Martin is a 1978 American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero. Romero claims that Martin is the favorite of all his films. The film is also notable as the first collaboration between George Romero and special effects artist Tom Savini. Martin (John Amplas) sedates women with a syringe full of narcotics and then slices their wrists with a razor blade so he can drink their blood. Martin, who comes to live with his granduncle and cousin in the dying town of Braddock, Pennsylvania, has romantic monochrome visions of vampiric seductions and torch-lit mobs, but it is impossible to tell how seriously he takes them. In addition to the vampiric themes, the film shows the stagflation of the 1970s in the form of the struggling residents of Braddock. Martin's granduncle, the superstitious old Tada Cuda, has reluctantly agreed to give Martin room and board as he is the closest living relative, as well as his nephew. Cuda is very much a Lithuanian Catholic who treats Martin like an Old World vampire and tries unsuccessfully to repel Martin with strings of garlic bulbs around the home and a crucifix. Martin mocks these attempts and says bitterly, "There's no real magic... ever.