Martin (1978) on Netflix
A young man convinced he is a vampire moves into his elderly cousin's house in Braddock, Pennsylvania. Tada Cuda treats him as Nosferatu; Cuda's granddaughter Christina is skeptical.
- Netflix4.0/5
- IMDb6.9/1014,243 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes90%
Trailer
Plot summary
Martin arrives by train from Indianapolis, and his elderly cousin Tada Cuda meets him in Pittsburgh and takes him on to Braddock, Pennsylvania. Martin believes he is a vampire and claims to be far older than he looks; he carries visions of torch-carrying mobs and vampiric seductions that may be memories or fantasies. Cuda, a Lithuanian Catholic, has agreed without enthusiasm to house him alongside his granddaughter Christina, and treats Martin as an Old World Nosferatu, hanging garlic and holding up a crucifix, while Christina argues that Martin needs psychiatric care. Martin delivers groceries for Cuda's store and phones a local disc jockey, who nicknames him The Count.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Martin (1978)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- A 16mm print of Martin's black-and-white director's cut, long believed lost, was found in October 2021 and sold at auction in July 2022 to a private bidder for $51,200. The print runs about 150 minutes and has extra scenes and a different ending.
- Martin was made for what producer Rubinstein admitted was a real budget of only $100,000, but he told people it was around $250,000 so nobody would think an independent film could be commissioned that cheaply.
- The character of Martin was first written as an older man and an actual vampire; after seeing John Amplas in a Pittsburgh stage production of Philemon, George A. Romero rewrote the part to suit him and gave him the role.
- Martin was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic, although no obscenity prosecution resulted.
- George A. Romero shot Martin on color film stock and clashed with producer Richard Rubinstein over his wish to make it black-and-white; the released film is in color, with only Martin's fantasy and dream sequences presented in black-and-white.
- British synth-pop band Soft Cell wrote a 10:16 song called "Martin" inspired by the film; it was only available as a 12" single bundled with early copies of their 1983 album The Art of Falling Apart.
