The mark of the vampire

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Movie
German title The mark of the vampire
Original title Mark of the Vampire
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1935
length 60 minutes
Rod
Director Death Browning
script Guy Endore
Bernard Schubert
production Death Browning
Eddie Mannix
music Herbert Stothart
Edward Ward
camera James Qong Howe
cut Ben Lewis
occupation

Mark of the Vampire is a black and white - horror film of director Tod Browning from 1935, with Bela Lugosi in the title role. The film is a remake of Brownings At Midnight (London after Midnight) , a 1927 silent film .

action

Baron Karel Borotyn is found dead in the study of his castle. The summoned Dr. Doskil examines the bloodless corpse and finds traces on the neck that indicate a vampire bite. It is believed that only the vampire count Mora can be to blame. Inspector Neumann from Prague does not believe in vampires and suspects the murderer to be among the living. Baron Otto von Zinden is considered the main suspect because he has his eye on Irena, the murdered man's daughter. However, there is no evidence to support this theory, and Neumann seeks advice from vampire expert Professor Zelen. Neumann and Irena come up with a plan to expose the murderer.

Strange things soon happen and Count Mora sneaks through the castle. His daughter Luna, herself a vampire, is seen by frightened passers-by and casts Irena under her spell. Even the Baron Borotyn, who was believed dead, rises from the dead. Irena has bite wounds on her neck and is getting weaker and weaker. Therefore, Professor Zelen convinces Inspector Neumann and Otto von Zinden to go into the crypt together to look for the vampires. In fact, they find the baron believed to have been murdered among the undead and observe a ghostly meeting of the vampires in a ruined chapel.

Baron von Zinden is appalled by the existence of the vampires and later lets Professor cells put him under hypnosis . The night of the murder is brought back to mind. The victim has been poisoned and the baron is exposed as a murderer. He wounded the allegedly murdered person with knife stabs in the neck to simulate vampire bites and then fleeced the body so that there was no more blood. As the administrator of the family's estate , he wanted to sneak the inheritance.

However, it turns out that the whole vampire scene was only staged to scare the killer and thus expose him. The vampires and even the murdered baron were actors. In the final scene you can see the actors, who have removed their make-up and pack their costumes, and "Count Mora" who boasts of his acting qualities.

background

In the United States , the film premiered on March 28, 1935 and was shown in cinemas on April 26, 1935. The film premiered on television in the Federal Republic of Germany on March 26, 1982.

  • After the now lost film London After Midnight , Browning made a remake that was closely based on his original The Hypnotist .
  • Carroll Borland's costume and make-up as a vampire woman were the model for numerous later depictions of a female vampire, such as B. the character of Lily Munster in the television series The Munsters .
  • The unusual ending of the film was already controversial at the time.
    Many of the storylines in the film seemed very implausible:
    • So the actors left no footprints in the thick dust.
    • The actors acted like vampires even without a secret observer.
    • The question of why a vampire staging was even necessary when the murderer finally told the truth under hypnosis also remained open.
    • How could von Zinden, as administrator of the baron's estate, fail to see that the baron was an actor?
    • How can a person who has been poisoned and fleeced to the point of emptiness continue to perform his work as an actor?
  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer wanted the film to end prematurely and ultimately drastically shorten it , since the studios at that time specialized in family films and a horror film did not fit into the concept. Furthermore, Browning's 1932 film Freaks had already been banned in various states and cities in the USA and MGM did not want to promote another scandal. However, the original trailer, which can be seen on Youtube.com, shows two scenes that are no longer included in the current version of the film. The remaining cut out scenes are considered lost.

Reviews

“This horror classic by Grandmaster Tod Browning ('Freaks', 'Dracula', 'The Raven of London', 'The Unknown') is an atmospheric, excellently played mixture of crime and horror. Even if the only surviving version has been greatly shortened, it gives an idea of ​​the brilliance of the original. This is always a successful scary fun. "

- Prism Online :

“The film magazine Cinema says:“ The ending is unfortunately illogical and angered Bela Lugosi (as vampire Count Mora), who protested in vain at the time. Equipment and camera work still make the oldie worth seeing. Conclusion Eerily beautiful, even after 67 years. ""

- Cinema

The lexicon of international films saw "a clever mix of crime and horror films" and praised the "good camera work"

literature

  • William K. Everson: Classics of Horror Movies. (OT: Classics of the Horror Film ). Goldmann, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-442-10205-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Trivia in the Internet Movie Database
  2. ↑ The sign of the vampire at prisma.de. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  3. ↑ The sign of the vampire at cinema.de. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  4. ↑ The mark of the vampire. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 26, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used