George A. Romero's Martin - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Limited Edition [U.K. Import]

“Do you believe God's whole world runs by the laws of the few sciences we have been able to discover?’’

George A. Romero’s films don’t just poke at the unknown, they stab at it like an open wound and then reflect the evil beyond right back at you. His gang of friends who all came together in Pennsylvania to shoot horror movies often recounts how much of a creative utopia that Romero fostered in a dusty, old part of the United States. Such is the beauty of one of our foremost American filmmakers. Someone who could take the piss out of our failed social institutions and peel back the artifice while using local talent instead of big Hollywood stars.

Martin (John Amplas) is a young, sinewy man who is convinced that he’s an 84-year-old vampire, and he’s ready to feed, although he drinks blood by injecting women with sedatives and then slice them with a razor blade. When Martin moves in with his cousin, an elderly man named Tateh Cuda (Lincoln Maazel), his bloodthirst doesn’t subside, but he certainly struggles to fit into suburbia. That is until he finds out that mostly everyone in town has their own secrets, though his may be the most sinister.

Similar to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Martin was shot on 16mm reversal stock, giving the film a really contrast-heavy and soft, ethereal look that’s unique and blends well with Romero’s vision of American suburban life upset by demons. That’s part of where the spiritual nature of the film comes from, as the reversal stock makes all the flashback and dream sequences look transmitted from another dimension. Just one of those very unique things that could be achieved with the right film stock, and of course the right artist behind the camera.

While Martin has the kind of blood and gore you usually expect from a Romero film, it’s much more cerebral than say, Dawn of the Dead or Knightriders. Its nihilism is writ large, achieving a satiric pitch by just how downbeat everything is on the screen. And when you cut those downbeat moments within this kind-of dilapidated suburbia, you can certainly feel the wry humor that Romero revels in.

Martin ends ambiguously, not even putting an end to the evil that has pervaded throughout the film. For that evil will always exist, and it’s up to us to make sure it doesn’t impact others when we feel it. In a world of beige carpets, art-deco stylings and broken people, a blood-sucking vampire feels like the least of everyone’s problems.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
There’s a vampire in town, and his name is Martin. Presented here as a two-disc (4K and Blu-ray) digipack set inside a rigid slipcase, Martin is ready to drink the blood of hungry housewives everywhere. The 4K disc is a BD66 and the standard Blu-ray is a BD50 (Region B-locked). Both discs boot up to standard menu screens with options to watch the film, set up audio, browse special features and select chapters. A soft cover book and five collectors’ art cards come inside the rigid slipcase as well.

“There’s no real magic ever.” Second Sight presents their long-awaited 4K restoration of Martin in 2160p and the result is nothing short of astonishing. The source of the 4K restoration was a 35mm internegative, as the original 35mm positive rumored to be lost forever. Needless to say, since the film was shot on 16mm reversal stock, the overall picture is soft. Fine detail isn’t meant to be there like a true 35mm cinematographic process, however the unique characteristics of 16mm are respected wonderfully here. Film grain is heavy but fluid, and detail is never lost in a field of soft grain. Colors, on the other hand, are the real star here. Everything is so beautifully exposed without stripping the aesthetic of its bright, sometimes-blinding highlights. And the new encode by Fidelity in Motion handles it all flawlessly.

Damage to the source is visible here and there. Not surprising given the delicate nature of the stock, however it won’t mar your enjoyment of the film and actually adds to the homespun feel of the original production. I’m sure even Romero would agree that a spotless 4K presentation wouldn’t be right for his work. As for the HDR10+ grading, it pushes those black levels to their absolute limit and makes that bright red blood pop without blowing out the rest of the frame. The bitrate is also very strong throughout, averaging in the high-70s range. This is the best the film has ever looked at home, and is most likely the best the film will ever look period.

Martin dispels terror with three different audio tracks on this release. 1.0 mono, 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround mixes are all in the DTS-HD MA codec. I heavily prefer the 1.0 mono track since it provides the closest representation of how the film sounded originally. The more the other tracks move sounds across channels, the further you can feel the low-budget approach slipping away. Thus, the mono track is preferred and, in all seriousness, sounds the best of the bunch in terms of dialogue and music mixing, plus whatever limited sound effects they used have a nice thickness in this track. Source seems to be in good condition as well, with only minor damage notes to be heard sparingly throughout.

As expected with one of Second Sight’s limited editions, this release comes absolutely packed with special features and ephemera sure to whet the appetite of blood-drinkers everywhere. The newly produced documentary about the making of the film (which includes a location tour) is essential watching, as you hear directly from people like John Amplas, Tom Savini and Michael Gornick, all creatives closely tied to Romero and his troupe of filmmakers. Not to mention that Amplas plays the titular Martin or anything. And to add on top of that essential doc, there’s a great interview with composer Donald Rubinstein, plus some archival supplements that have been carried over from previous releases.

Discs 1 & 2: 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray

• Audio commentary by George A. Romero, John Amplas and Tom Savini
• Audio commentary by George A. Romero, Richard P. Rubinstein, Tom Savini, Michael Gornick and Donald Rubinstein
• Audio commentary by Kat Ellinger
• Taste the Blood of Martin (HD 69:15)
• Scoring the Shadows (HD 17:30)
• J. Roy – New and Used Furniture: a short film by Tony Buba (HD 11:13)
• Making Martin: A Recounting (SD 9:34)
• Trailer, TV and Radio Spots (SD 4:40)

Disc 3

• Soundtrack CD by Donald Rubinstein

Nosferatu! George A. Romero’s Martin is finally back in physical media circulation with a 4K Ultra HD release that pulls out all the stops for the horror maestro’s vampiric suburban saga. The new 4K presentation is like seeing the film for the first time again, and there’s a great list of supplements to dig into. This may come as a surprise, but this is a Must-Own release!

Also Available:

George A. Romer's Martin - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Standard Edition)