{"id":13337,"date":"2010-11-15T12:41:02","date_gmt":"2010-11-15T19:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13337"},"modified":"2020-12-25T14:02:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-25T21:02:44","slug":"mark-of-the-vampire-1935","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13337","title":{"rendered":"Mark of the Vampire (1935)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;There is no more foul or relentless enemy of man in the occult world than this dead-alive creature, spewed up from the grave.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Mark-of-the-Vampire-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Mark-of-the-Vampire-Poster-203x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-59481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Mark-of-the-Vampire-Poster-203x300.png 203w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Mark-of-the-Vampire-Poster-693x1024.png 693w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Mark-of-the-Vampire-Poster-87x128.png 87w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Mark-of-the-Vampire-Poster-183x270.png 183w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Mark-of-the-Vampire-Poster.png 749w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen her father (Holmes Herbert) is murdered, a young woman (Elizabeth Allen) relies upon an occult expert (Lionel Barrymore) and a detective (Lionel Atwill) to help solve the mystery, which may involve two local vampires (Bela Lugosi and Carroll Borland).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bela Lugosi Films<\/li>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Horror Films<\/li>\n<li>Lionel Atwill Films<\/li>\n<li>Lionel Barrymore Films<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<li>Old Dark House<\/li>\n<li>Tod Browning Films<\/li>\n<li>Vampires<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2123horr.html\">DVD Savant<\/a> accurately refers to this outing by cult director Tod Browning as a &#8220;confused mess&#8221;, labeling it &#8220;some stylish scenes in search of a movie&#8221;. The film&#8217;s notorious storyline twist makes no sense at all, especially given that the suspenseful denouement could have easily occurred without the major plot upheaval; to avoid spoilers, I won&#8217;t say more here, though this severely limits my ability to say much more about the film. With that said, James Wong Howe&#8217;s cinematography is stunningly atmospheric throughout, and the &#8220;haunted&#8221; castle inhabited by Lugosi and Borland (the latter a clear inspiration for <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Vampira_Show\">Vampira<\/a>) is genuinely spooky. <em>Mark of the Vampire<\/em> is ultimately a visual treat that deserves a much better vehicle. Worth a look, but be prepared for narrative disappointment. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Effectively spooky sets<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/mark-of-vampire-sets.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/mark-of-vampire-sets.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13340\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Some memorably haunting imagery<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/mark-of-vampire-imagery.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/mark-of-vampire-imagery.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13341\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>James Wong Howe&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/mark-of-vampire-cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/mark-of-vampire-cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13342\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though most film fanatics (and fans of Tod Browning) will likely be curious to check out this follow-up to <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18724\"><em>Dracula<\/em> (1931)<\/a>. Listed as a film with Historical Importance in the back of Peary&#8217;s book.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0026685\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1935\/05\/03\/archives\/at-the-rialto-and-the-mayfair.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2123horr.html\">DVD Savant Review (scroll down to fourth review)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moria.co.nz\/horror\/markofthevampire.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bostonphoenix.com\/boston\/movies\/trailers\/documents\/03284771.asp\">Boston Phoenix Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/82936\/mark-of-the-vampire#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/mark-of-the-vampire\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;There is no more foul or relentless enemy of man in the occult world than this dead-alive creature, spewed up from the grave.&#8221; Synopsis: When her father (Holmes Herbert) is murdered, a young woman (Elizabeth Allen) relies upon an occult expert (Lionel Barrymore) and a detective (Lionel Atwill) to help solve the mystery, which may involve two local vampires (Bela Lugosi and Carroll Borland). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Bela Lugosi Films Detectives and Private Eyes Horror Films Lionel Atwill&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13337\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13337"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59482,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13337\/revisions\/59482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}