Dracula's Daughter

Be thou exorcised, O Dracula, and thy body long undead find destruction throughout eternity in the name of thy dark, unholy master.

I was so passionate about Halloween month that I went to bed early Sunday night just so I could get up before work and watch Dracula's Daughter. I think this is actually fascinating for a number of reasons, besides the obvious bi-sexual undercurrent that exists (not only the scene where the young lady down on her luck is there; I also noticed a scene where Countess Dracula took a nice lustful gaze, momentary but palpable, at Marguerite Churchill during the party where Marya Zaleska first meets her desired mate, psychiatrist Otto Kruger), such as how it fits more as a companion piece to Dracula than others that would come after.

This is a case for Scotland Yard.

England expects every man to do his duty.

For one thing, Scotland Yard gets involved this time around and the film follows immediately after the events of Dracula. The film does a good job of putting a realistic face on how Van Helsing's "murder" of Dracula, how you must apply the law to a situation where it seems like the murderer did so intentionally because he's mad. The vampire reason seems ludicrous under the circumstances. Interestingly enough, this film has Van Helsing relegated to a glorified supporting role, where he's more or less used to try and emphasize what a vampire is and how you can tell who might be one. Kruger and Churchill (as Jeffrey Garth and his assistance respectively) are given ample time to squabble in the typical nature of the romance comedy, knowing they love each other yet fussy because Zaleska interferes, however inadvertently, providing a rival to the potential of a relationship. Churchill conveys, no so subtly, that she is not fond of Zaleska's presence in Garth's life, mentioning that she is but a client in need of his psychiatric services. So, by no surprise, Janet (Churchill) is later kidnapped and used as a tool for Zaleska to possibly indoctrinate Garth into her undead life.

Sandor, look at me. What do you see in my eyes?
Death.


I love Gothic Horror because of the use of the tragic leading female character. This part allows actresses who have the power of a Gloria Holden or Barbara Steele to capture your attention. For instance, Holden's Zaleska, truly a Dracula, is not at fault for her dilemma. Throughout the movie, Zaleska establishes that she wants to be free of the "curse of Draculas", but the yearning for life source of blood (this film offers the possibilty that all of this is psychological, Garth telling Zaleska that if she wants to bad enough, she can fight away the craving that deters her from happiness, with "Life against death, the strength of the human mind against the powers of darkness.") is too difficult to withstand. She has this captivating quality, Holden just has this way of portraying a prevalent sadness, a desire for the normalcy of life that she is simply not allowed to have. An allure--I think this best described that particular quality that draws the eyes to her.

There’s blood on it again.

Zaleska's manservant, Sandor (Irving Pichel), has an early scene where he looks away when she places a cross, tied together by sticks and twine, and you'd think was a vampire. But, in actuality, he's just a servant of darkness and wants Zaleska to turn him. He, surprising enough, is the one who continues to push her into staying on the predatory hunt for victims thereabouts within the shadowy streets within the London fog. Pichel has a great look to him, very morose, his eyes glistening when motivating his master to remain on the dark side, even as she tries helplessly to resist.

Possibly there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in your psychiatry, Mr. Garth.

The film has a "science vs. superstition" theme that often found its way into horror where the supernatural creeps into the logic of modern day where the idea of a vampire is not to be taken seriously, yet this clash, that of the real and unreal, exists and Garth finds that his science, his psychiatry, cannot rescue Janet from the evil power of a determined Zaleska. Zaleska has Janet under a sleep, her very heartbeat could be stopped with ease, insisting that Garth become all hers or else. Great piece of villainy and I loved how the filmmakers return us one last time to Dracula's castle.

Something that reaches from beyond the grave and fills me with horrible impulses.

This is a fascinating aspect to the film, the idea that Dracula, even after his  body is set afire, can still control his daughter. Or maybe its all her and Dracula is just a fallguy? Whatever the case, she seems to insist that pops is to blame for why that bloodthirst, that mania that haunts her, persists.

You won’t object to removing your blouse will you?

The film's primary reputation seems to derive from the subtly sensual scene where Zaleska becomes entranced with a pretty derelict life has spit onto the London streets, perfect fodder for Sandor to choose for his vampiric lady. She pulls in (much like an earlier scene where this gentleman, about to smoke, is caught under her spell, unable to move once the signet ring catches his eyes), slowly, methodically, and the girl cannot move. Her dress straps pulled down from her shoulders, her milky skin enticing, Zaleska too seductively persuaded by that beautiful throat to deny herself the pleasures of the bite.

There’s some strange goings-on up there…

The Chelsea studio is really a place where you can feel a gloom and doom that is pervasive, probably because it is a location not of the artistocracy she often sells her paintings to, but a place where her subjects, her models, serve two purposes, as inspiration and as a feast.

Beautiful and helpless..why has she remained unharmed?


Pichel's manservant is really the major villain of the film; perhaps if he weren't such a voice of influence, Zaleska could have maybe broke from the curse of her father, but he knew just the right words to say and had a knack to nudge her into the direction of embracing the ever-present urges that lurked within to the surface.

You’re not in London now, Dr. Garth, with your police. You’re in Transylvania, in my castle.


I had already mentioned how I was especially happy that the filmmakers decided to return to Dracula's castle in Transylvania, and while it does happen rather quickly (I can't imagine the characters can get to Transylvania from London in such a speedy fashion), I thought it was a nice touch. This is her true domain, and I guess should be her proper resting place.

She was beautiful when she died…over a hundred years ago.


Holden, I feel, is recognized by us Universal Studios horror fans as an icon, this role as Dracula's daughter worthy of a special place in our hearts. She made it her own, utilizing the tragic elements of the character's situation, understanding that Zaleska was caught in a quagmire, unable to escape, yielding to the blood lust that never ceased, not helped by Pichel's Sandor, who had designs on gaining eternal life and the power of the Draculas, not seeing vampirism as a curse to be hated, but a goal to achieve, her attraction to Garth standing in his way.