

George A. Romero: Interviews