Tod Browing’s Mark of the Vampire is a short one-hour horror drama that features Bela Lugosi playing a vampire, a role he was mostly known for after he was Dracula. The film’s other cast members include legendary actors Lionel Barrymore, Lionel Atwill and Elizabeth Allan.
The story begins with Sir Karell Borotyn (Holmes Herbert, The Thirteenth Chair, Mystery of the Wax Museum) being murdered. He has two puncture holes in his neck to indicate there is a vampire who killed him. Doctor Doskil (Donald Meek, The Gilded Lily, Captain Blood), and Sir Karell’s friend Baron Otto von Zinden (Jean Hersholt, Grand Hotel, Dinner at Eight) seem to believe there’s a vampire around. Lo and behold we see the vampire, Count Mora (Bela Lugosi, Dracula, The Phantom Creeps, The Human Monster) and his daughter Luna (Carroll Borland, Biohazard) wandering around at night scaring some folks. Professor Zelen (Lionel Barrymore, A Free Soul, It’s a Wonderful Life, Key Largo), an expert on vampires arrives to help Inspector Neumann (Lionel Atwill, Doctor X, Mystery of the Wax Museum, Murders in the Zoo) catch the vampires before they kill Sir Karell’s daughter Irena (Elizabeth Allan, Alibi, The Haunted Strangler)! Why are the vampires after Irena and why they killed Sir Karell lead to some startling developments!
To say anything else about the movie would give away the ending, which I personally didn’t like. But despite that one flaw, Mark of the Vampire is loaded with atmosphere, particularly when Count Mora and Luna walking around in the fog, or inside a castle with some great sound effects in the background. The cast all hand in marvelous performances as one would expect. I really like this film and is a favorite of mine, but the ending spoils a good horrific time!
Warner Archive’s Mark of the Vampire Blu-ray presentation from is nothing short of stellar. The 1080p transfer from what I have gathered appears to have been given a 4K scan and the results are remarkable. The image looks so amazingly clear, so polished with the scenery never looking as good as it does here. The image has been given such a thorough cleanup that there is now very little to no debris in the picture. The grey scale looks accurate with nice, rich black levels and creamy whites. The movie now jumps out at you boasting a supremely clear picture.
Mark of the Vampire’s DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio is also clear with balanced dialogue and background noises. The sounds are not overly aggressive, rather, they all just sound perfectly fine with no issues such as drop-offs, crackling or hissing detected. English subtitles are available.
Mark of the Vampire has extras from both the previous DVD release and other DVD offerings from Warner Brother. The Blu-ray includes the commentary track by author and film critic Kim Newman and writer/editor Stephen Jones that was on the Mark of the Vampire DVD release.
These other extras were on other DVD releases:
A Thrill for Thelma is an MGM short that runs about 18 minutes that has to do with crime.
The Calico Dragon is another featurette, running for about eight minutes.
There is also a theatrical trailer to round out the extras.
Mark of the Vampire on Blu-ray is a great treat for classic horror fans! Seeing it in all its HD glory makes for a great visual experience to go with the outstanding audio and extras that make this a highly recommended package!
Mark of the Vampire
Director- Tod Browning
Cast- Bela Lugosi, Lionel Barrymore
Country of Origin- USA
Distributor – Warner Brothers/Warner Archive
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –11/22/2022