Product Description

Dracula's Daughter: Picking up where Dracula left off, Dr. Von Helsing (Edward Van 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 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 fiancee (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 Allbriton), 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 fiance, Robert Paige, Katherine falls under the spell of the evel Count in Son of Dracula, director Robert Siodmak's excursion into the horror genre.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24852 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
• Released on: 2007-07-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, 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

the Siblings of Dracula
This DVD puts together Drac's two offspring, "Dracula's Daughter" and the "Son of Dracula" (although it IS Dracula, not his son. Oh well).

These two films often wind up low on fans' lists of favorite Universal Monster Movies, and are dismissed as second rate. I beg to differ- these two are actually some of the more original films made by Universal. Especially "Son", where Dracula is not the prime mover- one of his victims is! The story has some very interesting twists and turns, and is one of the most clever of the Universal Monster movies.

Much is made of Lon Chaney Jr's portrayal of Dracula as a well fed and burly vampire. True, but he also brings a brute quality to the vampire. This is one vamp who is a dangerous adversary physically, if not mentally.

A nice addition to anyone's horror collection.

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.

They do not drink...wine! two classic vamp films.
Well, Universal released these two great classic horror films, Dracula's Daughter and Son of Dracula together on DVD. On Laserdisc, Dracula's Daughter was released with "Ghost of Frankenstein". "Son of Dracula" and "Son of Frankenstein" were released individually on Laserdisc. The pairing of the films for DVD makes much more sense, with Ghost of Frankenstein being released with Son of Frankenstein and the Dracula films being released together. It is also more economical for the buyer to make two purchases instead of three and still get all four films. Both vampire films are quite good and a must for any classic horror collection. If only to hear Gloria Holden say that she "does not drink...wine! What does not make sense, however, is why all these Universal films have gone out of print on DVD less than a year after they were released. The same goes for the Universal 1940's "Mummy films" on DVD. The Laserdiscs were available for years! Ditto for the VHS tapes which have had multiple releases. Many people are just now buying DVD players as I speak and are going to be very dissapointed not to be able to buy the entire Universal Monster Classic collection on DVD! If anyone has more information please pass it on and let Universal know we want these movies made available on DVD.