MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935)
Article #97 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-21-2001
Posting date: 11-4-2001

Sir Karell Borotyn has been killed, apparently at the hands of a vampire. Now it seems that the same vampire may be after his daughter, Irena. Professor Zelen is brought in to fight the vampire.

This movie features Lionel Barrymore (as Zelen), Bela Lugosi (as Count Mora), Carol Borland (a devotee of Lugosi’s; this is her only prominent role, but she has developed a cult following on the strength of it) and Lionel Atwill. It’s basically a reworking of two of Browning’s other movies, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT and DRACULA. The ending tends to stick in the craw of horror fans for a very good reason and, even though I find it interesting enough to avoid giving it the Rubber Brick award, nonetheless it had the potential to be a lot more satisfying than DRACULA if it had delivered on its promises. As it is, we may just have to settle for the fact that it has some very moody and effective moments before it reaches that point.