How can one fairly critique 1935’s Mark of the Vampire without spoiling anything? My issue with it is there is a bizarre twist in the final third that so threw me that I thought I had literally lost the plot. And yet, it wouldn’t be fair to new viewers to say anything that even hints at the nature of that twist.
Which is a shame, because this picture is, largely, one of the better vampire movies I have seen. This movie re-teams Bela Lugosi and director Tod Browning just four years after they did Dracula, so you know you’re in good hands.
One of the best elements of this production is it absolutely drips with atmosphere. I found it odd that, for something so obviously set-bound, it often seemed I could actually feel the damp of the misty environments.
This film starts with the discovery of a wealthy baron’s exsanguinated corpse, which the village doctor attributes to a vampire. The rumor mill starts working overtime, claiming vampires have taken residence in the deceased baron’s abandoned castle.
We soon see Lugosi as the vampire and Carroll Borland as his daughter (?) or wife (?)—I don’t know what she’s supposed to be. Our introduction to them has them walking around the cobweb-filled mansion, lovingly observing creeping beetles, bats real and fake, a deeply fake spider and…an opossum. Weird how that is the creepiest looking of the creatures in this scene and yet it is a timid thing that would fake a heart attack at the slightest threat.
Animals play a part in a couple of other unusual scenes in this film. One is possibly the earliest example of a cat scene I have seen, where one is in the helmet of a suit of armor, making the grill mask of it open and close. While I can imagine a cat messing with the mask of the suit, I found myself speculating way too much about how exactly it got into a helmet that is atop a standing suit of armor.
Another scene has a large white dog inexplicably walking briefly through the background of a night scene in a cemetery. The weirdness of this moment seriously unnerved me, especially as the canine is never discussed by any characters.
The performances are largely serviceable. Lionel Barrymore seems to be having a great time as a police inspector, but I found myself wishing he would dial it back a bit at times. Elizabeth Allan, as the deceased baron’s daughter, fares the best of the entire cast. In some ways, this is largely her film.
One thing off about nearly all of the performances here is, for a movie that is supposed to take place somewhere in eastern Europe, the accents are all over the place. An innkeeper lays it on so thick, I thought she warned a customer not to mark the vampire. That would be nonsensible, but the film is titled Mark of the Vampire. But, no, it turns out she was saying “mock”. I also thought everybody was calling one guy “Fredo”, so I kept expecting him to get whacked in fishing boat. But, no, it turns out he is named “Fedor”.
Warner Archive did an exemplary job of restoring this film, and the blu-ray includes commentary from Kim Newman and Stephen Jones. This highly informative track reveals many interesting aspects of the picture, such as it is a remake of 1927 silent by Browning titled London After Midnight. I also was surprised these film experts believe this is supposed to be a parody. I can now see their perspective, even if I don’t agree with it.
If there’s one thing I think any viewer of Mark of the Vampire can agree on is it doesn’t outstay its welcome. While only one hour long, it feels like one has watched a complete feature film. Scenes aren’t rushed, but there also isn’t a lot of filler just to meet an expected duration. As to the quality of movie itself, I’d say that judgment is entirely susceptible to the subjectivity of the viewer.
Dir: Tod Browning
Starring Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Bela Lugosi
Watched on Warner Archive blu-ray