So I guess it's a good time to look at a few more Universal monster movies, something that is no small feat considering all the various characters and spin-offs. But while the others seem to have a greater number of successors, it looks like Count Dracula kinda gets short changed on the sequel front. It took five years for them to get around a follow up with his Daughter, and even longer for Son of Dracula. Does these even work without Bela Lugosi? Well it's debatable. There's certainly some interesting stuff to look at although it's kind of a mixed bag. Let's peek into the tomb and see what's in store for us.
Starting as it means to go on the story immediately follows up with Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) walking out of the crypt at Carfax Abbey after staking poor Bela. Where are the other characters from Dracula? While it seems as though Renfield is still dead the rest of them are missing in action and it never comes up, which is kind of odd. Stranger still is the inclusion of two bumbling comic relief police officers who arrest Van Helsing for murder since he just admits it to them. The idea of this being a mixture of horror and comedy though never really works, and it's probably here because of the success of James Whale's work for the studio.
Soon of course the eponymous vampire shows up to be sure that her father has truly been vanquished. Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden) is apparently less of a monster and more a cursed member of the bloodline who hopes that she can live normally now dear old dad is out of the picture. It's an interesting premise, and of course her blood thirsty nature isn't so easily quelled. The character conflict adds a new element to the storyline, although I'd imagine that having a truly evil lady vampire would be difficult in 1936. The rest of the storyline involving her interest in psychiatry is less effective, as is the involvement of Dr. Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger) as the hero the film.
Thankfully the choice of casting for the Countess carries the story and Gloria Holden is an eerie and sometimes ethereal presence. It's sort of undermined by her fixation with the doctor and all the romantic clashes this causes feel a little out of place, but the central performance fits as a successor to Count Dracula. There's a kind of melancholy mood to a lot of her scenes and yet at the same time she's always hypnotic when required, luring unsuspecting victims to their doom. The implications of a scene in which she traps a woman by telling her she needs a life painting model are not as racy as some reviews might suggest, though it's still an interesting sequence. But it's certainly not the focus of a story in which Marya quickly demands that Jeffrey become her undead partner.
The rest of the actors are competent but there's no real replacement for the likes of Dwight Frye. It does help that Marya's servant Sandor (Irving Pichel) is moderately interesting, although he feels underused. Their piano side discussion about happier times in the near future is the standout moment as he shoots down her talk of birdsong and sunshine (for reasons that are revealed later). Dr. Garth just isn't an interesting enough counterpoint to all of this in a story that should really have been about Van Helsing learning more of the vampire mythology. Instead there's a bunch of silly gags involving medical assistant Janet (Marguerite Churchill) and a lot of dry discussion about the existence of undead creatures.
In terms of actual atmosphere the film generally leaves a lot to be desired, and the story lacks the sort of fog immersed London streets and spooky crypt locations that you might expect. They do actually revisit the castle from Dracula at the end of the story, but it's during a third act race against time where there's no chance of suspense. The Countess laying her father to rest in the opening at least has a sense of cinematic flair to it, particularly when she arrives wearing a black cloak from which only her eyes peer through. But as things progress it swiftly moves from love triangle style melodrama and onto a Transylvania finale that lacks the sort of closure the rest of the story should have been building towards.
It's not a classic and many of the ingredients are sadly underwhelming. However the main character is an engaging presence, even if her self loathing might actually be a real life trait - it's said Gloria Holden wasn't pleased to be in this kind of film. It's a watchable follow up although in many ways as a Hayes Code era production it had to avoid much of the sinister inclusions that were possible a few years earlier. With this kind of restriction and the lack of Dracula himself (beyond a wax model put into a funeral pyre) it was always going to be a compromised release, but the results are still entertaining enough here and there.
3/5
BONUS REVIEW
SON OF DRACULA (1943)
Onto an even later entry in the series, this sequel doesn't really have continuity with the earlier efforts but it does have more horror effects and at times a more dynamic production design than Dracula's Daughter. There are some neat bat transformations and even scenes where the titular blood sucker turns into a cloud of mist. The New Orleans locations are also nicely atmospheric with plenty of eerie swamp locations. However while Gloria Holden was a great Countess in the previous film, Lon Chaney Jr. is not the right choice at all for Dracula's other child. He might have been a great choice for a sad and regretful Wolf Man, but as a sinister vampire he's stiff in all the wrong ways.
The plot itself involves a plantation heiress falling for the man himself, but generally speaking it's all over the place. There's a bunch of Southern deputies on the case after some strange goings on at the Dark Oaks estate and also a Van Helsing stand-in who just happens to be the first person the heroes telephone when checking up on their new guest. The film does give us the origin of the utterly absurd name Alucard at least. It's kind of fun but it lacks the sort of otherworldly mood found in the original or it's first sequel. There are a few late in the day plot twists and overall it's still entertaining enough, but ultimately this is another mixed bag albeit for different reasons.
3/5
