Dracula's Daughter

Dracula's Daughter is a 1936 horror film, a sequel to the 1931 film Dracula.

Plot

This sequel begins a few moments after the previous film ends: Count Dracula has just been killed by Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). Van Helsing is taken by police to Scotland Yard, where he explains that he indeed did kill Count Dracula, but because he was already dead for over 500 years, it can't be considered murder. Van Helsing, instead of hiring a lawyer, enlists the aid of a psychiatrist who was once one of his star students. Meanwhile, Dracula's daughter, Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden), with the aid of her companion, Sandor (Irving Pichel), steals Dracula’s body from Scotland Yard and burns it so she can be a normal mortal. However, her eternal thirst for human blood can't be quenched; the Countess continues to kill and sleep in her coffin during daylight hours. After a chance meeting with the same doctor who is defending Van Helsing, the Countess asks the psychiatrist to help cure her vampirism, without telling the man that she is actually a vampire. As she realizes a cure isn't possible — and the doctor discovers the truth about her condition — the Countess lures him to Transylvania by kidnapping the woman he loves. In the end, she dies when her servant shoots her with a crossbow, as revenge for her breaking her promise to make him immortal.

Production

Universal had always been keen to develop a sequel to the successful Dracula (one of the earliest scripts was based upon "Dracula's Guest", a deleted chapter from Bram Stoker's novel), but it would take many years before it would eventually emerge from development hell. With the success of Bride of Frankenstein in 1935, Universal was convinced that a sequel to the original Dracula should follow in a similar vein and centre around another female monster. James Whale was hired to write the screenplay, but the executives became worried by the extravagance of Whale's ideas, especially as it would feature all the original cast. Faced with directing a low-budget sequel, Whale left the project, as did everyone else except for Edward Van Sloan, who would reprise his role as Van Helsing.

Bela Lugosi was originally scheduled to reprise his role of Dracula for this sequel - and even appeared in several publicity stills - but for unknown reasons, possibly linked to James Whale's departure, the production went ahead without its original star. However, Lugosi had a pay-or-play contract, and thus received one of his largest salaries despite having not even appeared in the film.

Critical reaction

Dracula's Daughter was generally considered to be one of the weaker Universal horror pictures, thanks in part to the lack of recognised stars such as Bela Lugosi. However, Holden's performance and the moody cinematography would eventually see it somewhat rehabilitated in more recent years.

A scene with lesbian implications between the countess and a young female victim is featured in the documentary The Celluloid Closet (1995).

External links

• EOFFTV - The Universal Dracula series