Martin

Martin (also known internationally as Wampyr) is a 1977 American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero, and starring John Amplas. Its plot follows a troubled young man who believes himself to be a vampire. Shot in 1976, Martin was Romero's fifth feature film and followed The Crazies (1973). Romero said that Martin was the favorite of all his films. The film is also the first collaboration between George Romero and special effects artist Tom Savini. While a prosecution for obscenity did not result, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic. Plot A young man, Martin, traveling on an overnight train from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh, sedates a woman with a syringe full of narcotics, slices her forearm with a razor blade, then drinks her blood, allowing her to slowly bleed to death. The next morning, he is met at the Pittsburgh train station by his elderly cousin, Tateh Cuda, who escorts him to a second train destined for Braddock, Pennsylvania. Martin claims to be much older than his appearance would suggest. He has romantic monochrome visions of religious icons, vampiric seductions, and torch-carrying mobs, but whether these are memories or fantasies is not specified. Cuda, in accordance with family tradition, has reluctantly agreed to give Martin room and board alongside Cuda's orphaned granddaughter, Christina. Cuda is a Lithuanian Catholic who treats Martin like an Old World vampire, referring to him as "Nosferatu." He tries unsuccessfully to repel Martin with traditional methods, such as strings of garlic and a crucifix. Martin mocks these attempts and says bitterly, "There's no real magic...ever." Christina is also highly skeptical and critical of Cuda's beliefs, and thinks Martin should receive psychiatric treatment. Cuda warns that if Martin murders anyone in Braddock, he will stake him through the heart.