Mark of the Vampire

Mark of the Vampire is a 1935 American horror film directed by TOD Browning. It is the original sound remake of Browning's lost silent film London after midnight (1927), the last known copy of which died in a fire in 1965.

There was an alternative scenario for the film, in which Professor Zielen receives a telegram from the actors he hired telling them that they could not get on the train. Thus, it was assumed that the vampires depicted in the film were real. This version of the script was rejected by Browning.

It should be noted that the structure of the film is quite strange. The final transition from a horror movie to a detective story is unexpected and poorly justified by the characters ' previous actions. Therefore, there is a sense of fragmented narrative, as if the film was assembled from two pictures of different genres.

The Romanian Baron Carell is found dead and completely drained of blood, with two wounds on his neck, shortly after being visited by his friend Otto von Zynden. The doctor confirms the rumors spread by the locals: there are vampires in the Baron's castle, the main one of which is count Mora.

Inspector Neumann, who has arrived from Prague, does not believe in these delusions and turns to a vampire specialist, Professor Zelen, for help. But soon he has to believe in ghouls: the dead Baron appears in the chapel of the castle, while his daughter Irena begins to pursue the vampire Luna. Also, a mysterious gentleman in black appears in the castle, who is only seen when a huge bat flies by.

In the end, Otto von Zynden is arrested on charges of murdering Carell: he poisoned the Baron, drained his blood, and made wounds on his neck with needles. After Otto's arrest, Irena confides in her fiance Fyodor, who did not participate in the performance and believes that vampires are real. It turns out that the risen from the dead Carell, as well as vampires, was played by specially hired actors.

Real vampires are not shown in the film. They are impersonated by actors hired to bring the killer to light. Their characters are based on the legend of the vampire count Moret and his daughter, who allegedly once lived in the castle belonging to the murdered man.

The main characters often talk about vampires. According to them, vampires are very persistent and, once attacking a person, will pursue him anywhere until they drink all the blood. In this case, each victim of a vampire becomes a vampire itself.

Vampires operate at night, from sunset to sunrise, and nothing can harm them during this period. During the day, they sleep in their coffins (or other unclean places) and become vulnerable.

You can scare off a vampire with a crucifix and field grass-wolfsbane, bunches of which need to be spread out in every room of the house. This is strange, because traditionally this herb is used to fight werewolves.

To kill a vampire, you need to separate its head from its body with a single blow during the day, while it is lying in a coffin, and put a sprig of wolfsbane on the wound.