Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Tod Browning's and Bela Lugosi's Dracula (1931) is my favourite of the Universal monster classics. this sequel, starring the beautiful Gloria Holden in her first leading role, doesn't quite measure up to the former but has its own charms it's likely to be the first lesbian or bisexual vampire film ever made; though censors from the Production Code Administration made certain that Countess Zaleska's sapphic inclinations are not overt, it's still fairly obvious whom she prefers. this is also the first film to my awareness to feature the reluctant vampire trope, à la Anne Rice's and Brad Pitt's Louis de Pointe du Lac, with Holden's performance seemingly made more poignant by her displeasure at being assigned the role — i guess auditioning worked differently in the 1930s the acting, setting designs and filming all have the look and feel of a stage play. the film's alluring string-heavy score is composed by Heinz Roemheld, music supervisor of Dracula and uncredited composer of the stock music used in Werewolf of London, Reefer Madness and about a hundred other films i'd love to see this movie remade with more emphasis on the titular character's sexuality — let her leave two puncture marks on the breasts of her victims rather than in the jugular — and the ending rewritten and brought up to date. i like the film as it is, though, and recommend it for fans of Dracula and other Universal Studios classics. be sure to bring the kiddies!

She prefers women victims, but kills at least one man anyway. So let me get this straight: She has daintier, smaller incisors as a female vampire? Also please explain this to me: How does a vampire control whether their blood donor joins the Undead or just outright dies? Let's hope it doesn't involve sexual favors, as yes, someone did actually make a bad "sequel" called "Dracula's Dog". (Yikes!) Somewhat humorous with touches of bumbling cops, unbelieving detectives, and ditzy blondes. Not as stagy as the original "Dracula" and the action somewhat resembles a typical "Universal" Monster Classic. The brooding, cloudy, artificial Universal sky. The Transylvanian villagers all speak English and appear clueless yet are 2 pages ahead of the script! The evil "protagonist" could have been anything from Jack the Ripper to the Wolfman as the basic story goes. Especially the poor reluctant ghoul that finally decides that it's good to be the monster, as she gets to choose her 1000-year-prom date. No bloodiness to speak of and nobody turned into a skeleton at the end. That's disappointing! Be sure to see "The Son of Dracula" as it is considered (by some) to be the 3rd part of the Original Dracula "Trilogy". I don't agree.

The best of the Universal Dracula films will always be the one from 1931 with Bela Lugosi, which is one of the best and most iconic Universal Studios horrors. But its follow-ups generally are worth a look; Son of Dracula despite Lon Chaney Jnr's miscast Dracula was much better than expected, being a good-looking film with a lot of atmosphere and at least two scenes among the best of any Universal Studios Gothic horror film but House of Dracula while watchable was disappointing apart from a couple of effective sequences, nice sets and a few good performances but did suffer mainly from having too many ideas and not enough time to explore them.Dracula's Daughter however is the best of them. Is it as good as the 1931 film? No, but it almost is. Two or three things do bring it down. The humour at the beginning with the cops was incredibly hokey and more overly-silly and misplaced than funny. Otto Kruger is an unappealingly stiff male lead, Garth has some very abrupt decision-making that Kruger overdoes to the point it gets annoying. And while the banter between him and Marguerite Churchill's Janet was very enjoyable and witty there was a little too much of it, it could have taken up less of the film and the film could have focused more on Von Helsing. Personal opinion of course.On the other hand, Dracula's Daughter has great production values. The costumes and sets are sumptuous and splendidly Gothic and the film's beautifully photographed too. The music score, actually sounding original and not stock, compliments the mood very well and has to be one of the eeriest of any of the music scores in the Universal horrors. Dracula's Daughter is wittily scripted as just as I appreciated the film noir-ish-like direction of Son of Dracula I also appreciated the sombre, moody approach that the direction in Dracula's daughter took. The story, apart from the hokey start, is fun and atmospheric, there is a real eeriness but a poignant edge too. Of individual scenes the scene with the Countess Zaleska and Lilli is infamous and for a reason. Apart from Kruger the acting is good, Marguerite Churchill is amusing and Edward Van Sloan once again brings class to Von Helsing but the most memorable turns are from Irving Pichel and especially Gloria Holden. Pichel is effectively sinister especially towards the end while Holden is unforgettable in the title, subtly creepy but somewhat tragic.All in all, not as good as the 1931 film but of the Dracula sequels Universal made to me Dracula's Daughter's the best one. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Highly entertaining sequel to Universal's classic Dracula. Picking up where that film left off, Professor Von Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) is arrested after having just staked Dracula. He summons a friend, psychiatrist Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger), to help him convince the police he's not nuts. Meanwhile, Countess Zaleska (Gloria Holden) steals Dracula's body and burns it. Turns out she is Dracula's vampire daughter and wants to be free of the "Dracula curse." When she meets Garth, she becomes intrigued by his ideas of overcoming addiction through force of will and he becomes intrigued by the mysterious Countess.Gloria Holden is excellent and brings a strong screen presence to the film. She commands every scene she's in. She does most of her acting with her eyes, which never seem to close. While perhaps not what many would consider a great beauty, she has a definite sex appeal and exotic allure about her that is palpable. Otto Kruger, a fine character actor I like quite a bit, seems miscast and too old for this part. Still, he gives it his all. Marguerite Churchill's character Janet is annoying, childish, and clingy. She's the worst part of the film for me. Cesar Romero and Jane Wyatt were set to play the parts that went to Kruger and Churchill. They had to drop out when filming was delayed. It's odd Romero was replaced by Kruger as the two couldn't have been more different, physically or stylistically. Irving Pichel gives a memorably creepy performance as Sandor, the Countess' manservant. In addition to being an actor, Pichel was also a fine and underrated director. Edward Van Sloan is enjoyable as always, though he seems to have little to do except provide a link between the original film and this sequel.Some obvious continuity issues aside (Von instead of Van Helsing, among others), it's a very good classic horror film. The highlight is Holden's "seduction" of a young and pretty model (Nan Grey), which is frequently discussed for its lesbian overtone. This is one of those horror films with a sympathetic villain that you find yourself rooting for more than the heroes. Countess Zaleska is certainly more captivating than stuffy Garth or bratty Janet. Director Lambert Hillyer, who normally directed low-budget westerns, does a remarkable job of creating the kind of atmosphere we associate with the great Universal horror films. I definitely recommend you check this one out.