198) Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Son of Halloween 2024's spectacular and not random vampire movie review extravaganza! (Part Three)

"Be thou exorcised oh Dracula, and thy body long undead find destruction throughout eternity in the name of thy dark unholy Master. In the name of the oh holiest and through this cross be the evil spirit cast out until the end of time."

Director
Lambert Hillyer

Cast
Gloria Holden - Countess Marya Zaleska
Otto Kruger - Dr. Jeffrey Garth
Marguerite Churchill - Janet Blake
Irving Pichel - Sandor
Halliwell Hobbes - Hawkins
Billy Bevan - Albert
Nan Grey - Lili
Hedda Hopper - Lady Esme Hammond
Edward Van Sloan - Prof. Van Helsing

Picking up right were Tod Browning's "Dracula" left off, "Dracula's Daughter" (1936) is a direct sequel to the 1931 horror classic which I last reviewed. 

In this movie, Van Helsing just steaked Dracula through his heart as seen in the last movie.

The police are called to Carfax Abbey where Van Helsing (played again by Edward Van Sloan) admits to killing Count Dracula. He's immediately arrested and taken to Scotland Yard.

There, he discusses his situation with Sir Basil Humphrey of Scotland Yard (Gilbert Emery) admitting that he did in fact kill Count Dracula. There's just one small snag. Dracula has been dead for 500 years. 

So, Van Helsing can't be charged with murder. 

That works in his favor, obviously. Van Helsing seeks the aid of a former student of his who's now a psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger). 

Back in Whitby, the place where Van Helsing was initially arrested and booked by Scotland Yard, Constable Albert is left in charge at the prison where recovered bodies are being kept, while Sgt. Wilkes (E.E. Clive) goes out to meet an officer.
Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden) shows up in an attempt to steal Dracula's body. Why? Because she's Count Dracula's daughter!

Gloria Holden and Irving Pichel in "Dracula's Daughter."

Zaleska hypnotizes him with a dazzling ring she's wearing. 

She has her servant and muscle, Sandor (Irving Pichel), retrieve Dracula's body. 

She then makes a pyre to burn Dracula's body hoping it'll end her vampire curse. 

But Sandor discourages her from going through with it claiming all she has in her eyes is "death."

Zaleska is then left with nothing but her insatiable thirst for blood. She goes out into the night looking for a new victim. Deep down, she doesn't want to be a vampire. This is the curse of the situation. 

Later, she attends a fancy party where she meets Dr. Garth. She asks the doctor about overcoming some influences she's coping with that are coming from the afterlife - referring to her vampire curse thanks to Dracula. 

Garth thinks she needs to confront those urges. Zaleska feels confident that her will, and the doctor's advice, will help break her curse. 

However, she resorts to going back out looking for a victim. And in no time, Sandro finds an innocent young girl for Zaleska to feed on. He tells this young lady named Lili (Nan Grey) that Zaleska will offer her food, money and warmth if she'll pose for a painting his mistress is creating. 

Lili agrees and he takes her back to Zaleska's place. 

Zaleska tries to resist attacking her, but she can't and does what vampires are known for doing. 

Lili survives the attack - barely. 

Dr. Garth examines her under hypnosis. Lili squeals on Zaleska, revealing what she did. Soon after, Lili dies from heart failure. 

Dracula's daughter gives up on resisting those urges. As far as she's concerned, fighting them is futile. 

She kidnaps Dr. Garth's secretary, Janet Blake (Marguerite Churchill) in order to lure Dr. Garth to Count Dracula's Castle in Transylvania. 

Of course, he follows her there and offers himself in place of Janet. Just as she is about to attack him, Sandor intervenes. 

Lambert Hillyer directs with Edward Van Sloan returning to his role from the previous movie as Professor Van Helsing. 

One of the more iconic scenes in "Dracula's Daughter" with
Nan Grey (left) as Lili.

"Dracula's Daughter" a horror movie a bit ahead of its time, especially with its inclusion of psychiatry. I don't know of too many, if any, horror movies from this period that uses psychiatry as part of its story like "Dracula's Daughter." 

Overall, the movie strikes me as a serious movie and sequel. It's elaborate in its setting and premise, and tries to be frightening, but it feels heavier in drama. It has a stronger taste of film noir, rather than horror. 

That's not to say I was bored or not entertained by it. Rather, I was really intrigued by this movie considering its story and the era it was made. It's definitely a noteworthy film being foundational in the genre of psychological horror. 

The writers didn't simply make a girl version of Dracula. She's no chip off the ol' block. She's a separate entity. As "Dracula" is a story of the dark side of human nature, "Dracula's Daughter" is a story of struggle between reason and passion, or concupiscence. 

There seems to be a lesbian undertone in this movie, particularly in the scene with Zaleska preying on Lili. The seductive scene has strong lesbian implications. However, it's worth considering that, like Dracula, the vampire as a general character whether male or female, thirsts for blood. Dracula has been known to kill men to consumer their blood. I think the undertone in this movie is more in the way Countess Marya approaches her. The film's tagline, "she gives you that weird feeling" takes on a new meaning, doesn't it. It's pretty bold for a film from 1936. It continues that depiction of the flesh against the spirit. 

"Dracula's Daughter" has a sophisticated style to it rather than being some campy Dracula sequel. Maybe it tries to be too sophisticated. 

By the way, the 2024 movie "Abigail" is apparently a remake of "Dracula's Daughter." In fact, the original title for "Abigail" was "Dracula's Daughter."