Martin  reconceptualizes vampirism as I know it. Martin’s thirst for blood could be viewed as a lack of something. There is a void within him, and the only way through which it can be filled is by consuming the blood of other’s. There’s also a sexual undertone to it with how he usually targets  older women.(well are they really older if he thinks he’s 84). When he sedates his victims, he wraps himself around them in a warm embrace (with both their clothes off that is) and then savors their touch before slitting their wrists , and drinking their blood. He seems to care about not making them feel pain. His vampirism seems to be a mental illness which exists in his family tree. It doesn’t help that his family treats him like an actual vampire, by putting garlic everywhere and brandishing crosses at him. In a sense, his family’s actions reinforce his behavior, and raises the question ; was Martin truly born a vampire or socialized to be one ? Or it’s an amalgamation of the two ? The flashbacks that Martin has also make it less clear as to if he’s really a vampire or mentally ill . Because if not real, where do these flashbacks which he remembers so vividly come from ? Or are they simply vivid hallucinations ……or ancestral memories?Martin unlike the traditional vampire, has no charisma, in fact, he’s quite shy which makes “hunting” harder for him , and so he employs quick thinking and is constantly adapting to the conditions around him to get his prey. At times, it seems like he’s bargaining with his prey. Trying to rationalize his actions by telling them that ; “yeah sure you’re going to die, but there will be no pain.”
Overall, this movie does a good job of taking a trope that has become common place , and makes it entertaining.