Review of Mark of the Vampire

1935's "Mark of the Vampire" was director Tod Browning's sound remake of his 1927 Lon Chaney vehicle "London After Midnight," splitting up Lon's dual roles of detective and vampire into separate parts, Lionel Barrymore over the top as the investigating Prof. Zelen, Bela Lugosi completely silent in the guise of Count Mora and kept off screen for all but 3 lousy minutes of this hour long travesty. A European village appears to be teeming with the undead because no one among the populace talks of anything else, Michael Visaroff spouting the same gibberish as the identical innkeeper he played in "Dracula." Visually, Browning apes the Universal classic very closely, but in going through the motions exactly the same way provides for a very dull viewing for those familiar with Lugosi's great triumph (and who among us is not?). His Count Mora has a female sidekick named Luna (Carroll Borland in the prototype of the seductive Hammer vixens), supposedly a father and daughter guilty of incest who became vampires after a double suicide, a fact deleted in post production but clearly outlined by the bullet wound in his temple. Most infuriating of all is the director's insistence on sticking to the legendary climax from the silent version, acceptable to a 1920s audience but not to that of Bela's era just 8 years later, making the interminable goings on collapse during a final reel reveal that proves tougher to swallow and about as digestible as rat poison. The actors involved all play to the hilt with total conviction, Lionel Atwill much better than Barrymore, but the entire cast was completely deflated by the ending, assuring a box office dud for MGM and only two final features ahead for Tod Browning. Lugosi of course looks magnificent and he and his 20 year old protege make a very impressive team, too bad this was the only time they worked together on screen.