Dracula's Daughter

U.S.A. / 1936 Directed by Lambert Hillyer Starring Gloria Holden Otto Kruger Marguerite Churchill B&W / 71 Minutes / Not Rated Format: DVD Double Feature Disc / R1 - NTSC Universal Studios

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Now back in print — 2007 edition

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6     6   10 = Highest Rating

This often overlooked Golden Age horror classic picks up exactly where the 1931 Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, left off. In the ruins of Carfax Abbey, Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) — who is erroneously referred to as "Von" Helsing in the credits and by some of the characters — has just pounded a stake through Count Dracula's heart. Two police officers happen upon the scene and take the vampire slayer into custody for murder.     Van Helsing calmly proclaims that his actions were justified. Dracula was one of the evil undead; he's performed a service to mankind in destroying him. The cops don't believe him, and the two people who could back up his story, Jonathan Harker and his fiancé Mina (characters from the first film), are nowhere to be seen in this movie... as if they never existed. So Van Helsing finds himself in a bit of hot water. The head of Scotland Yard, Sir Basil Humphries (Gilbert Emery), bluntly tells him it'll mean either the loony bin or the gallows at the end of his trial. Van Helsing informs Sir Basil that, rather than a lawyer, he wants his good friend and former pupil, Dr. Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger), to defend him. As Garth is a renowned psychiatrist, this only confirms Sir Basil's belief that Van Helsing is insane.     Enter the mysterious Countess Maria Zaleska (Gloria Holden). The Countess, aided by her sinister manservant Sandor (Irving Pichel), steals Dracula's corpse right out from under the noses of the police. (Vampires, at least at this stage of the Universal Monster Cycle, don't disintegrate when slain.) In a secluded spot in the dead of night, she holds a private funeral for Dracula, setting his corpse alight. Later, as bodies drained of blood turn up in London, Countess Zaleska contacts the esteemed Dr. Garth in search of "release" — an end to the dark forces that plague her soul. Little does Garth know that these dark forces reside not in a troubled mind, but extend from beyond the grave.     Even with the continuity flubs and the sometimes plodding pace characteristic of films of its day, Dracula's Daughter remains a minor gem of '30s horror. Director Hillyer, primarily the helmer of Westerns, provides loads of gothic atmosphere, most evident during the eerie funeral sequence and the climax at Castle Dracula in Transylvania. It goes without saying that, given the climate of its times, the movie's oblique hint of lesbianism in its most famous scene (wherein the Countess "seduces" Lili, a young girl she's hired as an artist's model) remains an eyebrow raiser.     Since this was the first film to focus on a female vampire, it's only appropriate that the women are the real standouts in the cast. Gloria Holden's affected performance is just right for the title role, invoking a sense of weirdness that compliments her exotic, mysterious allure. Pretty Marguerite Churchill is absolutely delightful as Garth's practical joke-playing Girl Friday, Janet Blake. And you won't forget the frightened look in Nan Grey's eyes when, in her small role as the doomed Lili, she realizes something is terribly wrong.     The male actors just don't stand a chance in such company, with the singular, notable exception of Pichel as the creepy Sandor. (The scene where the Countess is at the piano, speaking of her desire to be free of vampirism — only to have her servant belittle her dreams of release — is another of the movie's highlights.) Van Sloan is given nothing to do, Emery's performance is all bluster, and Kruger's smug, egotistical Garth makes for a very unlikable hero. It's simply unbelievable that both Janet and the Countess could fall for this jerk.

Dracula's Daughter comes to DVD as a part of Universal's "Dracula Double Feature" disc released in late August 2001. Paired with Son Of Dracula (1943) on a single DVD, the film looks and sounds pretty good considering its age. Actually, it fares better than some of the more prestigious flicks in Universal's Classic Monster Collection, such as The Invisible Man. A rough-looking theatrical trailer is included, as well as onscreen talent bios and production notes. 11/12/01

UPDATE After being out of print on DVD for two years, this film was re-released in April 2004 by Universal Home Video in a combo package (Dracula: The Legacy Collection) containing Dracula, the Spanish Dracula, Dracula's Daughter and House Of Dracula. The original double feature disc pairing Son Of Dracula with Dracula's Daughter will again be issued by Universal in July 2007. Confused? - Ed.

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