Reading Martin

"The young man seemed normal to him, but he particularly noticed his pallor and his greenish hazel eyes. “The eyes gave him away,” Tati Cuda thought. They were not the vibrant, dancing eyes of youth, but those of a tired old man"...

I've just spent a pleasant couple of hours reading George Romero and Susan Sparrow's 1977 novelization of Martin. Not quite the missing link between Romero's great film and the lost 3-hour cut that's mentioned on the DVD commentary, the novel more or less follows the same trajectory as the film with a little loosening of the belt here and there. The opening sequence, set on the sleeper train is extended to include an awkward encounter between Martin and a fellow passenger alarmed by Martin's withdrawal symptoms from lack of blood. Elsewhere there are some interesting tweaks to Martin's character - in the home invasion scene, Martin repeatedly punches his lady victim in the face, enraged by the unexpected presence of her illicit lover - a shocking bit of violence that doesn't quite chime with John Amplas' sensitive portrayal of the troubled young man. Ultimately, no great revelations but an enjoyable read all the same...

Revisiting Martin

John Amplas as a troubled Count... Just fresh from a screening of George Romero's 1976 film Martin courtesy of the 2000 Anchor Bay DVD. I hadn't seen the film for a few years so I'm pleased to say it remains as astonishing as ever. After the initial screening I took a second pass of the DVD, dipping in and out of the commentary track, which I've previously heard but had forgotten Romero's lamenting of the lost 3-hour b/w version of Martin which was stolen from the director's office. The familiar 95min cut of the film is so perfectly cut and paced - I'm thinking of the terrifically taut home invasion sequence, I wonder how this 3-hour version would play out. Romero mentions that this long version had reams of narration by Amplas, which was dropped for the final cut, but interestingly survived the paperback novelization - something to seek out. Another element of the film I really enjoyed this time round was Donald Rubinstein's atmospheric Stomu Yamashta-esque score, beautifully complimenting the extraordinary ghost town images of Braddock, Pittsburgh. I haven't seen any other DVD editions of the film but Anchor Bay's 15 year old DVD is looking very tired these days, hopefully a fresh HD transfer of the film is not far off...

Incidentally, my good friend and extremely talented graphic artist and film poster designer Jeremy (aka Silver Ferox) has designed two beautiful Martin posters - check them out here. Blu-Ray producers take note !