In honor of the late George A. Romero, I'm going to review four of his films for the next few entries. However, except for the final one, I'm going to focus on some of his non-Zombie film, to show some underappreciated parts of his filmography. We start with his own favorite of the films he made, Martin.
After Night of the Living Dead, George A. Romero had trouble following up on its success. He had attempted a romantic comedy immediately after, There Will Always Be Vanilla (which Romero considered his worst, and is not well-regarded today) in 1971. Later, in 1973, he returned to horror with Season of the Witch (not to be confused with the Halloween sequel), which is also not-well regarded, and science-fiction horror The Crazies, which has come to be seen as a cult classic, neither of which was successful. By 1977, he was in very serious debt. However, he refused to declare bankruptcy, because he didn't want to dishonor those who had stood by him. Impressed, friend and investor Richard Rubinstein joined forces to help Romero get out of debt, forming the production company "Laurel Entertainment". This was their first effort in that company. Filmed, like his previous films, in the Pittsburgh area, it stars many associates of Romero in supporting roles, including his future wife Christine Forrest. The script changed from a literal vampire trying to survive the modern day to someone who may or may not be a vampire struggling with urges, after John Amplas was hired. Tom Savini, a friend of Romero, not only did the effects for this film, but also did the stunts and even plays a minor role in the film. This would start the very fruitful collaboration between the two over the years. Originally 2 hours and 45 minutes, it eventually cut down to an hour and 35 for wide release. The 165 minute cut has been lost to history. Moderately successful ($100,000 made on a $80,000 dollar budget), Romero would only get out of debt later on, when he returned to the zombie genre with Dawn of the Dead, with Rubinstein's help.
The film opens with the title character (John Amplas) on a train, sneaking into a woman's room, and very viscerally attacking her when she emerges from her bathroom, injecting her with a strange substance. After a very graphic and very harrowing struggle between the woman and Martin, the substance is revealed to be a sedative, and she is knocked unconscious. Martin then uses a switchblade to cut her skin and suck her blood. He arrives in Pittsburgh to his granduncle Cuda (Lincoln Maazel), who is taking care of him after the death of his parents. However, Cuda himself believes that he is actually an 80-year old vampire, and tries to restrain him, using seemingly traditional methods. However, Martin dismisses these as mere fiction. Martin also meets his cousin Christina (Christine... Forrest), who is more sympathetic and concerned that Cuda is ignoring Martin's illness in favor of him being a literal vampire. As Martin works in Cuda's shop, he has various interactions with people in his new neighborhood, including Abbie Santini (Elyane Nadeau), whom he grows close to. However, even as he maintains a low-key persona, his urges continue to rise, and with those, fantasies that pop up, which warp his mind. Soon, those fantasies may consume him.
The best film I can compare this to is a film I watched recently, Attack the Block, which actually came out in 2011 (and stars a pre-Star Wars John Boyega). Both films are low-budgets genre pieces, that are able to use great filmmaking techniques and effects to hid their low budget origins. This film is very rugged and grainy, but is able to make up for it, by utilizing not only good effects, but good editing, inserting sometimes gothic scenery into the proceedings to help create the feel of this character's mindset. The film can be seen as something of a retroactive deconstruction of the whole "loner is secretly a supernatural creature" trope seen in modern fiction like Twilight. Martin is very much how that character comes off in real life, and it is not pleasant at all. Romero spends a lot of time with Martin, showing his everyday life and how he interacts with the rest of the world, and he is seen as a low-key, shy sort of person. This only amplifies the horror of what he does, showing how he represses these feelings, and how horrific that release can be. He is not a sympathetic character at all, but Romero knows to show those scenes of him interacting in everyday life, in order to emphasize the horrific nature of his crimes and his deluded fantasies. It's all in the tagline on the film's poster "He Could Be the Boy Next Door". Despite being a horrible psychopath, he can show the fascade of normal. Martin is by no-means the only well-developed character. Each characters is very well-defined. Cuda in particular, may seem harsh in his treatment of Martin, but after seeing Martin's crimes, you can see that Cuda's fears are well-founded. Chrstina is the only really sympathetic character, but even she has some flaws down the road. The film has good effects (much like the last film I covered, which was also Tom Savini), and it makes good use of its setting. The sort of urban decay that is happening in the neighborhood is not emphasized, but you can see it all over, and it provides a interesting setting to contrast with the gothic nature of Martin's fantasies. Another deconstruction is the sort of religious resolution that was popular with films like The Exorcist. While the color portions aren't bad, the black-and-white portions were especially well-done, and I would like to see the extended version, which was entirely in black-and-white.
I'll admit, some scenes in this were difficult to watch, because of their nature. I won't go into it, but there are very disturbing scenes in this, and I did feel uncomfortable watching it. It didn't offend me, because those scenes were obviously framed to be horrific and uncomfortable in the worst way, but it did make me feel quesy. This is just a warning to anyone who is interested: there are some scenes that are disturbing, and I would exercise caution while watching it. Otherwise, my main complaint would be length. It was cut down extensively, and many parts feel that way. There is a heavy narration element, which explains the character's feelings instead of showing them, and that sort of ruins the film. I feel the feelings he has or actions that happened were shown in the longer cut. The ending also feels a little abrupt, like there was meant to be more to it, but they just simply ended it there, with no reactions. Sometimes that works, but it also can feel curt and unneeded.
Like I said, this film is disturbing in some scenes, and if you want to see it, my big warning is just exercise some caution and discretion while watching it, and know there are scenes you might want to skip over on whatever player you have it on. This film was not as good as Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead, but it is a solid late-70's horror film, with some excellent editing and narrative structure. It is grainy and b-movie like, but it uses that to create a truly chilling experience. If you liked the Living Dead, this could be a watch.Just, bear what I had to say in mind.
Next time, we look at Romero and Stephen King's homage to EC horror comics, Creepshow.
After Night of the Living Dead, George A. Romero had trouble following up on its success. He had attempted a romantic comedy immediately after, There Will Always Be Vanilla (which Romero considered his worst, and is not well-regarded today) in 1971. Later, in 1973, he returned to horror with Season of the Witch (not to be confused with the Halloween sequel), which is also not-well regarded, and science-fiction horror The Crazies, which has come to be seen as a cult classic, neither of which was successful. By 1977, he was in very serious debt. However, he refused to declare bankruptcy, because he didn't want to dishonor those who had stood by him. Impressed, friend and investor Richard Rubinstein joined forces to help Romero get out of debt, forming the production company "Laurel Entertainment". This was their first effort in that company. Filmed, like his previous films, in the Pittsburgh area, it stars many associates of Romero in supporting roles, including his future wife Christine Forrest. The script changed from a literal vampire trying to survive the modern day to someone who may or may not be a vampire struggling with urges, after John Amplas was hired. Tom Savini, a friend of Romero, not only did the effects for this film, but also did the stunts and even plays a minor role in the film. This would start the very fruitful collaboration between the two over the years. Originally 2 hours and 45 minutes, it eventually cut down to an hour and 35 for wide release. The 165 minute cut has been lost to history. Moderately successful ($100,000 made on a $80,000 dollar budget), Romero would only get out of debt later on, when he returned to the zombie genre with Dawn of the Dead, with Rubinstein's help.
The film opens with the title character (John Amplas) on a train, sneaking into a woman's room, and very viscerally attacking her when she emerges from her bathroom, injecting her with a strange substance. After a very graphic and very harrowing struggle between the woman and Martin, the substance is revealed to be a sedative, and she is knocked unconscious. Martin then uses a switchblade to cut her skin and suck her blood. He arrives in Pittsburgh to his granduncle Cuda (Lincoln Maazel), who is taking care of him after the death of his parents. However, Cuda himself believes that he is actually an 80-year old vampire, and tries to restrain him, using seemingly traditional methods. However, Martin dismisses these as mere fiction. Martin also meets his cousin Christina (Christine... Forrest), who is more sympathetic and concerned that Cuda is ignoring Martin's illness in favor of him being a literal vampire. As Martin works in Cuda's shop, he has various interactions with people in his new neighborhood, including Abbie Santini (Elyane Nadeau), whom he grows close to. However, even as he maintains a low-key persona, his urges continue to rise, and with those, fantasies that pop up, which warp his mind. Soon, those fantasies may consume him.
The best film I can compare this to is a film I watched recently, Attack the Block, which actually came out in 2011 (and stars a pre-Star Wars John Boyega). Both films are low-budgets genre pieces, that are able to use great filmmaking techniques and effects to hid their low budget origins. This film is very rugged and grainy, but is able to make up for it, by utilizing not only good effects, but good editing, inserting sometimes gothic scenery into the proceedings to help create the feel of this character's mindset. The film can be seen as something of a retroactive deconstruction of the whole "loner is secretly a supernatural creature" trope seen in modern fiction like Twilight. Martin is very much how that character comes off in real life, and it is not pleasant at all. Romero spends a lot of time with Martin, showing his everyday life and how he interacts with the rest of the world, and he is seen as a low-key, shy sort of person. This only amplifies the horror of what he does, showing how he represses these feelings, and how horrific that release can be. He is not a sympathetic character at all, but Romero knows to show those scenes of him interacting in everyday life, in order to emphasize the horrific nature of his crimes and his deluded fantasies. It's all in the tagline on the film's poster "He Could Be the Boy Next Door". Despite being a horrible psychopath, he can show the fascade of normal. Martin is by no-means the only well-developed character. Each characters is very well-defined. Cuda in particular, may seem harsh in his treatment of Martin, but after seeing Martin's crimes, you can see that Cuda's fears are well-founded. Chrstina is the only really sympathetic character, but even she has some flaws down the road. The film has good effects (much like the last film I covered, which was also Tom Savini), and it makes good use of its setting. The sort of urban decay that is happening in the neighborhood is not emphasized, but you can see it all over, and it provides a interesting setting to contrast with the gothic nature of Martin's fantasies. Another deconstruction is the sort of religious resolution that was popular with films like The Exorcist. While the color portions aren't bad, the black-and-white portions were especially well-done, and I would like to see the extended version, which was entirely in black-and-white.
I'll admit, some scenes in this were difficult to watch, because of their nature. I won't go into it, but there are very disturbing scenes in this, and I did feel uncomfortable watching it. It didn't offend me, because those scenes were obviously framed to be horrific and uncomfortable in the worst way, but it did make me feel quesy. This is just a warning to anyone who is interested: there are some scenes that are disturbing, and I would exercise caution while watching it. Otherwise, my main complaint would be length. It was cut down extensively, and many parts feel that way. There is a heavy narration element, which explains the character's feelings instead of showing them, and that sort of ruins the film. I feel the feelings he has or actions that happened were shown in the longer cut. The ending also feels a little abrupt, like there was meant to be more to it, but they just simply ended it there, with no reactions. Sometimes that works, but it also can feel curt and unneeded.
Like I said, this film is disturbing in some scenes, and if you want to see it, my big warning is just exercise some caution and discretion while watching it, and know there are scenes you might want to skip over on whatever player you have it on. This film was not as good as Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead, but it is a solid late-70's horror film, with some excellent editing and narrative structure. It is grainy and b-movie like, but it uses that to create a truly chilling experience. If you liked the Living Dead, this could be a watch.Just, bear what I had to say in mind.
Next time, we look at Romero and Stephen King's homage to EC horror comics, Creepshow.
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