Review #470: Mark of the Vampire.
Cast
Lionel Barrymore (Professor Zelen), Elizabeth Allan (Irena Borotyn), Bela Lugosi (Count Mora), Lionel Atwill (Inspector Neumann), Jean Hersholt (Baron Otto von Zinden), Henry Wadsworth (Fedor Vincente), Donald Meek (Dr. J. Doskil), Ivan F. Simpson (Jan), Carroll Borland (Luna), and Franklyn Ardell (Chauffeur) Directed by Tod Browning (#071 - Dracula)
Review
Mark of the Vampire starts off well, though it is a bit of a surprise that this only runs 60 minutes, although apparently the studio cut 20 minutes out of the film, for reasons still not fully determined. The actors do a fine job, and Lugosi (Save for one scene at the end) does a great job because his menacing presence is different than how he was in Dracula: He resorts to walking around the sets, with makeup on the face, sometimes appearing out of nowhere, mostly accompanied by (accomplice?) another vampire, played by Carroll Borland, who reminds me of Wednesday Addams for some reason. The music is very effective, creepy and chilling. The sets look fine, and the film starts to gather steam around the 40 minute mark, when Barrymore (Who is never given a proper introduction scene, by the way) and the others are just about to go hunting for the vampire...And then come the last part of the film and the ending that derails it all. Whether you like twist endings or not, the ending...just seems like a big cop-out. To sum the ending (which I will color in black text, so just highlight the text if you want to know the ending) up is basically this:
To catch Baron Otto who apparently murdered Karell Borotyn, a Baron who died in the beginning, Zelen and Irena Borotyn, Karell's daughter hired actors to scare the Baron enough to get him hypnotized and get him to to do the murder to a look alike of the dead man, using a hot cup as a guise for the drained blood and a pincer for the marks on his neck.
The ending shortchanges what was until up that point, the climax. Yes, I'm aware that this was a remake of an earlier film, London After Midnight (a 1927 lost film, one of the most sought after lost films), and I know it would've sounded cliche to have the vampires simply get eliminated, but the film still would've been very enjoyable nonetheless. The effects were nice, such as when Luna is shown arriving in the castle...with bat wings still on her. Browning does an okay job directing, but the film still could've been better. While it may cheat (or satisfy anyone liking twist endings) the audience, it's still a (mostly) decent film overall.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
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