Mark of the Vampire

1935 Directed by Tod Browning

Undead… yet living on the kisses of youth!

Sir Karell Borotyn appears to have been killed by Count Mora, a vampire who prowled around his castle. One year later, Irena, Karell's daughter, is haunted by the vampire and will be his next victim… unless Professor Zelen can avoid it.

Lionel Barrymore Elizabeth Allan Bela Lugosi Lionel Atwill Jean Hersholt Henry Wadsworth Donald Meek Jessie Ralph Ivan F. Simpson Franklyn Ardell Leila Bennett June Gittelson Carroll Borland Holmes Herbert Michael Visaroff Egon Brecher Robert Greig John George Louise Emmons

Alternative Titles

A vámpír jele, Znak wampira, La marca del vampiro, La marque du vampire, Знак вампира, Das Zeichen des Vampirs, A Marca do Vampiro, The Vampires of Prague, Vampires of the Night, Vampyrens mærke, I vampiri di Praga

horror mystery

60 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Travis Lytle ★★★★½ 2

Coming four years after his own "Dracula," Tod Browning's "Mark of the Vampire" gently skewers not only his earlier vampire film but the century's two-plus decades of other primitive horror films, as well. "Mark of the Vampire" is no parody, but it smartly uses audience expectations for its own gain. Small-scale yet beautifully rendered, the film is a haunting and, finally, whimsical early horror film.
Though it might be a bit convoluted, the film's plot combines vampire melodrama, mystery, and nefarious scheming. When a man is found dead, the superstitious townsfolk cry, "Vampire," while cooler heads attempt to prevail. Things are not as they seem, however, but the narrative's twists will not be revealed here. Rest assured, it is all…
Review by maskull ★★½

My 2016 October Horror List (aka Why I'm Extremely Pale in October)
Movie #4
I can't help but feel that the entire movie was shot just for the joke that Bela Lugosi delivers in the final scene.
There's a lot of scenes of people running around, tying weeds to door handles, or arguing about whether vampires are real, but the only time that I was really into this was when the vampires were on screen. Tod Browning knows how to shoot horror and set dress horror that actually is effectively creepy. Too bad that most of the film is just a seemingly plot-less mess. With a surprise ending that sort of explains things, but not really. And the aforementioned final Bela scene which is almost enough to save everything and made me laugh out loud. So yeah, there's at least that.
Review by 💀EmperorCupcake🧁 ★★½ 2

January Horror Hunt, Day 16, challenge #8 - pick any horror under one hour of runtime but still classified as a feature length film
Cutest. Cat scare. EVER! 😻
I get this is supposed to subvert the whole vampire thing, but it didn't interest me much when Lugosi and his daughter weren't on screen. I shouldn't fall asleep in the middle of a 60 minute film. I like some old movies, really I do!, but sometimes they're this mix of dry and corny that I'm just not feelin'. And I can't tell if it's genuinely corny or if the corny bits are a parody of old corny movies.
The final scene with Lugosi is fun. This would have made a…
Review by drmorbius79 ★★★

Hooptober 2017
MGM's attempt at a Universal horror picture that ends up almost a parody of those films, especially Dracula.
Bela Lugosi is here but the standout is his alluring and entrancing female accomplice Luna played by Carroll Borland- who has an iconic look that inspired numerous female vampires (and goth girls).
The film can't decide if it wants to play it straight (which it does quite well with spooky atmosphere on par with Dracula) or if it wants to send-up the genre with broad comedy that doesn't really work.
In other words, it needs more vampires and less of the uninteresting plot.
Lionel Barrymore (playing a doddering Van Helsing clone) and Lionel Atwill (who would get cast in similar roles in Universal flicks) are both here as well.
The Scooby Doo-like twist ending doesn't quite make sense but worth it for that punchline with Bela.
Review by D Edward ★★★½

“There is no more foul or relentless enemy of man in the occult world, than this dead-alive creature spewed you from the grave.”
31 NIGHTS OF HORROR continues with another vampiric classic directed by Todd Browning, Mark of the Vampire (1935).
Glorious gothic atmosphere abounds, which helps smooth over the film’s more glaring issues. I discuss it all here ⬇️
MY REVIEW: [here]
Added to: 31 Nights of Horror III
Included in:
• 1930s Horror — D Edward Ranks (23)
Review by Ben Peterson

Borland and Lugosi (and his unexplainable blood spot on the side of his face) are pretty good here and the foggy outside sets are a nice mood setter. However by having a lack of energy when those two aren’t on screen, and a decision regarding a certain plot “twist”, the film overall left me a little indifferent.
It does have some exquisite posters and one sheets.
*highlight - Borland & Lugosi hypnotize Elizabeth Allen out to the veranda after a long & spooky build up walk, complete with flying bat companion.
Review by Curtis ★★★½

A Czech nobleman dies, his blood drained at his desk in the dead of night. One year later, vampires are roaming the countryside, targeting his daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law with their dentigerous attacks. Vampire expert Lionel Barrymore and a disbelieving cop from Prague must join forces to uncover the truth and forestall this undead menace.
I'm not going to say much about this. It's enjoyable, though I can definitely see how it might infuriate the viewer. Lugosi doesn't get a whole lot to do as the temple-punctured Count Mora, with a lot of the vampiric fun going to his ghostly daughter Luna. Lionel Barrymore is especially fun with his wide lapels and wild declarations about animate corpses.
Review by Dawson Joyce ★★★½

Hooptober 4.0 Film #12
TASK #5: Six films from the following: James Whale, Tod Browning, John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, Wes Craven, Tom Holland (mix-and-match or all one)!
DIRECTOR #5: Tod Browning
A horror film that manages to expertly skewer the entire genre, Tod Browning's Mark of the Vampire may not have the best-constructed story but it's still a rather delightful watch thanks to its creepy atmosphere and entertaining performances.
Review by D Edward ★★★½

That ending is almost a dealbreaker for me. I love the atmosphere in this movie, but it would work so much better if it just stuck with its ideas instead of pulling a bait-and-switch in the final ten minutes. It has other issues too like the random shots of Bela Lugosi all over the place and some of the acting, but I can’t help but like what it does do right with its vampire plot and moody graveyard and castle sequences.
Included in:
• 1930s Horror — D Edward Ranks (-13)
Review by Anna Imhof 🌸

It's all a little too silly to be considered a horror film, and Barrymore, playing a vampire expert, doesn't seem to be taking it too seriously, either, as it's the first time I've seen him phone it in. Just a tad, Lionel, just a tad! As a sort of folk tale with vampires it kinda works (at least until the twist towards the end), the special effects have a DYI feel to them that give it an unexpected charm, and the vampire girl was super creepy, with her floating walk and the long hair and that weird stare. I liked that she could put people to sleep just by staring at them.
Review by Evelyn Rose 2

Director Tod Browning ostensibly making another vampire movie with Bela 'Dracula' Lugosi, but it's just a marketing ploy. In fact, the movie subsumes and explains away its supernatural horror elements into its predominant, and tedious, dark house murder mystery elements. The cumbersome result is only ever atmosphere, never follow-through. The film's emphases in screen time and story arc express the belief that watching know-it-all professor investigator Lionel Barrymore ham it up is more compelling than watching delicate spectral vampire Bela Lugosi ham it up. The film is mistaken.
Review by mrbalihai ★★★★ 4

Although I knew the vampires in this film turn out to be McGuffins, it'd been so long since I'd watched it, I couldn't for the life of me remember how that twist revealed itself, so I just sat back and enjoyed it as a more-or-less straightforward horror film and let the plot unfold in its own time.
Director Todd Browning really succeeds in creating some absolutely iconic imagery here, that in some ways exceeds what he accomplished in "Dracula" a few years prior. He also creates an unnerving sonic underlay of groans, creaking boards, animal noises, and howling wind that seems like it could've informed some of Alan Splet's work on "Eraserhead".
Carroll Borland's "Luna", the archetype for Morticia Addams,…

Recent reviews

Review by Audrey Karloff ★★★★

...and the first movie in the new place. Seems appropriate, since after carrying furniture around all day there's no way I'll stay awake for a whole movie, and this is my #1 "play the commentary on a loop while I sleep" option.
Review by Laura ★★★½

i like using the trope of the vampire as a twist for a mystery story, also just solid aesthetic for their vampires
Review by orinow ★★★½

giną ludzie a na szyjach zwłok tajemnicze dziurki, jedni wierzą, że to wampirze inni nie, inscenizacja musi trwać aż do końca...
It has been described as a talkie remake of Browning's silent "London After Midnight" (1927), though it does not credit the older film or its writers.
*
Sir Karell Borotyn (Holmes Herbert) is found murdered in his house, with two tiny pinpoint wounds on his neck. The attending doctor, Dr. Doskil (Donald Meek), and Sir Karell's friend Baron Otto von Zinden (Jean Hersholt) are convinced that he was killed by a vampire. They suspect Count Mora (Bela Lugosi) and his daughter Luna (Carroll Borland), while the Prague Police Inspector Neumann (Lionel Atwill) refuses to believe them.
Sir Karell's daughter…
Review by Daniel Zynda ★★★★

Der Film erscheint zunaechst wie einer der schoensten 30er Jahre Horrorfilme. Eine gemuetliche Vampir-Fantasie, mit Schloss und Atmosphaere und Bela Lugosi und Knoblauch und allem was sonst noch dazugehoert. Selbst soetwas aehnliches wie einen Van Helsing gibts (gut gespielt von Lionel Barrymore - auf den Mann war in jeder Rolle Verlass). Erst das Ende ruiniert den Film. Will keinem die "Ueberraschung" nehmen, deshalb nur soviel: Es waere ja ganz ok - aber dafuer wird das Thema zuvor viel zu ernst angegangen, und viele Szenen machen gar keinen Sinn mehr. So wirken dann die ersten 45 Minuten nur wie ein Gimmick. Da vieles von dem zuvor gezeigten nicht zum Ende passt, fuehlt man sich als Zuschauer verarscht. Wenn man das Ende…
Review by Max Redmond Smith

Jam-packed for an hour long film ! Gorgeous imagery throughout, and a lovely unexpected ending too.
Review by lauren 🪲 ★★½

Bela Lugosi could have been in the most profound and beautiful movie ever but I’ll still only want to talk about how hot he was.
Review by bowmanSimon

Incredibly spooky and fun, has a feeling to it that no other horror film I’ve seen quite has. Beautifully photographed by the great James Wong Howe.
Review by Kate

Ok well this turned out to be the wrong movie to not be giving my full attention to lol (and that’s on me). A rewatch should be fun.
Review by AccipiterQ ★★★

This vampire business, it has given me a great idea for a new act! Luna, in the new act, I will be the vampire! Did you watch me? I gave all of me! I was greater than any REAL vampire!"
"I gave all of me"
The man perfected the vampire craft
Review by jacob prante ★★½

Count Mora?
I would’ve liked some MORE OF this movie to have been entertaining. 🧄😎😎😎😎😎🧄
Review by Will K ★★

Feels like it goes almost beat for beat right with the second half of Dracula, which I guess is the point... except the first half of Dracula is the memorable part.
Review by ironic_onion ★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

A lot of people seem to think the twist ruins the film, but I think it really works to perfectly redeem the melodramatic and corny elements throughout the film that otherwise would simply be excused as excesses of the time period. This is especially true of the performances of the scared servants and Professor Zelen, which seem really corny initially but in retrospect become brilliantly fun, spicing up the scenes that would otherwise be kind of drag between the more exciting horror scenes. The horror scenes are themselves really effective, because Browning knows how to do horror and plays them completely straight, not even telling the twist to the vampire performers until necessary.