There has been a lot of talk about how Hollywood has lost creativity and that is why so many remakes are popping up.
The remake of Friday the 13, Nightmare on Elm Street, I Spit on Your Grave, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween (I could go on for days with the remake list) and many more has sparked an outcry and full blown anger throughout the horror community. But is the anger and frustration warranted?
I can see where people will get upset when directors go and stomp all over a film that you grew up with and love but has it really been that bad? Personally, I thought the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes and Dawn of the Dead remake were done very well. On the other hand, the Halloween remake left me scratching my head. It was good as a movie but not so good as a remake.
No matter how you feel about remakes, the truth is that remakes are nothing new for Hollywood. Remakes have been around since after the first form of cinema hit the screens.
So in this post I want to pay tribute to the classic film, ‘Mark of the Vampire‘ aka ‘Vampires of Prague‘ which is also a remake of a 1927 silent film, ‘London After Midnight‘.
For those who don’t know about ‘Mark of the Vampire‘
Sir Karell Borotyn (Holmes Herbert) is found murdered in his own house, with two tiny pinpoint wounds on his neck. The attending doctor Dr. Doskil (Donald Meek) and Sir Karell’s friend Baron Otto (Jean Hersholt) are convinced that responsible for the murder is a vampire, specifically Count Mora (Béla Lugosi) and his daughter Luna (Carroll Borland), while the Prague police inspector (Lionel Atwill) refuses to believe. Now his daughter Irena (Elizabeth Allan) is the count’s next target. Enter Professor Zelen (Lionel Barrymore), an expert on vampires and the occult, who’s sent in to prevent her death. At the same time, secrets are revealed surrounding the circumstances of Sir Karell’s death.
Now enough with words here is ‘Mark of the Vampire‘ (1935) – another remake that I like…
