Mark of the Vampire [Blu-ray]

Director: Tod Browning Tod Browning

Overview

When several new residents of a small Czechoslovakian village are menaced, seemingly by a pair of vampires, a detective and a vampire expert are called in to investigate. This remake of the 1927 silent chiller London After Midnight reunites Dracula director Tod Browning and star Bela Lugosi.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/11/2022
UPC:	0883929798391
Original Release:	1935
Rating:	G
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:01:00
Sales rank:	14,908

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Lionel Barrymore	Prof. Zelin
Elizabeth Allan	Irena Borotyn
Bela Lugosi	Count Mora
Lionel Atwill	Insp. Neumann
Holmes Herbert	Sir Karell Borotyn
Jean Hersholt	Baron Otto von Zinden
Carroll Borland	Luna Mora
Donald Meek	Dr. Doskil
Ivan Simpson	Jan
Egon Brecher	Coroner
Henry Wadsworth	Count Feodor Vincente
Eily Malyon	Sick Woman [cut from release print]
Christian Rub	Deaf Man [cut from release print]
Torben Meyer	Card Player,Actor
Zeffie Tilbury	Grandmother
Rosemary Glosz	Innkeeper's Wife
Claire Verdera	English Woman,English Woman
Guy Bellis	English Man
Baron Hesse	Bus Driver [cut from release print]
Mrs. Lesovosky	Old Woman in Inn
Robert Greig	Fat Man
Jessie Ralph	Midwife
Franklyn Ardell	Chauffeur
Leila Bennett	Maria
June Gittelson	Annie
Michael Visaroff	Innkeeper
James Bradbury Jr.	Fourth Vampire
Henry Stephenson	(scenes deleted)
Doris Lloyd	(scenes deleted)

Technical Credits

Bernard Schubert

Guy Endore

Tod Browning	Director
Bernard Schubert	Screenwriter
Guy Endore	Screenwriter
Edward J. Mannix	Producer
Warren Newcombe	Special Effects
Thomas Tutwiller	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

Director Tod Browning's 1935 murder mystery Mark of the Vampire is essentially a lesser remake of two of his earlier films: 1927's Lon Chaney silent London After Midnight and 1931's Dracula with Bela Lugosi. Originally titled The Vampires of Prague, the film is most notable for its stunning conclusion, which reveals that the various murders being blamed on the supernatural have been committed by a more natural source. The bloodsucker father and daughter, played by Lugosi and Carol Borland, are given minimal screen time, but provide the film's best chills and appear to be the inspiration for Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space. This picture originally insinuated that Lugosi's vampire had an incestuous affair with Borland that resulted in a murder-suicide, leaving them both undead. This explains the mysterious bullet wound on the side of Lugosi's head throughout the film. However, MGM was wary after Browning's Freaks spawned great controversy, so cuts were made to ensure that Mark of the Vampire was safe for public consumption. The barely feature-length production looks rather stagey and the special effects are typical of the time (bats on strings, fake rats, etc.), but Browning's atmospheric style and the great cast, including Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, and Lionel Atwill, makes this good entertainment. Cinematographer James Wong Howe shot test footage of Rita Hayworth for Borland's part.