Review of Mark of the Vampire (1935) by Cody C — 30 Jul 2015

Very short (as a result of studio cuts and interference) vampire story from Tod Browning (Dracula, Freaks) that succeeds on many levels, particularly in creating a spooky Eastern European atmosphere. In fact, in some ways this film seems less static than the classic Lugosi Dracula.

However, the vampires do take second billing and Lugosi himself has not much to do. Carol Borland is a bit more spooky as his daughter, also a vampire, and a shot in which she descends with wings is creepily successful.

For what it is worth, there is a twist at the end of the film, focused on the first vampire-attributed murder in the film; I may have been distracted at times but this twist confused the hell out of me and I needed to go back and figure out what I had missed.

Lionel Barrymore (soon to star in Browning's very weird The Devil-Doll) turns out to have saved the day.