Each issue this month, I’m reviewing a different scary flick, focusing on ones that have somehow remained below my radar up to this point and about which I knew virtually nothing until viewing them… titles that I’ve been “in the dark” about.
I’ll write a brief reaction to each, as well as rate it based on the five criteria that I deem most essential for a good scary movie, using a “zero-worst to 10-best” scale.
Martin (1978, directed by George A. Romero)
The eponymous character is a 17-year-old (who claims to be 84) who drinks human blood. He arrives by train in Pennsylvania to stay with his uncle, who, subscribing to a conviction that has been passed down through generations, believes Martin is a vampire and promises to save his soul then destroy him afterwards. Indeed, Martin does sedate women with syringes of narcotics then cuts their wrists with a razor blade so he can consume their blood, but whether or not he is indeed a vampire is open to interpretation.
Just as Wim Wenders’s Don’t Come Knocking is set in Butte, Montana, Martin also takes place in a dying town. In this case, it’s Braddock, Pennsylvania, which began deteriorating after the collapse of the steel industry in the 1970s. The decrepit buildings of course add to the unsettling atmosphere.
The most interesting aspect of the film though is that Martin mocks the traditional notions of those storied bloodsuckers. It endears us to him, but it also comes back to get him in the end, and like Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, the end credits are the most chilling part of the entire movie.
Ratings
Sophistication/intellect of story— 9.5
Overall creepiness/fright factor— 9
Effectiveness of art direction to establish mood— 9
Revelation of supernatural presence— 9.5
Casting and actors’ performances— 9.5
Overall score— 9.3 out of a possible 10
