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Martin
The film opens and follows a young man, Martin, traveling on an overnight train from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh. Martin sedates a woman with a syringe full of narcotics, rapes her, slices her forearm with a razor blade, then drinks her blood, allowing her to slowly bleed to death. The next morning, he is met at the train station by his elderly cousin, Tata Cuda, who escorts him to a second train destined for Braddock, Pennsylvania. Martin claims to be much older than his appearance would suggest. He has romantic monochrome visions of religious icons, vampiric seductions, and torch-carrying mobs, but whether these are memories or fantasies is not specified. Cuda has reluctantly agreed to give Martin room and board alongside his granddaughter, Christina.
Cuda is a Lithuanian Catholic who treats Martin like an Old World vampire, referring to him as " Nosferatu." He tries unsuccessfully to repel Martin with strings of garlic and a crucifix. Martin mocks these attempts. Christina is also highly skeptical and critical of Cuda's beliefs, and thinks Martin should receive psychiatric treatment. Cuda warns that if Martin murders anyone in Braddock, he will stake him through the heart.
Martin seeks advice from a local radio disc jockey, who dubs him "The Count." He rejects many common perceptions about vampires, saying there is no "magic stuff." The DJ's listeners consider Martin to be a hit.
Martin gets a job at Cuda's grocery store delivering groceries to customers. One of his customers, Abby Santini, a depressed housewife, becomes taken with Martin. Martin phones the radio show host to describe his infatuation with Abby and senses that she wants to have sex with him. Martin confides that he has never had sex with a woman who was awake. One day, unbeknownst to his family, Martin goes to Pittsburgh and targets a woman he sees at a grocery store. Believing her to be alone while her husband is away on business, he breaks into her house but finds her in bed with a lover. After a series of struggles, Martin kills and feeds on the man instead of the woman, then drugs and rapes the woman before leaving the scene.
After Sunday church, Cuda brings home Father Howard, asking about the possibility of exorcism and demon possession. Father Howard calls Father Zulemas at Cuda's request. Together, Cuda and Zulemas confront Martin and attempt to perform an exorcism on him. At this point, Martin has a vision of people trying to exorcise him, then fleeing. Martin then escapes from Cuda and Zuelmas himself. Later that night, Martin terrorizes Cuda in a playground, donning a cape and false fangs. When Cuda attempts to strike him with his walking cane, Martin removes his teeth and makeup, stating, "It's just a costume... It's only a costume," then drifts away into the night.
Christina, becoming increasingly frustrated by her disagreements with Cuda, ultimately moves out of his house to live with her boyfriend Arthur and bids Martin goodbye. Later, Martin has sexual intercourse with Abby and they begin an affair which lessens his appetite for blood. Worried about experiencing withdrawal, Martin attacks a pair of homeless derelicts and narrowly escapes the police. Upon returning to Braddock, he visits Abby only to discover that she has committed suicide by cutting her wrists in a bathtub. Cuda, who has learned of Abby's death, believes Martin to be her killer and fatally stakes him through the heart before burying him in a backyard flower bed.
Radio callers inquire and speculate about "The Count" while Cuda places a small crucifix atop Martin's grave.