Martin (1977)

 "I shouldn't have friends, even for the sexy stuff."

This is a relatively obscure little curiosity from Geotrge A Romero, with no stars and little budget. No zombies either: this is a vampire film, sort of. And yet, as ever with Romero, it's really about the subtext.

Because there's nothing supernatural about Martin, whatever his elderly cousin, mind addled by religious conservatism and obsession with the supposed family history of vampirism. And yet... this is a self fulfilling prophecy. The disturbed Martin thinks he's a vampire, so he is.

His attacks are horrifying to watch. He doesn't wish to kill his victims, only to drink some blood, but his frenzies have the visual grammar of sexual assault. And the whole look and texture of the film adds to the sense of the disturbed. Low budget, hand held camerawork, naturalistic acting- for what is ostensibly a horror film this is full of realism.... except those monochrome dream sequences from the point of view of Martin's mind,which play with vampite iconography in clever ways.

Of course, the film ends in tragedy. Martin finds human connection in the form of sex, but the lady in question is depressed. She slits her wrists in the bath, and Martin's own elderly cousin blames and kills him. Martin may be disturbed, but is he not a victim too? A victim of backward superstition? And is his elderly cousin, and the old stupidities he represents, the true monster?

A cheap film, yes, but an engrossing and important one. Note to self: watch more Romero...

Creepshow (1982)

“Where’s my Father’s Day cake...?”

EC horror comics, although I’m sad to say I’ve never read any, are best known, unfortunately, for being the unlucky victim of that stupid quack, Fredric Wertham, whose genuine achievements in his earlier career were overshadowed by his ridiculous witch hunt against comic books. They are also known, of course, for two British portmanteau horror films by Amicus, one of which I’ve blogged. But this, more than anything else, makes me want to look at the source material. I love the linking comic book stuff by Bernie Wrightson.

He’s not the only “name” though; the legendary George A. Romero directs and Stephen King, no less, has here not only his screenwriting debut but a deliciously scenery-chewing acting role in one of the segments. Other interesting little points are an unusually menacing role from Leslie Nielsen and Adrienne Barbeau as the most annoying woman in the world. The whole thing is splendidly grand duignol and enormous fun, bookended by scenes of a tyrannical father stealing his son’s comic book and getting his comeuppance, setting both the tone and the style.

As ever with a portmanteau film some segments are better than others, although the tide one was a real highlight, but what works well here is the tone and sense of cheerfully grisly fun that pervades thecwjolw thing. This may not be the greatest horror film ever made but it’s thiroughly enjoyable to watch all the way through, and that’s a superb achievement . The spirit of EC lives on.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

"Well... the television said that's the right thing to do!

Yes, I know, you were expecting Kill Bill, Vol. 2. Over the weekend, I promise! In the meantime, this: the first modern zombie film, establishing all the tropes of the genre as we know it today. From this point onwards zombies are no longer portrayed in terms of their Haitian origins- no voodoo dolls here: compare this to Hammer’s The Plague of the Zombies from Just two years prior. Fitting, then, the film should have a black lead in Duane Jones, although his eventual fate is so depressingly 1968 America.

The film is superb, in spite of its cast of unknown; brilliantly shot in glorious monochrome with fantastic camera angles and magnificent use of shadows. The musical score is highly effective, too. This is a proper horror film that does that old-fashioned thing of making you jump. The whole thing reminds me of the base under siege stories that were being done in Doctor Who at the time, complete with the small cast of flawed characters.

But this film, of course, establishes the tropes of the newish genre it’s creating. Everybody dies, of course, although it isn’t made explicit that civilisation is doomed, with some semblance of state authority remaining at the end. I suspect it is indeed doomed, though, in a world where anyone who dies for any reason will be almost instantly reanimated. Interesting, though, that the plague is said to be caused by mysterious radiation from a returning probe to Venus; it’s all very atomic age.

I can understand why this film is seen as such a horror classic. It really is that good. I only regret that it took the unfortunate death of the great George A. Romero to drive me to watch it