of his religious-based mythology. Martin (John Amplas) has no weakness to sunlight, garlic or crucifixes. He still lusts for blood but has no mystical hold over his prey to aid him in his quest. Instead, he must seduce his quarry with a narcotics-filled syringe and coax out their crimson souls with a razor blade. But is Martin truly a vampire or is he just a mixed-up kid? Romero intentionally leaves the character’s claim that he’s an 83-year-old vampire decep- tively ambiguous. Arrow’s region-free PAL two-disc “Immortal
Martin: The eponymous vampire (John Amplas) bares his faux fangs.
the buzzsaw that slices off his fingers to the goopy quicksand that drags him to his death moments after he breaks free of the house’s grip. From the predictable script beats to the trite
science vs. religion message it lazily alludes to, there’s no question that The Evil could have benefited from some original ideas and a fresh coat of paint, but it’s still pretty good for what it is. Trikonis delivers a lean, well-paced and engaging film that incorporates just enough horrific plot twists to succeed. On the other hand, a quick tour is all you’ll
need for co-feature Twice Dead, a patchy 1988 comedy in which the ghost of an eccentric Hol- lywood star frightens and kills a home-invading gang of punks who are picking on the wimpy son (Tom Bresnahan) of the new owners. It’s a
leaky basement compared to The Evil, but shouldn’t deter fans from settling in for a night of haunted hap- piness.
PAUL CORUPE I, Vampire?
MARTIN (1977) DVD Starring John Amplas, Lincoln Maazel
and Tom Savini Written and directed by George A. Romero Arrow
Often overlooked by fans in favour
of his zombie films, George A. Romero’s Martin remains one of his best movies. A reworking of the vampire legend, the filmmaker’s modern-era Count is stripped of all
Edition” features both 16:9 and 4:3 versions of the film and a number of extras, mostly culled from previous, out-of-print DVD editions. Also included are four sleeve cover art options, a poster, six postcards and an introductory essay by Romero himself (albeit dated 1977). While the transfer reveals the film’s vintage, it’s still pretty exceptional. If that weren’t enough, there’s also a rare Italian re-edit of the film, which was known as Wampyr in Italy. The markedly different version replaces the eerie Donald Rubinstein music with an alternate score by Goblin and re-sequences the film’s scenes to create a more frenetic narrative. Wampyr is interesting for comparison but defi- nitely inferior to Romero’s original vision. Though Arrow works hard to give fans defin-
itive DVD releases of the films they love, they continue to miss the bull’s eye in quality con- trol. The 4:3 presenta- tion of Martin was released with out-of- sync audio for a small part of the 5.1 mix. Arrow is in the process of correcting it (replac- ing discs for customers who ask), but it’s not the first time these flaws have seeped into the company’s re- leases. It’s a blemish on an otherwise solid reputation that could soon wear thin with
horror cinephiles. Still, it’s a great package of a wholly original Romero classic. JASON PICHONSKY
RM96 R E I S S U E S
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