MovieChat Forums > Mark of the Vampire (1935) Discussion > The first lesbian vampire movie?

The first lesbian vampire movie?


Yes, I know it's ultimately revealed that Luna isn't a real vampire, but for the majority of the film's running time we're lead to believe she is... and despite all the various male characters running around, it's Irena who Luna's exclusively interested in. The scenes featuring the two of them are undeniably sexually charged.

I adore the sequence when Luna (behaving more like a lover than a predator) approaches Irena and tenderly touches her, whereupon an overwhelmed/frightened Irena instinctively backs away & sits down, and Luna silently tries to comfort & reassure her. Fedor then interupts, causing Luna to hiss cat-like at him, grab Irena by the hand and protectively bundle her away. The entire scene is spellbinding.
(Incidentally, Luna's hiss was apparently an ad-lib. All female vampires have hissed cat-like ever since, thanks to Caroll Borland.)

Since Mark of the Vampire was released the year before Dracula's Daughter (1936) - in which the title character preys upon a nervous street-walker called Lili (played by Nan Grey) in a scene heavy with sexual tension - this means that Mark can almost certainly claim to be the first lesbian vampire movie.



http://hexfan.proboards.com/

reply

I personally don't see it, and don't see anything sexually charged between the two , and by way of the story, we know why Luna is exclusively interested in Irena. But that's probably just me, and I can't really tell anyone else how to percieve what is and is not an aspect of a film. I've also seen people say the same about Dreyer's 'Vampyr', that it's the first of such films, and I REALLY don't see it in 'Vampyr'. I believe that it is very much a current that runs through 'Dracula's Daughter' though, to the point that it was even advertised with the vague promise of female-on-female vampire action, talking about saving the females of London from Zaleska. I'd say it starts there with the Universal picture. But again, just me.

Of course, if homosexuality IS a main theme of 'Dracula's Daughter', then it should be noted that it's one such film that, if it's celebrated for being as such, then it's fairly curious as to why. Doing a one-for-one where vampirism equates to lesbianism, keep in mind that Zaleska loathes her existence and wants nothing more than to be cured of her 'affliction', even going so far as to attempt to employ psychiatry to make her 'normal'. In that sense, it doesn't appear as though it's a subject that's being treated very kindly.

reply

No, I personally don't see it, and don't see it.

reply

Vampires are not attracted to one sex over the other. To a vampire who is wanting to kill humans, all humans are prey to them.

"Do All Things For God's Glory"-1 Corinthians 10:31
I try doing this with my posts

reply

This struck me immediately. As a child watching "Dark Shadows," I learned that boy vampires only bite girls, and girl vampires only bite boys. It was interesting as an adult to learn that my crush, Jonathan Frid, who played Barnabas, was actually gay! During this movie I wondered if any other movies or TV shows from the 1960s or earlier had any kinda gay or lesbian vampire vibe. In the book "Dracula," vampire chicks swarm Jonathan Harker only for Count Dracula to rebuke them saying Jonathan is reserved for himself--but I do wonder how many movies featured this, particularly older movies.

reply

No. Luna's focus on Irena seems to have no more significance than the fact that Mora goes after the male victims, while Luna is assigned to female victims. It's almost as if the movie is avoiding sexual implications. Today, however, I recognize that almost everything in every old movie is interpreted eagerly by a certain group of people as sexual, particularly homosexual. But sometimes a vampire is just a vampire.

reply