This movie is bursting at the seams with the paraphernalia of horror films: bats, rats, cats, owls, spiders, eerie background music, somber organ music, sinister conversations overheard from behind screens, and terrified screams galore. (Not to mention a possum!) It's almost as if this were one of those horror house amusements for grade school kids on Halloween. "Ooo! Scary!" The plot makes absolutely no sense, and the twist ending knocks it all into a cocked hat anyway.
There are some remarkably tiresome performances, led by the bombastic Lionel Barrymore as the "Professor." Lionel Atwill is equally tiresome as the skeptical police inspector, who keeps demanding rational explanations even as the place is crawling with fiendish creatures and supernatural events.
Of course, that twist ending renders all those creatures and events null and void.
Bela Lugosi and Carol Borland are quite enjoyable as "vampires," and I wished they had more screen time in place of those blowhards. Same with Donald Meek. Always a pleasure to watch, he mysteriously disappears from the cast after the opening sequences.
Twenty or so years later, Hammer Films brought new life to vampire and other horror movies. "Mark of the Vampire" has lots going on, but none of it is convincing as horror.
There are some remarkably tiresome performances, led by the bombastic Lionel Barrymore as the "Professor." Lionel Atwill is equally tiresome as the skeptical police inspector, who keeps demanding rational explanations even as the place is crawling with fiendish creatures and supernatural events.
Of course, that twist ending renders all those creatures and events null and void.
Bela Lugosi and Carol Borland are quite enjoyable as "vampires," and I wished they had more screen time in place of those blowhards. Same with Donald Meek. Always a pleasure to watch, he mysteriously disappears from the cast after the opening sequences.
Twenty or so years later, Hammer Films brought new life to vampire and other horror movies. "Mark of the Vampire" has lots going on, but none of it is convincing as horror.