The story of this lost film sounds like a horror movie itself. London After Midnight was a film so scary, in 1928 a man claimed Lon Chaney's performance drove him temporarily insane. During his bout of insanity, he killed a woman in Hyde Park. He said he would see Lon Chaney making faces and shouting at him. The court did not accept his plea of insanity, and he was convicted of murder. Where is this movie now? Gone forever, probably.The only known copy of the film was completely destroyed in the infamous 1967 MGM vault fire. The film wasn't particularly "good", and a lot of critics felt that it relied on Chaney's star power and the Amazon makeup effects. You can view a reconstruction of London After Midnight here . Unfortunately, it's made up of stills, butnyou get the basic story. If that wasn't enough, Tod Browning did a remake of his lost film called Mark Of The Vampire. It stars Lionel Barrymore and Bell Lugosi. I find Mark Of The Vampire to be a bit more interesting because it's...well, complete. And, it's a "talkie", while even the lost complete version of London After Midnight was a silent film.
Out of the countless lost movies, this is one of the most intriguing to me. I consider Tod Browning (the movie's director) and Lon Chaney to be some of the earliest masters of horror in American Cinema. Also...if Chaney's vampire-like look is a bit familiar it might be because a recent horror icon took inspiration. I was a bit babaSHOOK when I realized the resemblance. I felt like it was an interesting call back to the Hyde Park murder, given The Babadook's link to mental illness.
Another fun tidbit about this movie's influence on pop culture. Our good friend, The (original) Hatbox Ghost who resides at the haunted mansion was also inspired by Lon Chaney's character. In the actual film he goes by a variety of names including Professor Edward C. Burke, The Hypnotist, and The Man in the Beaver Hat.
Stay Spooky,
Nikkie
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