Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Dracula's Daughter (1936) *** (out of 4) Countess Zeleska (Gloria Holden) shows up at the police station where Dracula's dead body is laying in rest after he was killed by Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). Pretty soon more bodies are showing up with their blood drained and soon the female vampire has her eyes on a doctor Otto Kruger).Sequels are hardly ever good but that was never the case at Universal when it came to their monster movies. More times than not the studio managed to turn out very good sequels and sometimes they would pass up even the original film. Most people feel that BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is better than FRANKENSTEIN and there are others who feel that this film is much better than its 1931 original with Bela Lugosi. DRACULA'S DAUGHTER is certainly a different type of picture than what was being made during this period of the genre.Horror films were banned starting around this time so that might explain why much of the more Gothic elements are left off the screen. There really aren't all that many attacks as the movie is a lot more suggestive, which actually helped the movie in the long run. Of course, by being more suggestive there's a lot of stuff people like to guess at including that DRACULA'S DAUGHTER is an early example of a lesbian vampire. There are a couple seduction scenes where the Countess attacks women and it seems pretty clear there was some intent behind them from the filmmakers.The performances are a major plus with Holden doing a terrific job in the title role. She certainly captures the sexuality of the character but more importantly she captures the coldness and the tortured side of her sole. Both Kruger and Van Sloan are good in their parts as are Marguerite Churchill and Irving Pichel. Billy Bevan is here with some comic elements, which were probably inspired by those in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN but they don't work nearly as well here. Another major plus is that DRACULA'S DAUGHTER has a very strong atmosphere that helps make it quite memorable.

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

OUR STORY OPENS up at the death of Count Dracula at the hand of Van Helsing. The descent of the stake through the heart, followed by the obligatory super sigh, marked the passing on of the Dracula dynasty to yet another "generation".IN A HIGHLY SUBTLE manner, the eerie horror of "the Undead" is continued; quietly maintaining the dark and creepy ambiance; which was established by Director Todd Browning in Dracula (Universal, 1931). Hence, the howl of the wolf, the flapping batwings and mirrors' lacking reflections all became standard elements of Universal Pictures dark mythology.THE CHARACTERIZATION OF the female vampire heir to the Dracula estate is both multi-faceted and at the same time, fascinating. British born actress, Gloria Holden, projects a very feminine persona, a most unusual sort of beauty and a slow, deliberate speech pattern. All the while she is speaking, she seems to be crying underneath. Nearly expressionless and wooden, her countenance is as one truly dead.IN MORE RECENT times, with the wave of handsomer, sexier vampires, such as Frank Langella's portrayal in Dracula (Mirisch Company/Universal, 1979), the notion that the vampire used sex as a springboard to his sanguinary conquests came to the forefront. DRACULA'S DAUGHTER , is the prime example appears to be somewhat ahead of the curve; albeit in the form of lesbianism. The scene where Countess Zeleska (Dracula) auditions a poor girl from the street as a potential artists' model.THIS IS PROBABLY a major entry in the resume of director, Lambert Hillyer; whose output had a very unusual range. Starting in the days of the Silent Screen and William S. Hart westerns, to titles such as THE INVISIBLE RAY(Universal, 1936), BATMAN Serial (Columbia, 1943)and down to ZIV TV Productions' THE CISCO KID, HIGHWAY PATROL and I LED 3 LIVES. The durable and versatile Mr. Hillyer never lacked work during a 40+ year ride on the Hollywood Merry Go Round.THERE IS A LESSON here for our bright, young and well educated filmmakers of the 21st Century. In DRACULA'S DAUGHTER (as with so many of the other horror classics of the day). That is namely, subtle horror with hints of the frightening is much more effective and scary than all of that Technicolor blood & gore that we see all too often today.

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.