Dracula’s Daughter (1936)

Dracula’s Daughter
Directed by Lambert Hillyer
Written by Garrett Fort et al
1936/USA
Universal Pictures
First viewing

[box] Countess Marya Zaleska: Possibly there are more things in heaven and Earth than are dreamed of in your psychiatry, Mr. Garth.[/box]

I cannot recommend this sequel to 1931’s Dracula.

The story begins with Dr. Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) standing over the body of Renfield after he drove the stake into Dracula’s heart.  Van Helsing is promptly arrested for murder, Scotland Yard having no sympathy for his vampire defense.  Van Helsing calls on his former student psychiatrist Jeffrey Garth as the only man who can defend him.  (It is totally unclear why this should be so.)  Meanwhile, Dracula’s body has been spirited away. Garth meets strikingly beautiful Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden) at a party.  When he talks of curing obsessions, the Countess becomes convinced that Garth is the only person who can release her from Dracula’s control.  In the meantime, the number of bodies found mysteriously drained of blood mounts.  Yada yada yada.

For horror films to work, they need to be either scary or so bad they are funny.  This one is blandly mediocre.  The main problem is Gloria Holden’s vampire who looks the part with her dark, statuesque beauty but loses all credibility when she opens her mouth.  She is not assisted by the story which gives her very little to do.  Kruger is grimly wooden and the ingenue cannot act at all.  The castle set is left over from Dracula and looks very good but it does not come into play until about 5 minutes before the end.  The camera work is nice as well.

Re-release trailer