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Stars: Bela Lugosi, Lionel Barrymore, Carroll Borland, Jean Hersholt, Lionel Atwill, Elizabeth Allan | Written by Guy Endore, Bernard Schubert | Directed by Tod Browning

Tod Browning’s 1935 film Mark of the Vampire is a compelling entry in early sound-era horror cinema, blending gothic atmosphere with an intriguing twist on vampire mythology. Renowned for its haunting visuals and surprising narrative, the film stands as both a tribute to and a playful critique of traditional horror tropes.

The film begins with a classic setup: a remote European village shrouded in superstition, a mysterious death with puncture wounds on the victim’s neck, and whispers of vampiric activity. Count Mora (Bela Lugosi) and his ghostly daughter Luna (Carroll Borland) are at the centre of the villagers’ fears. As the story unfolds, Browning masterfully subverts audience expectations, delivering a twist that shifts the narrative from supernatural horror to a detective story steeped in theatrical deception.

“I want you to promise to keep this a secret, from everyone,” says Edward C. Burke, a mysterious professor played by mythic master of the macabre, Lon Chaney Sr. The line is a warning to a mourning daughter in the surviving screenplay for London After Midnight; it’s also part of the eeriest horror movies of the silent era. Unfortunately though, director Tod Browning’s 1927 classic has become one of the most inadvertently well-kept secrets of Hollywood, even as it remains one of the most influential works in horror movie history. If only we could see it.

While the film has been lost to time, the ghastly image of Chaney’s vampire in the film has lingered in the pop culture imagination, influencing everything from the earliest Hollywood Dracula film of 1931, which was originally supposed to star Chaney until his death in 1930, to seemingly this year’s recent Renfield reimagining at the same studio.

(Welcome to Year of the Vampire, a series examining the greatest, strangest, and sometimes overlooked vampire movies of all time in honor of "Nosferatu," which turns 100 this year.)

Vampires may be fundamentally incapable of self-reflection (seeing as how they don't show up in mirrors and all), but that doesn't mean we can't reflect on them. And so we have, all throughout 2022. The Year of the Vampire is almost over now, and these last 11 months have been an educational, blood-spattered ride through one of film history's oldest genres.

With the first 50 articles in this series, we spotlit individual vampire movies, beginning with F.W. Murnau's original "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror" and ending with Werner Herzog's 1979 remake "Nosferatu the Vampyre." However, if you've been following along at all, you might know we've jumped around in time since January and analyzed over two dozen 20th-century vampire films.

This list adds to that with 20 more titles,...

Mark of the Vampire

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1935 / 1.33: 1 / 60 Min.

Starring Lionel Barrymore, Bela Lugosi

Written by Guy Endore, Bernard Schubert

Directed by Tod Browning

Tod Browning died in 1962, living long enough to see his work enjoy a resurgence on late night’s Shock Theater, a syndicated TV package featuring Universal’s classic horror films. Browning’s Dracula was one of the crown jewels of that series but if you wanted to see more of the director’s work it probably wouldn’t be on television—his most infamous films were too lurid even for the midnight hour: potboilers populated by deformed and deranged circus performers, bloodthirsty magicians, and cross-dressing ventriloquists.

1932’s Freaks was the ne plus ultra of the Browning shockers, a sawdust soap opera pitting a beautiful prima donna against unorthodox carny performers—”unorthodox” because these folks were, on the surface, strange figures whose physical abberations made them outcasts everywhere except the circus.

Well, genre fans, we only have four home entertainment releases coming our way this Tuesday, but as the saying goes, they are quality over quantity.

Scream Factory is releasing the ’90s thriller The Crush on Blu-ray this week and we also have two great recent films to look forward to as well: The Wave and Midnight Special. Rounding out this Tuesday’s Blu-ray and DVD offerings is Bayview Entertainment’s DVD release of the ’80s cult classic, Biohazard.

Biohazard (Bayview Entertainment, DVD)

The cult classic returns featuring an all-new 2K 16×9 widescreen film transfer from the original 35mm negative! A group of scientists, army types and a buxom psychic use a variety of methods to suck a bloodthirsty alien out of another dimension. Upon arriving, the little devil blasts his way loose, taking part of a soldiers face along the way. The psychic and her network of friends chase the beast,...

Reviewed by Chris Wright, MoreHorror.com

Scalps (1983)

Directed by: Fred Olen Ray

Written by: Fred Olen Ray

Starring: Jo-Ann Robinson (D.J.), Richard Hench (Randy/Black Claw), Roger Maycock (Kershaw Ellerbe), Frank McDonald (Ben), Carol Sue Flockhart (Louise), Barbara Magnusson (Ellen), Kirk Alyn (Professor Machen), Carroll Borland (Dr. Sharon Reynolds), Cynthia Hartline (Ann), Forrest Ackerman(Professor Trentwood), George Randall (Billy), Jay Walker (Kyle)

I went into Scalps with the notion that I was going to hate it but wound up being pleasantly surprised by the film. This movie was far from perfect but I enjoyed it for the most part. First released in the United States in 1983 with one of Continental Video’s trademark “double feature” VHS and later released as an anniversary DVD.

The premise for this one is fairly simple. Several college kids taking archaeology classes together travel to an ancient Indian burial ground to search for artifacts.

Whether he was calling himself Forry, Fojak, Sgt. Ack-Ack or any other of his many noms de plume, Forrest J Ackerman delighted in spinning pseudonyms. As previously noted, he transformed his wife from Matlide Porjes into Wendayne Mondele Ackerman. This ability went all the way back to his high school days, as Fja himself related…

“The earliest pseudonym I recall having created appeared in my high school newspaper. It was at the beginning of a kind of gossip column and I used the name Ion Lee Hurd. Then when the first amateur science fiction was created, The Time Travellers had two Ls. I used Allisvillette and later the same first name but the last name of Kerlay. Soon I added Weaver Wright, Spencer Strong, Jack Ermine, Jacque de Foresterman. Once upon a time I actually dreamed a pen name which upon waking I liked so much that I adopted it; it was Dr.

The most impressive science fiction collection in the world-- and yes, I say it's even more impressive than the one at Skywalker Ranch-- will be going on the auction block today starting at 12 noon Pacific time, and continuing tomorrow, May 1st, at 11am Pacific time.

How impressive is it? Look at that photo to the right, which is lot #660 in the auction..

That's a first edition of Dracula. Not impressed? It's a first edition signed by the author, Bram Stoker.

That would be enough for most people-- but not Forry. He went farther and got it autographed by Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Bill Obbagy, Ingrid Pitt, Karl Freund, Donald A. Reed, Barry Atwater, Maila Nurmi a.k.a. “Vampira”, Carla Laemmle, Carroll Borland, John Carradine, Raymond McNally, Ferdy Mayne, Paul Naschy, Barbara Leigh... and Bela Lugosi.

Take a look.

You can bid by phone or online. Or you can just...

When I began contributing to Dread Central, I was eager to reminisce about the never to be forgotten, Forrest J Ackerman and his astounding legacy. But who has time to look backwards when Ack keeps going “forry-ward” in the here and now? Case in point? In a matter of weeks Profiles In History will hold the greatest genre auction in history, offering prized objects from the collection of the Grand-daddy of all collectors. Gosh! Wow! (Dang)! It’s the Forrest J Ackerman Estate Auction!

Over the years, hardcore collectors have snatched up every existing morsel, crumb and Blob of memorabilia associated with our classic genre heritage. Sure, there’s no shortage of Terrorific collectibles in the form of model kits, prop-copies and photos. But just try and find anything “original” from the golden, silver or, hell - even aluminum-foil era of Imagi-movies? Try finding it for less than a Kong’s ransom!