Review of Dracula's Daughter (1936) by Van R — 05 Jun 2010

The suits at Universal Studios didnâ??t have long to mind the store after they produced the abysmal â??Draculaâ??s Daughter.â?? Not long after production wrapped on this minor chiller, Universal's principal debtor, Standard Capital Corporation, gave studio founder Carl Laemmle and his people the boot. They should have been given the boot far earlier for making such a lackluster sequel like â??Draculaâ??s Daughter.â?? Mind you, George Robinsonâ??s glorious black and white photography looks atmospheric. Robinson lensed the sequel to â??Draculaâ??s Daughter,â?? â??Son of Draculaâ?? and he had photographed the Hispanic version of the original. Nevertheless, despite the first-rate photography, there is nothing at all spooky about this half-baked sequel. B-western director Lambert Hillyer replaced A. Edward Sutherland as director after several delays plagued the production. No, Bela Lugosi doesnâ??t make an encore appearance, even though we see the supine corpse of the Count in his coffin, but Edward Van Sloanâ??s Professor Van Helsing does reappear. None of the other characters from the Tod Browning original participate in these new antics.

Vampire movies are the worst violators of their own creeds. Some vampires have fangs. Some vampires donâ??t have fangs. The Hollywood Production Code prohibited vampires in the 1930s from displaying their incisors, but later incarnations of Dracula could wield their fangs. Similarly, some vampires could enter a domicile, while others had to be invited before they could cross the threshold. Most â??Nosferatuâ?? inspired vampire movies dictate that the fangsters cannot stroll around during daylight hours, whereas â??Draculaâ?? author Bram Stoker allowed his creation to walk while the sun was up. Presumably, since the Universal â??Draculaâ?? movies were so new to Hollywood, the studio scenarists had no idea how to treat a supernatural character, much less prolong its longevity with a series franchise. For example, despite having a stake hammered through his heart, Dracula doesnâ??t dissolve into a pile of dust. Later, Hammer Studios in England displayed a great deal of ingenuity in creating sequels for their Universal horror classics, but Universal didnâ??t know how to handle their own merchandise. Hillyer and â??Frankensteinâ?? scenarist Garrett Ford manage to recreate Victorian England with some degree of authenticity, but the eponymous heroine generates little in the way of anxiety.

Mind you, â??Draculaâ??s Daughterâ?? is somewhat risqué, especially the scene where Hungarian countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden) seduces a young girl from the streets, Lili (Nan Grey), who had planned to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge, to be a model for her to paint. The Countess has her own sinister assistant, Sandor (Irving Pichel of â??British Agentâ??), who does her fetching for her and found Lili. A strain of forbidden lesbianism permeates this scene as the Countess has Lili lower the straps of her slip so that the Countess can admire her neck and shoulders. As Draculaâ??s Daughter, the Countess has the power to hypnotize the helpless. This is about as scary as this movie gets in this scene. Initially, the Countess claims that she is struggling to break free of her evil dead father. Meanwhile, the bulk of the action at the outset concerns Van Helsing turning himself over to the authorities for the murder of Count Dracula. Van Helsing seeks the help of an old friend, psychologist Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger of â??Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bulletâ??), is help him with his predicament. When Van Helsing tries to define what a vampire is and the methods of dealing with vampires, Dr. Garth assures him that the jury will hang him at the mention of such folklore. Later, the Countess seeks out Dr. Garth, but she runs into trouble with Garthâ??s jealous assistant Janet (Marguerite Churchill of â??Riders of the Purple Sagaâ??) who behaves like a comedian from a screwball comedy. Janet and the Countess donâ??t get along and Janet does everything in her power to see that the Countess doesnâ??t get any time to be alone with Garth.

â??Draculaâ??s Daughterâ?? picks up where the original concluded in Carfax Abbey with Van Helsing turning himself over to two London policemen. The film wins some brownie points for this loyality to the original. He is held in jail for his alleged murder of Count Dracula. The bodies of Renfield and Dracula are removed from Carfax Abbey and placed in a storage room at the police station. The Countess spirits away Draculaâ??s corpse and cremates it. The last ten minutes of the movie try to whip up some fury as the Countess abducts Dr. Garthâ??s girlfiend Janet and takes her back to Transylvania. Garth follows hot on their heels and following just as hot on his heels are Sir Basil and Van Helsing. Ironically, our heroine dies at the hands of her offended suitor who wanted to share the gift of eternal life with her. The Countess would have preferred to have Dr. Garth live with her until the end of time.