London After Midnight

London after Midnight is a 1927 American silent feature film directed by TOD Browning and featuring elements of a horror film.

After its release, the film was very popular, but, unfortunately, it is now considered lost. The last known copy of it completely perished in 1967 during a fire in the film vault of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio. There is a photo-reconstruction of the film based on the preserved footage and script, made in 2002 by Director Rick Schmidlin for television. The reconstruction is also available as an attachment to the DVD edition of The LON Chaney film collection (the actor who played one of the main roles in the film).

In 1935, TOD Browning directed the film Mark of the Vampire, which is the author's sound remake of London after midnight.

Police inspector Edmund Burke investigates the strange death of the owner of an ancient castle. It looks as if sir Roger Balfour committed suicide. Eventually, Burke closes the case.

A few years later, the heirs of Balfour castle call the inspector again. At night mysterious figures began to appear in the castle: a tall, pale woman and a sinister-looking man with a high hat and shark teeth. After starting an investigation, the inspector discovers that the body of Roger Balfour has disappeared from the crypt. And soon there are witnesses who claim to have seen sir Balfour alive in the castle.

Frightened by these rumors and the idea that his uncle has become a vampire, sir James, who inherited the estate, agrees to help the inspector in the investigation. In the castle, he meets a sinister stranger who hypnotizes him. Under hypnosis, sir James repeats exactly what he did on the night of sir Roger's death, namely, the murder of his uncle. It turns out that the appearance of mysterious personalities was set up by the inspector: he hired actors who were supposed to portray vampires, and with their help lured sir James into a trap.

Real vampires are not shown in the film, all vampire-like creatures are actors hired by a London detective in order to bring the killer to light. The main vampire looks quite creepy: he has pointed teeth like a shark and bulging eyes. His cloak looks like the wings of a bat. The other two "vampires" (an actress named Luna and an actor playing a murder victim who has risen from the dead) look like ordinary people.

In the course of the plot, the characters of the film discuss the book "Immortals. A true story about vampires, collected from authentic sources describing bizarre and curious phenomena" (eng. " The Undead. The True History of Vampires Being a Compilation from Authentic sources of quiant and curious phenomena", London, 1721), which provides a detailed description of vampires:

These are not ghosts or images from another reality. They are "Vampires" - dead bodies that leave their graves at night and feed on the blood of the living.

While the sun is shining during the day, vampires sometimes turn into bats. In this guise, they seek out secluded, cursed places to sleep.

[To protect yourself from the vampire, ] hang a naked sword of the sharpest steel and a wreath of tuberose at the keyhole of the bedroom*

*Tuberose, Or polyanthes tuberosa (Latin: Polianthes tuberosa).