Starring: Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden, Marguerite Churchill, Edward Van Sloan, Gilbert Emery, Irving Pichel.
Director: Lambert Hillyer.
I don't know anything at all about this movie, so I'm just gonna go with it and see what it brings me. It does have Edward Van Sloan reprising his role as Van Helsing, so there is that to look forward to. No Lugosi, but, Dracula is dead so...makes sense. So away we go.
Two cops do some comedy bits-including asking Van Helsing point blank if he committed the murder that Helsing literally informed them about-and Van Helsing tells them about his killing of Dracula...and then they arrest him. Apparently the first corpse was Renfield, and the other is the Count himself. Cool hook for a sequel, actually: Van Helsing arrested for killing the bad guy at the end of the previous film.
The comedy bits of the two cops aren't working for me. It was probably funnier back in '36. They're practically Three Stooges-ing. The eponymous Daughter of Dracula shows up after the more cowardly of the pair is left by himself in the station. She does some mind control whammy and gets her way, walking into the room where Dracula's body is left. Coward Cop might actually be dead.
Gloria Holden makes a striking figure, head to toe in black, delivering a eulogy as she burns the Count's body. It's surprisingly affecting. She provides a fairy compassionate performance. She is now happy to be free to be her own Woman. I'm happy for her, too. She's very interesting looking, too, like Helen from The Mummy. Symmetrical features and pretty braided hair. Despite her yearning for freedom, all her buddy (not sure what their relationship actually is) Sandor sees in her eyes is "death." She seems like a tragic figure in a way that Dracula couldn't be, really: she seems unhappy with her lot in life (or undeath) and seems kind of sad. Not Larry Talbot sad, not yet anyway, but definitely sad.
Sandor is another weird looking fellow. Very hulking and menacing but carries an air of intelligence. He's kind of ghoulish. I'm curious about him.
So, there seems to be-at present-two narratives occurring simultaneously: Dracula's Daughter is doing Vampire stuff, and Van Helsing needs his buddy to convince a jury of his sanity and the validity of his story (logically speaking, his buddy is totally right: telling people "The guy was a five hundred year old Vampire and I put a stake through his heart" isn't the best defense against a murder wrap).
Our Daughter now has a name: Countess Marya Zeleska. We get a cross between the two narratives now as the Countess meets Jeffery Garth, the psychiatrist Helsing brought in, and his receptionist/girlfriend (who is NOT interested in taking any of Garth's shit, and is currently my favorite character: yelling at him about driving all night and not having any patience, and irritatingly hanging around to make sure he doesn't sleep with the "dangerous brunette." I want more of her, please, movie) and we get some Dracula references.
Janet, the receptionist (not his Girlfriend, yet anyway) gives him some more shit and laughs at him. I adore her. She then crank calls the Doctor while out on his date. She then hangs up, rolls over on her bed, and laughs uproariously. Oh, Janet, I will write love songs for you.
Okay, so Sandor is The Countesses Servant. He goes and gets her a young lady to pose for the countess and refers to her as "his Mistress." So, yeah, Servant and companion. Lily, the model, is fairly unlikely to make it out of her alive, though, I'm sure. Yeah, Lily we hardly knew ye. I'm not digging on this as much as I was on the others. Except for Janet, whose contentious relationship with the Doc is wildly entertaining (mostly because she always ends up on the winning side of their quibbles), there's nothing that really stands out overall. The style of the film seems fairly generic and, well, it's just not that interesting. Gloria Holden is kind of fun doing her best to channel Lugosi, but...it just isn't working all that well.
Janet is so lovely. She can do better than this jerk of a boss. I do like how she just cuts him off and orders him about, though. Poor Janet. So unappreciated. She's way more desirable than The Countess. Not that The Countess isn't lovely...and she IS a Vampire which is kind of like cheating when competing for a lover. Oh, no, Janet is alone with The Countess! Run Janet! She wants him for herself! Aww, they kidnapped Janet. Bummer.
Now The Doctor is aware of The Countesses murderous intentions, and she's now blackmailing him for his services by kidnapping Janet. So, now we rush towards the climax as The Doctor seeks to save the wonderful Janet from the evil Countess. With the aid of Van Helsing, of course. The Countess, for some reason, wants this jellyfish to remain with her for all eternity (refusing Sandor, poor guy). What's so special about this guy that these beautiful Women are so into him? He's really nothing special. Well, they kill The Countess, save Janet and it's all over.
Final Thoughts: Far cry from the other classics I've watched so far, but this wasn't really bad or anything. There were some strong performances and some clever scripting for the excellent character of Janet, who was amazing and I love her. The Countess was okay but mostly underdeveloped and kind of haphazard plot wise. But...it was certainly watchable enough, even if it lost it's momentum by the end.
Final Rating: Three Stars.
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