Mark of the Vampire – review

Director: Tod Browning

Release Date: 1935

Contains spoilers

I’ve wanted to catch this movie for some time and thanks to TCM last night I finally got the opportunity. Unfortunately this has left me in a bit of a quandary review wise. You see the film has a massive twist at the end, which I do not want to give away. Firstly because it is a shoddy trick to do so and also because I watched the film knowing the twist and felt I would have enjoyed it even more had I been in the dark. That said I like to look at the vampire lore and the twist does have a bearing – never mind, the twist will remain sacrosanct and you’ll have to watch the film to find out.

The film itself is a remake of Browning’s, unfortunately lost, London After Midnight (1927) – incidentally I believe there is a ‘restored’ London After Midnight using photograph stills. We begin in a Hungarian Village and see scenes of villagers tying a herb all over the place. Later we discover this is bat-thorn, a vampire deterrent. An old woman gathers the herb in a cemetery when a bat flies out and scares the bejeezus out of her.

In an inn an English couple are being persuaded to stay through the night. A horse and trap arrives and it is local Doctor Doskil (Donald Meek) racing the dark to safety. It seems that all the locals fear vampires, though the English couple are scornful. The next day the body of Sir Karell Borotyn (Holmes Herbert) is found. Doskil confirms he has been killed by a vampire – there are two punctures on his neck and his body has been drained of blood.

The police inspector, Neumann (Lionel Atwill), is sceptical, believing a more earthly cause perhaps it was the suitor of Borotyn’s daughter Irena (Elizabeth Allan), one Fedor Vincenté (Henry Wadsworth), ensuring that his fiancée was even more wealthy. Maybe it was Baron Otto (Jean Hersholt) who becomes the girl’s guardian and executor.

Though the coronor records death by means unknown the locals are in no doubt that it is the work of a vampire, specifically Count Mora (Bela Lugosi) or his daughter Luna (Carroll Borland). Now, one of the problems with the film is how much ended up being edited out. The film is 55 minutes long but the original previews were reported to be 80 minutes.

One part that was excised by the censors was the back story of our vampires. Lugosi sports an obvious bullet wound to the head and the story says that Mora was a suicide who has been involved in an incestuous relationship with his daughter. The immorality of the incestuous act, coupled with suicide, was the reason for them becoming vampires. Such references were deemed as too scandalous and the censors demanded the references be removed. Edit: Carroll Borland in interview suggests they were never shot.

One year after Sir Karell’s death, Fedor is found dishevelled having fallen near the castle. An inspection shows wounds upon his neck. Locals start to see Mora and Luna stalking the night and Irena is attacked by Luna – describing the attack beautifully as a “deathly cold breath upon my throat.” The still sceptical Neumann calls in Professor Zelin (Lionel Barrymore) who confirms that vampires are haunting the night.

There is not just Mora and his daughter, however, Sir Karell has risen – leaving an empty coffin behind – and there is a fourth vampire unnamed - but possibly a farmer who was mentioned at the coroners.

The race is on to stop the vampires before Irena and Fedor are themselves transformed into the undead.

The vampire lore is interesting. They can turn into bats and they cannot be harmed at night – by anything. It is only during the day, in their deathlike sleep, that they can be stopped. The only way to kill a vampire is to cut off the head and place a sprig of bat-thorn in the wound. We see Luna fly, at one point, with giant bat wings.

The film drips atmosphere, in fact Browning lays it on with a shovel.

Most of this surrounds Mora and Luna who stalk through misty graveyards and down cobweb festooned corridors. There seem to be bats wherever they go. Browning actually imported Large South American bats for the production but, obviously, those we see flying round the actors are props. They are not the best bats but somehow it didn’t matter, they seem to work – so no crap bat syndrome here.

The two main vampires are fabulous. Lugosi has no dialogue until the end – post twist so I cannot tell you what it is, but it is worth watching the film for that one line – yet he is still great, filling the screen with a malevolence whenever he appears. Borland looks fabulous, making an archetypal vamp that has been aped ever since. If I had one complaint it was that their screen time is limited.

Most of the actors over-act, and you know what it is fine – it fits the film perfectly well. None, however, overacts with the same exuberance as Barrymore. The actor hams it to the max, and it is great fun, I felt a little smile creep onto my lips every time he appeared on screen. Zelin is a great character and you always feel there is much more going on behind his outward appearance, there could have been a tendency to make the character Van Helsing like, but he is a very different character.

As for the twist. All I will say is that the actors were unaware of it until a few days before shooting and I wasn’t too sure about it. It seemed terribly contrived but it was a brave move.

This is a classic of the horror genre and is a must watch. That said it has flaws, the lost footage is problematic at times – mainly around back story and legend - and the overacting, whilst marvellous fun, diminishes the drama. 7 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.