Four years after he played Count Dracula he would put on the cape once again, but this time not as Count Dracula, this time as Count Mora in Todd Browning's Mark of the Vampire. Now for this first time ever this 1935 horror classic comes to Blu-ray thank to the great folks at Warner Archive.
In a remote village in Central Europe, a nobleman's body is found drained of it's blood and with two small punctures on the neck-the Mark of the Vampire. An ancient terror, a horror that won't die, haunts the village: the long undead Count Mora (Bela Lugosi, Dracula) and his daughter, Luna (Carroll Borland, Scalps), rule the night. But the vampires have not fed on the people of the village for a very long time. Now, with the help of an expert in the occult, Professor Zelen (Lionel Barrymore, It's a Wonderful Life), and local Baron Otto (Jean Hersholt, Heidi), police inspector Neumann (Lionel Atwill, Doctor X) unearths a mystery far stranger and more terrifying than anyone could have imagined!
When Bela portrayed Dracula it was a chilling tale of horror. Where here he is portraying another vampire Count Mora this is a more lighthearted take. Bela relies not on spoken words, but on his eyes to tell the story, and what a job he did. While Bela is reason for horror fans to see this film, don't sleep on this cast. We see the legendary Lionel Barrymore that most remember as the evil Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life. Lionel Atwill, Jean Hersholt and Carroll Borland round at a pretty impressive cast.
Mark of the Vampire makes it's Blu-ray debuts in 1080p HD from 4K scan of original nitrate camera negative. The soundtrack is an English 2.0 Mono DTS-HD Master Audio. There is also English Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
This new 4K scan transfer to Blu-ray blows all other transfers out of the water. There is just no comparison. Warner Archive's new 4K scan is a thing of beauty. The glorious moody details of the black and white cinematography are captured in full HD here and bring new life to this horror classic. But a stunning new 4K scan is not all that is included on this Blu-ray.
* An insightful audio commentary by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones
* Short A Thrill for Thelma (1935)
A young girl, desires a life of luxury, so she decides to takes the "easy way", and winds up in jail.
* Cartoon The Calico Dragon (1935)
A little girl falls asleep, her doll rides off on a horse to battle a three-headed, singing calico dragon.
* Theatrical Trailer
I really enjoy what Warner Archive have been doing lately with their Blu-ray releases. The audio commentaries are great, but the short films and cartoons make these releases feel like your right back in the early days of movie theaters where you got a newsreel, cartoon, short film and than The Feature presentation. I love these bonus features.
If you love Bela Lugosi, classic horror or vampire films this brand new Blu-ray of the classic Mark of the Vampire from Warner Archive is one for your collection. Head over to Amazon and order your copy today. You won't be disappointed.
Out of 4 film reels (4 being the best) Warner Archive's Blu-ray release of Mark of the Vampire receives...
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