Martin The Immortal Edition - This Film Raises Deep Questions About Human Nature
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Martin The Immortal Edition is the Arrow 2010 release of a film that asks: what is the true nature of evil? What makes someone really a monster? There are no easy answers in Romero’s tale of a misunderstood “vampire”.
Written by James “Crypticpsych” Lasome
February 7, 2011
Release: July 7, 1978 (US); June 28, 2010 (UK DVD)
Written and Directed by: George A. Romero
Starring:
John Amplas as Martin
Lincoln Maazel as Cuda
Christine Forrest as Christina
Elyane Nadeau as Mrs. Santini
Tom Savini as Arthur
Meet Martin (Amplas). Martin is just your average teenager who’s been sent to live with his eccentric Uncle Cuda (Maazel) and cousin Christina (Forrest). Sure, he’s a little sex-obsessed, but what teenaged guy isn’t? He spends his days working in his Uncle’s store and delivers groceries to various customers. Just your typical teen… except for the part where Martin thinks he’s an 84-year-old vampire who must suck the blood of the living to survive. He curbs his sex-obsession by sedating and raping some of the women he attacks and suffers from flashbacks to an earlier, near-gothic era of persecution. His Uncle believes that his nephew suffers from a family vampiric curse and vows to either save his soul or destroy Martin trying. For a more in-depth plot analysis, check out The Horror Czar’s Review.
To me, Martin is an admittedly slow-moving film with two great strengths: John Amplas’s performance and the intentionally ambiguous nature of the story. It’s true that Amplas’s Martin does horribly violent things. However, it’s a very multifaceted character. Martin has adapted enough to fulfill his needs without getting caught. He’s also seems to�enjoy musing on human nature. You could claim he’s simply evil, but then you would be ignoring his sedation of his victims to
prevent them feeling pain or an instance where he shows mercy. The central idea of the film, in fact, seems to be that Martin is not simply evil, just as Cuda is not “good” because he’s trying to remove a perceived threat. Cuda ignores Martin’s (and Christina’s) continued insistence that he is not evil or a demon of any kind. In fact, much of the film is a deconstruction of the “vampire” as cinematic monster. Martin, in both discussions with Cuda and calls into a radio show, spends the film “debunking” vampire movies. So who is really the monster: the “vampire” or the man who refuses to listen to the possibility that he isn’t? Both?
For their release, dubbed “Martin The Immortal Edition”, Arrow Films UK combines an old release with new features. In this case, a widescreen transfer, commentary (from Romero, composer Donald Rubinstein, director of photography Michael Gornick, and effects wizard Tom Savini), photo gallery, trailer, TV spots, and a 10 minute interview-filled documentary make the trip over from a 2004 Lions Gate DVD. The commentary, in particular, is massively entertaining as the quartet reminisce and joke around, giving the listener the sense that they are listening to a group of friends. True, it’s filled with stories from the set and Romero’s independent style, but mostly you have fun because they are having fun too. The Martin The Immortal Edition documentary, while interesting, seems short and a bit repetitive alongside the commentary. 
Also appearing, in the liner notes, is Romero’s introduction to the 1977 novelization of the movie, an insightful look into Romero’s own opinions of human nature and what he was saying about it with his film.
That idea carries over into one of the two new features on Martin The Immortal Edition, a roughly 30-minute European subtitled documentary about Romero made during production of Dawn of the Dead. Romero is interviewed about all his films to that point from Night of the Living Dead through The Crazies and to Martin. While there is discussion of the films, most of the documentary involves picking Romero’s brain. It’s a good piece that gives a surprisingly intimate look at the man. However, it and the four interchangeable covers, six postcards, reversible poster, and fullscreen option (which defaults to a laggy audio sync, oddly) newly included would not be enough to double dip.
Wampyr, on the other hand, is plenty enough reason to get Martin The Immortal Edition if you're an enthusiast. Wampyr is the Italian cut of the film, completely rescored and recut. In my opinion, the original film is better but that doesn’t stop Wampyr from being an interesting curiosity. First, while I’m not a huge fan of Rubinstein’s scoring choice, at least it fits better in the film than the Goblin score here. Next, the film appears to leave no question about Martin’s “evil” to the point of using flipped stock footage from the initial train murder scene to remove another scene’s mercy. They totally remove all of Martin’s musings on the nature of humanity and his life by excising his inner monologue and replacing the 
idea of calling the radio station for extended periods about being a vampire with calling the newspaper and anonymously confessing to crimes. The character of Christina is also significantly slimmed down, removing one of Martin’s biggest defenders in the film. Finally, various scenes are moved around so that the overall timeline in the original is significantly altered. In essence, where the American cut of Martin has psychological and sociological subtexts alongside its bloodletting, the European cut of Wampyr strips the film down to a story of an unconventional vampire with minimal depth and dimension. Interesting, to say the least, but still a lesser film than the original.
I recommend Martin for the complexity of its story and its engaging main character. Its slow pace might and nontraditional vampire story might not be for everyone but there is certainly plenty in it to analyze and debate in further viewings. If you’re a fan already, Martin the Immortal Edition is definitely the set for you because of the addition of the full Wampyr cut. Otherwise, Martin is still plenty unique enough to warrant sinking your teeth into at least once.
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