10 Hidden Gem Vampire Horror Movies

10. Martin

When you hear the name George A. Romero, you immediately conjure up images of hordes of shuffling undead.

One of horror's all-time greats, Romero is the person who popularised the concept of zombies - or "ghouls", as he referred to them - with offerings such as Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead. Away from those ghouls, the legendary filmmaker also impressed with Season of the Witch, The Crazies and the stunning Creepshow. And then, well, then there's Martin.

Focussing on another staple of horror, Martin is a vampire movie; a vampire movie with a twist.

What makes Martin so great, is that the audience is never really sure whether or not John Amplas' Martin Mathias is actually a vampire. Martin claims to be a vampire who is far older than he looks, and we see him experience memories of gothic lynch mobs and classic vampire seductions.

In terms of how he gets his "fix", Amplas' character sedates his victims, slices their skin and drinks their blood. And while Martin forever claims he's a legitimate vampire, those around him doubt these proclamations.

That fact that Romero himself viewed this as his favourite film means that Martin should be on every horror fans' hit-list.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

First Posted On: 22nd Oct 2021

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Horror movies Kiss of the Damned Vampire Movies