Though the direct sequel to
Frankenstein (1931),
Bride of Frankenstein (1935), is considered one of the greatest Universal monster movies, the direct sequel to
Dracula (1931) remains little talked about and relativity unknown. This is a shame for it is actually quite a good movie.
As this film opens Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan (the only returning cast member)) is arrested for the murder of Count Dracula and Reinfeld. Naturally when he tells of what happened nobody believes him. Meanwhile Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden), Dracula's daughter steals the body of her father to perform a ritual she hopes will cure her of her vampirism (which unlike her father is something she tries to repress). Van Helsing brings a psychiatrist friend (Otto Kruger) of his to help defend him. This psychiatrist friend meets the countess and falls for her, unable to see her for who she is. When two victims appear the stakes get higher, but she hopes the psychiatrist can help cure her since the ritual failed.
This is a worthy sequel to the vampire classic, while also standing very well on its own. Like all the best Universal monster movies, there is a delightful sense of atmosphere throughout. The use of lighting and shadows is fantastic, and the use of black and white cinematography may be even better here than in its predecessor. Though no scenes are really scary by today's standards, there is an eerie and foreboding feel to some scenes that still holds up incredibly well today. The ritual our "heroine" performs on her father is a pure horror filmmaking at its best with great dialogue, performances, very memorable imagery and great uses of shadows and fog. The scenes involving the woman she brings into her studio are some of the creepiest and most suspenseful scenes in any of the Universal monster movies. Our main character is simply wonderful. The idea of a reluctant vampire, who simply wants to be a normal woman is not one used in horror films before this. This helps give the movie a unique feel that makes this feel still modern today. Gloria Holden's performance as the title character is fantastic and perfectly captures the tragedy and sadness of this character. The way she keeps her eyes looking lifeless is quite haunting. The scenes between her and the psychiatrist involve some wonderfully smart dialogue that may even leave you with food for thought. Whenever this film is written about much is made of its lesbian undertones. These scenes are surprisingly frank about that as she talks about having to control her urges (presented in a way that seems sexual) and fit into society. She feels she must in a way sexually repress herself and make herself into something she is not. While the analogy may not be perfect (after all there is nothing immoral about homosexuality), it adds a whole new level of intelligence to the dialogue here making the story seem all the more human and real. This lesbian subtext is most clear with the aforementioned scene where she brings a female victim into her studio. This scene features just as much sexual tension as horror, which makes the scene all the more powerful. It is hard to overstate how bold this was for a movie in 1936 and once again it makes this film feel completely modern all these years later. Underneath its darker moments and deeper themes, this movie balances them out with some comedy. This comedy is surprisingly funny, and it took me by surprise that this film actually made me laugh. Yet this comedy never gets in the way of the story, characters or horror.
Plans for a sequel to
Dracula began in 1933, however at MGM rather than Universal. The reason for this is that while Universal owned the film rights to Bram Stokers' original novel and the stage play adaptions, no one had the film rights to Stokers' short story Dracula's Guest. Producer David O. Selznick had interest in adapting that story and bought the rights for $500. John L. Balderston (who had worked on the Universal monster movies, Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy (1932)) was put in charge of script duties for the film. About his original screenplay Balderston stated "Why should Cecil de Mille have a monopoly of the great box office value of torture and cruelty in pictures of ancient Rome. I want... to establish the fact that Dracula's Daughter enjoys torturing her male victims... and that these men under her spell rather like it." Possibly due to the failure with audiences and critics of the MGM horror movies,
The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) and
Freaks (1932), it became considered unlikely that such a film would be a wise undertaking for the studio. Another reason that might have changed MGM and Selznick's mind is the Stokers' estate barred the studio from using any of his characters who are not present in
Dracula's Guest and because of this there was no way for them to use the script that Balderston wrote. Selznick would bring the movie rights to Universal. Some historians theorize that this may have been Selznick's reason for buying the rights in the first place, knowing he could sell it to Universal. There is no definitive proof of what the main reason actually was though. There Universal studio head Carl Laemmle, Jr., hired R. C. Sherriff (who had been a writer on
The Invisible Man (1933)) to write a screenplay.
The director of this film was Lambert Hillyer. Lambert Hillyer directed many films over a career which spanned from the 1910's through the 1940's He worked heavily in westerns, even having co-directed some of William S. Hart's films with the screen cowboy himself. Other western stars he directed included Jonny Mack Brown, Wild Bill Elliott, Tex Ritter, Charles Starrett, Tom Mix, and Buck Jones. The year he directed
Dracula's Daughter, he directed the sci-fi horror film,
The Invisible Ray (1936). However today many know him best for directing the 1943
Batman movie serial. However, it was originally planned for James Whale, the director of the Universal monster movies,
Frankenstein,
The Invisible Man (1933) and
Bride of Frankenstein, to direct this movie. However, he had no interest in the project preferring to work on the musical
Showboat (1936). The next director assigned to the job would be A. Edward Sutherland. Sutherland is best remembered today for his comedy work. He directed Laurel and Hardy in
The Flying Deuces (1939), Abbott and Costello in
One Night in the Tropics (1940) and W.C. Fields in
The Old Army (1926),
Tillie's Punctured Romance (1928),
International House (1933) and
Poppy (1936). This wasn't his only horror film though. He directed
Murders in the Zoo (1933), which is considered to be one of the most gruesome and shocking horror movies of its time. Originally
Jane Wyatt and actor Cesar Romero were cast to play the romantic leads. However just as shooting was about to start in February 1936, they were replaced by Marguerite Churchill and Otto Kruger. This caused delays in shooting, which frustrated Sutherland, who would abandon the film. It was then that Lambert Hillyer was brought in.
Below is a short article from Universal Weekly dated March 21, 1936. If you have any trouble reading it click on the pages below and use your touch screen to zoom in.
