cinema history class: dracula's daughter (1936)

 

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Session: Deadly Dykes (Week 1)
Movie: Dracula's Daughter (1936)
Directed by Lambert Hillyer

Plot:

Dracula may be dead, but now his daughter is looking for women in London. Horror ensues.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

I came into this with expectations of something very different. I knew we were going into a month of lesbian vampire movies, so I was kind of expecting this to be all exploitationy. I would have known better had I given it any thought, since we're talking a code-era film from the 1930s. The code-era being what it was, the lesbian angle isn't over the top -- it's no more than hinted at in the way the Countess (Gloria Holden) -- AKA the titular vampire -- stares longingly at her female victims. But even so, the only overt references to romantic or sexual interest involve men -- her henchman Sandor (Irving Pichel) and Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger).

So, putting aside the lesbian angle, which really doesn't benefit the movie or detract from it, the simple fact is that this was a worthy successor to Dracula, and a good movie in its own right. The Countess is almost sympathetic as a vampire who seems to want to overcome her vampiric state, trying to be a human. She's suffering as her henchman seems to delight in her predicament. Her dialog is clever, as she keeps throwing in little references to her vampirism.

Not a great movie, but still very enjoyable.

Ratings

Me: 8.5

Christina: 8.5

Dave: 9.8

Ethan: 7.5

Joe: 12*

Sharon's reaction to the trailer: "So she's Dracula's daughter? That's an interesting concept."

Cats: No cats. But bats, which are sort of like cats, but different.

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*Technically, our more-or-less agreed on rules don't allow for grades above 10. But Joe missed this session, watched the movie on his own and emailed us his comments and grade. He insists that, since he watched in his own home, he is not bound by the usual grading rules. I'll let him and Bob-O fight it out assuming Bob-O objects. He also missed the session due to vacation.