This is an ingenious, delicious film that offers a different take on the vampire tale. It's a remake of director Tod Brownings' 1927 silent "London After Midnight", one of the most sought after "lost" films of all time. It features a number of the trappings of the vampire sub genre, and establishes a respectfully sinister atmosphere.
When a man named Sir Karell (Holmes Herbert) is found murdered, an investigation is launched by intrepid Inspector Neumann (Lionel Atwill, who's in fine huffy form). When it's believed that the death was a murder perpetrated by a vampire, an occult expert (a hilarious, delightful Lionel Barrymore) is called in to provide all the advice they could need.
And for a while, this plays out the way we would expect a vampire movie TO play out. Our blood suckers are played by Bela Lugosi, once again cast in a perfect sort of role for him, and Carroll Borland, whose striking, long haired Luna can easily be seen as a forerunner to characters like Vampira and Morticia Addams. The cast is rounded out with people such as Elizabeth Allan as the distraught Irena, Henry Wadsworth as her suitor, Jean Hersholt as her uncle (the worried Baron), Donald Meek as Dr. Doskill, Ivan F. Simpson as Jan the butler, and comedy relief provider Leila Bennett as Maria the maid.
One can't help but notice just how short this movie is - it runs barely over an hour - and in fact approximately 20 minutes of footage was cut after the preview. Unfortunately, because Brownings' previous film "Freaks" had flopped upon its release, he wasn't able to object to these studio decisions. Still, even in the movies' current incarnation, it works pretty well, with decent special effects and typically solid work by cinematographer James Wong Howe. But the reason why this should be so entertaining is the unexpected ending, which does a fine job of pulling the rug out from under us and turning into a different type of film altogether. Even the actors weren't informed of the big twist ending until it was time to shoot it, which does nothing but add to the effectiveness of their performances.
Overall, "Mark of the Vampire" is great fun and a worthy viewing for any fan of old school black & white genre entertainment.
Eight out of 10.
