Mark of the Vampire in Golden Age Horror Forum

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Mark of the Vampire

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DonM435	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#21	[-]
Jul 21 05 10:20 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	And Frankenstein is collecting all the brain matter he needs with a chilled cocktail glass.
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Joe Karlosi	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#22	[-]
Jul 22 05 5:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* It's annoying that they turn out to be phonies because, for almost an hour, we've been occasionally watching Mora, Luna, etc., do spooky stuff in a castle (even a flying gag for Luna) in a castle in the middle of nowhere, with no one around for a mile -- for whose benefit are they doing this stuff when they're all by themselves? Yes, that's another thing I meant to bring up. It's really dumb. *Quote:* Yes, and the guy who committed the crime, the guy who this is all being done for the benefit of, is, like, say, Little Maria's father, who's not on hand for the creation scene (or anything else that happens in the watchtower) at ALL. LOL! You nailed it! ------------------------------------ "It's MORE ... than a hobby!"
Omega Man	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#23	[-]
Jul 22 05 8:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wow... I'm in total accord with Tom Weaver and Joe Karlosi about an old movie! ;) "Build coffins. That's all you'll need." www.eccentric-cinema.com
specterman	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#24	[-]
Jul 22 05 4:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* for whose benefit are they doing this stuff when they're all by themselves? Their actors, they were "in character", haven't you ever known an actor that does that? . Come on guys, does this movie really bother you that much? I never really gave it too much thought till now, I just always thought it was a cool little flic with a lot of spooky atmosphere.
Joe Karlosi	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#25	[-]
Jul 22 05 5:41 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* Come on guys, does this movie really bother you that much? I never really gave it too much thought till now, I just always thought it was a cool little flic with a lot of spooky atmosphere. In all honesty, yes, it really does bother me much for some reason. I think you are doing well by not giving it too much thought, if you can enjoy it that way. I'm hoping that some day Warner will release a box set of Lugosi/Karloff/Lorre horrors, and that I can give this another try on a sterling new disc, though. ------------------------------------ "It's MORE ... than a hobby!"
ryanbrennan	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#26	[-]
Jul 23 05 5:38 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	In the revised version the REAL actors, delayed for some reason through the length of the movie, show up at the end just in time for the plot to be exposed.
Tor havin fun	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#27	[-]
Jul 23 05 3:13 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It bother Tor too, because the end of the film means that we've been snake oiled. I think it's less because of the "pranksters catch killers" plot, than MGM and Warner Bros being unable to surrender the NY-oriented urban "sophistication" enough to make a good horror film. Or you've at least gotta concede that they lack Universal's touch. At other studios, their horror films have wisecracking Glenda Farrell or Lee Tracy reporters, and George E Stone "mug" types talking about "eatin' regular" and "bein' on the up and up." MARK doesn't have those things but I just can't stand the urbane patter polluting what is supposed to be a gothic horror film. Example - THE MUMMY'S HAND - wait, damn, that's Universal! A better example would be FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN with Rags Ragland or Shemp as supporting players.
n0s4a2	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#28	[-]
Jul 24 05 4:30 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Mark of the Vampire is what is known as a shaggy dog story. When it's over, the hypnotist claps his hands and says, "wake up, now!" and we return to the real world, as he reminds us with a wink that after all, it was only a dream. If you feel "had" by this lovely, atmospheric and good-natured film, then you've got some kind of a hang-up.
Joe Karlosi	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#29	[-]
Jul 24 05 5:47 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This message was left blank. ------------------------------------ "It's MORE ... than a hobby!"
hnicolella	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#30	[-]
Jul 24 05 10:03 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	(In the revised version the REAL actors, delayed for some reason through the length of the movie, show up at the end just in time for the plot to be exposed. ) That's the ending Carroll Borland said she suggested to Browning when the actors were disappointed to find they were not playing real vampires. It's not terribly logical either but it does keep the supernatural element. (It bother Tor too, because the end of the film means that we've been snake oiled. I think it's less because of the "pranksters catch killers" plot, than MGM and Warner Bros being unable to surrender the NY-oriented urban "sophistication" enough to make a good horror ) Reviews of MARK were very positive and no one seemed bothered by the trick ending. Of course the "it's all a fake" gimmick was standard in the silent era but perhaps had become fresh again by 1935. And, as someone else pointed out, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT ends the same way. It's all pretty much in keeping with Browning's "show biz/fool the suckers" recurring theme. Of course MARK is full of improbabilities. One that's not usually mentioned is the "vampire" attack on Fedor early in the film. Are we supposed to believe that Jean Hersholt was out there in the woods with his cup and cigarette lighter stalking his much younger rival? Then again I'm not sure Fedor("YOOO-WHOOOO"), perhaps the wimpiest "hero" in thirties horror ,could have given Maleva a good tussle. MARK has some of the eeriest scenes of any classic horror film. In addition to Luna flitteriing about the castle, I love the moment when Hersholt and Atwill leave the crypt and a wolf (or large dog as David Manners might say) casually strolls by them through the mist. For me, bits like those more than make up for the contrived plot. And Bela's a hoot in that final scene. One of my favorite "Thriller" episodes is "Well of Doom" with Henry Daniell done up a bit like Chaney's Man in the Beaver Hat. At the end the supernatural aspect turns out to be a fake but that doesn't negate the effectiveness of what's gone before. Henry
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Chesterbelloc	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#31	[-]
Jul 24 05 10:24 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* MARK has some of the eeriest scenes of any classic horror film. In addition to Luna flitteriing about the castle, I love the moment when Hersholt and Atwill leave the crypt and a wolf (or large dog as David Manners might say) casually strolls by them through the mist That's what keeps me coming back to this film, over and over again. I've watched it on Halloween for the last three or four years; it does become a chore near the end, but those middle sequences with that atmosphere are just beautiful.
Tor havin fun	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#32	[-]
Jul 25 05 10:24 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It occurs to me that Universal would not give a horror movie a wuss-out ending even when they had the chance. In that Edward Van Sloan epilog filmed for the end of DRACULA, he says to remember that there are vampires, such things do exist. OK maybe that's tongue in cheek too, but if MGM had done such a thing for MARK it could have read "this was just a diversion and you may now return to your breezy urban sophistication."
vamplover	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#33	[-]
Aug 7 05 9:27 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	it sounds like cattle lowing
Johnnydrum	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#34	[-]
Aug 24 05 6:55 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	i was disapointed in this film,especially the terrible ending--although i do recall a brilliant metamorphasis scene with the lady (or did i dream this bit???) Which one is it where Dracula is reserected during the blitz?
TomWeaver999	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#35	[-]
Aug 24 05 7:52 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<< i was disapointed in this film,especially the terrible ending--although i do recall a brilliant metamorphasis scene with the lady (or did i dream this bit???) << She has a short, strange-looking scene where she "flies" for a few seconds -- I bet that's what you're thinking of. The vampire and the blitz is a movie called THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE. Welcome to the Boards, by the way, CHFBer #500!
specterman	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#36	[-]
Aug 24 05 8:14 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Number 500?!?!?! Where are the lights and sirens?? Woohooo, I believe this guy wins something, does he not? Oh yeah, I think it's Tom Weaver's entire DVD collection...congratulations #500!
Johnnydrum	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#37	[-]
Aug 24 05 8:27 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ha,ha!...am I really the 500th member?? I stumbled across here trying to re-acquire my beloved "BEDLAM" DVD -which,I believe my wife has accidentley "thrown out"--so if your wondering what the smell is,its from me,trawling through our Garbage-in the veighn hope of retrieving it..lol Thank you though for the wonderfull reception!
Johnnydrum	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#38	[-]
Aug 31 05 2:11 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well,blow me! It only turned up on TCM last night! Just finished watching it,and yes,that scene with Luna "flying" looked brilliant!!!! I am aware of the hoax plot--although in the books "Dracula Centenary"and "Dracula Scrapbook" it refers to the removed plot of Luna and the Count as having "a sexual-relationship" in which the Count Strangles the girl before shooting himself (hence the bullet hole) and they were both left to walk in "limbo"..but this throws the story of them just being actors away,however,would explain the bullet hole in the side of his head. Also,since in the film,they are supposed to b actors,then how does Mora turn from bat to Vampire at the brilliant window scene? Hmmmmmm....watching this has only made me have more questions..lol
Ted Newsom	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#39	[-]
Sep 1 05 9:15 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Bela-to-bat scene in MARK is certainly better-handled than the lame-o pan-back-and-forth things in DRACULA, with fog and a dissolve-- but the scene is in fact told as a flashback by the household servants who are in the hall. So even that is a cheat. (When we see something in a movie, the natural assumption is that it HAPPENED, at least within the "reality" of the movie. Hitchcock discussed this in HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT, having done the same thing in STAGE FRIGHT-- a phony flashback, told by Richard Todd, who was lying-- and realized that this was misleading and confusing to the audience.) BTW-- the Luna-flying shot is also in the trailer-- but it's an alternate take and reveals how it was done. Borland is clearly a superimposed/matted element added to the plate of Lugosi and the gothic room. In the trailer version, Bela's eyeline does not match where Luna appears on screen, and her image is semi-transparent, which it isn't in the film.) Joe K notes rightly: *Quote:* It's all pretty much in keeping with Browning's "show biz/fool the suckers" recurring theme. And I for one do not like being taken for a chump or a rube.
n0s4a2	Re: Mark of the Vampire background sounds	#40	[-]
Sep 2 05 5:51 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* And I for one do not like being taken for a chump or a rube. I had a friend who, every time he watched a Tom & Jerry cartoon, would cry, "Oh, that's so-oo unrealistic, nobody could survive a fall like that! The same for musicals: "Do they expect us to believe that anybody could make up songs that fast?" It's called suspension of disbelief, or, entering into the spirit of the piece. Mark of the Vampire is more than just a "monster movie"- it is a subtle mind game about the nature of reality, made all the more powerful by the very real atmosphere of dread it conjures up, and then makes vanish in a pufff of magican's smoke.
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