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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23597 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-07-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 153 minutes

Amazon.com
Dracula's Daughter This cut-rate sequel to Dracula, sans Bela Lugosi, turns out to be an unexpectedly sleek and stylish movie. Gloria Holden, tall, dark, and continental, is the aristocratic title character fighting her nature and seeking a cure for her affliction. A sympathetic psychiatrist, Dr. Garth (Otto Kruger), encourages her to "face her fears," but when she lures a pretty young streetwalker to her room to model for a painting, the temptation of her fleshy offering proves too much to overcome. Edward Van Sloan reprises his role as Van Helsing, held by the police for the murder of Count Dracula (the film opens on the final scene from Dracula) but released in the nick of time to help Garth, now at the mercy of the bitter and vindictive vampire. Director Lambert Hillyer makes the most of his low budget, with austere, angular sets and an almost abstract sense of the foggy city night. Holden's mysterious face and tall, willowy body make her an even more striking vampire than Lugosi, and Irving Pichel's offbeat servant is like an American gangster with the breeding of a European aristocrat: thick and thuggish, but always proper. The script falls into the usual rut of Universal's later horror films, losing the mood in the busy plot, but the smooth style and Holden's dignified performance lift Dracula's Daughter above most Universal sequels.

Son of Dracula It was perhaps inevitable that, after playing the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's monster, and the Mummy, Lon Chaney Jr. would round out his horror resumé with a turn at the great bloodsucker himself (not, as the title would suggest, his son). Looking dapper and dignified under the cape, if not exactly threatening, Chaney plays Count Alucard (that's Dracula spelled backwards), a mysterious Carpathian summoned to America by a "morbid" heiress (Louise Allbritton). Eric Taylor's script is rather clunky, but the story (by horror specialist Curt The Wolfman Siodmak) is often quite clever, playing like a supernatural twist on a psycho-thriller. Allbritton's frustrated fiancé Robert Page accidentally "kills" her while trying to shoot Alucard (who imperiously stands up to the hail of bullets) and then goes stark raving mad as he watches the dead rise to life and the living disappear in wisps of smoke and morph into creaky stage bats.

Future film noir legend (and Curt's brother) Robert Siodmak (The Killers) does wonders with the swampy, misty Deep South setting despite his obviously threadbare budget, transforming the usual clichés into moments of inspired melodrama. Only the clumsy antics of the skeptical cops and the plodding exposition spouted by an old Carpathian doctor (he just happens to be the local MD) get in the way of this moody minor horror gem. --Sean Axmaker

From the Back Cover
Dracula's Daughter: Picking up where Dracula left off, Dr. Von Helsing (Edward Von Sloan), thinking he has rid London of all vampires, is instead arrested for murder. Meanwhile, the beautiful and mysterious Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden) appears in London seeking the understanding of Dr. Garth (Otto Kruger), Von Helsing's psychiatrist. A mysterious sequence of events leads Von Helsing and Garth to set off to Transylvania after the elusive countess and to rescue Garth's beautiful fiancée (Marguerite Churchill) in this classic thriller.

Son of Dracula: Lon Chaney, Jr. dons a cape as Count Alucard (that's Dracula spelled backward), the bloodthirsty son of the famous Transylvanian vampire. And when a beautiful Southern girl, Katherine (Louise Allbritton), invites him to the U.S., they both set out to satisfy their unquenchable thirst for human blood with nocturnal killings of unsuspecting neighbors and relatives. Despite the heroic efforts of her fiancée, Robert Paige, Katherine falls under the spell of the evil Count in Son of Dracula, director Robert Siodmak's excursion into the horror genre.

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Customer Reviews

More Worthwhile Than You Might Expect!
Well no, there's nothing on the level of "Bride of Frankenstein" contained in this collection, but these movies aren't as awful as they might sound. Sure, Universal was a factory back in the day, pumping out sequels without any real concern for the content. Still, there's some very good stuff to be found here.

Dracula's Daughter is, in my opinion, the weaker of the two Dracula sequels. Perhaps it's just too much of a departure from the original premise, featuring an almost likable vampire who enlists the aid of a psychiatrist to cure her of her blood addiction. There's little development in plot or character, no honest progression from point A to point B. Still, the acting and directing are both adequate, and Marguerite Churchill (Janet) really steals the show as the goofy, vivacious love interest who speaks her mind and cuts her over-serious boss down to size whenever she gets the chance. Add to that a truly unusual premise (even when it fails to deliver much), and some incredibly sexually charged subtext, particularly when the Countess abducts a young woman under the false pretense of having the girl "model" for her. This is one odd-ball film, full of concepts, sexual issues, and gender politics that were way ahead of its time. Not a great film in and of itself, but it certainly deserves a viewing.

Son of Dracula is a much stronger film in contrast. It comes dangerously close to being an incredibly impressive film, with stunning special effects (we actually SEE Dracula transform into a bat, as well as turn into vapor), an incredibly complex, emotionally charged plot, and some breath-taking acting (particularly from Robert Paige and Louise Allbritton). Unfortunately, there are two things that prevent the film from achieving greatness. The first is most certainly Lon Chaney Jr., assuming the role of Lord Alucard (Dracula backwards). Chaney never seems comfortable in the cloak, portraying a weirdness that is too subtle and unfocused for the role he is attempting to undertake. He's never an impressive character, neither as monster nor villain.

Perhaps the bigger problem with Son of Dracula is the camera work. Director Robert Siodmak is clearly a master of the technical aspects of directing. Movement and camera angles are almost always highly impressive, as well as smooth and unimposing upon the film. However, in a picture that contains such strong elements of passion, desperation, fear, insanity, and (of course) the supernatural, the camera always resists these forces, maintaining a stubbornly grounded and literal perception of the scene. The film always feels too realistic, unwilling to surrender to escapism, never daring to achieve something artistic and powerful. This is particularly disappointing in the final scene, which could have easily been immortalized as the greatest, most moving moment in Universal Monster Movie history had it been shot differently.

All in all, Dracula's Daughter and Son of Dracula are both worthwhile sequels that hold their own merit. While I would probably never watch Dracula's Daughter a second time, the first time viewing experience was certainly worthwhile. In contrast, I expect to return to Son of Dracula again and again. It's almost a brilliant film, and "almost brilliant" is still good enough for me.

Dracula's Daughter A+; Son of Dracula C
Dracula's Daughter is a very nice movie. The plot is solid, and the actors and costumes really shine. The main actors in particular are all impeccable and fabulously adorned. The actors themselves seem to embody the true emotions of their characters. This is much better than the trite and see-through acting of many similar movies from the same time period. Dracula's daughter is also not gory or extremely scary, which seems quaint these days. I would give Dracula's Daughter 5 stars by itself.

Son of Dracula is a fun movie for the period, but it doesn't seem overly serious. The acting and scenes are rather desultory - nothing too clever to uncover here. Of course, Son of Dracula is not even the first sequel after Dracula, so this is no surprise. I would give Son of Dracula 3 stars by itself.

DRAC'S BACK........WELL ALMOST! MORE UNIVERSAL FUN!
Here are two more films from the Universal vault. They are surprisingly good considering Bela Lugosi isn't in either of them. The first one is 'Draucla's Daughter' which is a pretty good film and much more serious than the title sounds. The second feature is 'Son of Dracula' of course, Drac had to have a son too. This one is not quite as good as the other, but, it's good all the same. Both of these films are far less silly than some of the later Frankenstein films....maybe not as fun though. The DVD transfer is very good and you can find both of these films on the Dracula legacy set.