Dracula's Daughter is a 1936 American vampire horror film directed by Lambert Hillyer and produced by Universal Pictures
It is a sequel to the 1931 film Dracula.
Plot[]
A Hungarian countess seeks the aid of a psychiatrist to help cure her of her craving of human blood.
Synopsis[]
Dracula's Daughter (1936) begins a few moments after Dracula ends. Count Dracula has just been destroyed by Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). Van Helsing is taken by police to Scotland Yard, where he explains that he indeed did destroy Count Dracula, but because he had already been dead for over 500 years, it cannot be considered murder. Instead of hiring a lawyer, he enlists the aid of a psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger), who was once one of his star students. Meanwhile, Dracula's daughter, Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden), with the aid of her manservant, Sandor (Irving Pichel), steals Dracula’s body from Scotland Yard and ritualistically burns it, hoping to break her curse of vampirism. However, Sandor soon makes her realize that her thirst for blood has not been quenched and that all that is in her eyes is "Death". The Countess resumes her hunting, mesmerizing her victims with her exotic jeweled ring. After a chance meeting with Dr. Garth at a society party, the Countess asks him to help her overcome the influence she feels from beyond the grave. The doctor advises her to defeat her cravings by confronting them and the Countess becomes hopeful that her will plus Dr. Garth's science will be strong enough to overcome Dracula's malevolence.
The Countess sends Sandor to fetch her a model to paint; he returns with Lili (Nan Grey). Countess Zaleska initially resists her urges but succumbs and attacks Lili. Although the girl survives the attack, when Dr. Garth tries to hypnotize her to learn what happened, she suffers heart failure and dies. As the Countess comes to accept that a cure is not possible — and the doctor discovers the truth about her condition — she lures him to Transylvania by kidnapping Janet (Marguerite Churchill), the woman he loves. She intends to transform him into a vampire to be her eternal companion; Dr. Garth agrees to exchange his life for Janet's. Before he can be transformed, Countess Zaleska is destroyed when Sandor shoots her through the heart with an arrow as revenge for her breaking her promise to make him immortal. He takes aim at Dr. Garth but is shot dead by a policeman.
Cast[]
- Otto Kruger as Jeffrey Garth
- Gloria Loden as Countess Marya Zaleska
- Margeurite Churchill as Janet
- Edward Van Sloan as Professor Von Helsing
- Gilbert Emery as Sir Basil Humphrey
- Irving Pichel as Sandor
- Halliwell Hobbes as Hawkins
- Billy Bevan as Albert
- Nan Grey as Lili
- Hedda Hopper as Lady Esme Hammond
Goofs[]
- Nothing is said about Lili and the man with the top hat after they're attacked.