re-animatresse Tod Browning's and Bela Lugosi's Dracula (1931) is my favourite of the Universal monster classics. this sequel, starring the beautiful Gloria Holden in her first leading role, doesn't quite measure up to the former but has its own charms it's likely to be the first lesbian or bisexual vampire film ever made; though censors from the Production Code Administration made certain that Countess Zaleska's sapphic inclinations are not overt, it's still fairly obvious whom she prefers. this is also the first film to my awareness to feature the reluctant vampire trope, à la Anne Rice's and Brad Pitt's Louis de Pointe du Lac, with Holden's performance seemingly made more poignant by her displeasure at being assigned the role — i guess auditioning worked differently in the 1930s the acting, setting designs and filming all have the look and feel of a stage play. the film's alluring string-heavy score is composed by Heinz Roemheld, music supervisor of Dracula and uncredited composer of the stock music used in Werewolf of London, Reefer Madness and about a hundred other films i'd love to see this movie remade with more emphasis on the titular character's sexuality — let her leave two puncture marks on the breasts of her victims rather than in the jugular — and the ending rewritten and brought up to date. i like the film as it is, though, and recommend it for fans of Dracula and other Universal Studios classics. be sure to bring the kiddies!

MonsterVision99 Draculas Daughter its perhaps one of the most underrated gems in horror history, its great at creating atmospheric, chilling and intense scenes.The film picks up right after Dracula (1931) ended, with Von Helsing having just killed Dracula, hes arrested by the murder of Dracula, Von Helsing its the only character from the first movie that returns, Edward Van Sloans acting its improved here.Our new vampire is Contessa Marya Zeleska, shes as good as Lugosi was in the first movie, at first she only wants to be a normal person, but as the movie goes on you start realizing how obsessed she is with being normal that makes her do evil deeds, and that makes her a villain.Overall, the film its really enjoyable, great acting from both the main characters and the rest of the cast, great atmosphere and its also a bit intense at times.

MitchellCombden Dracula's daughter (1936) is directed by Lambert Hillyer. this is the official sequel to Tod Browning's memorable and atmospheric universal horror classic an follows the daughter of Dracula, Hungarian countess Marya Zaleska. she seeks release from the evil influence of the evil known as Dracula.what the film does right is it hits all the right notes in the atmosphere department while also staying true to it's characters motivations. countess Zaleska played wonderfully by Gloria Holden is a tortured and sympathetic character that is seeking release from the evil influence of Dracula and can not seem to shake her evil urges and impulses. her assistant Sandor played by Irving Pichel acts as a contrast to the character Jeffrey Garth played by Otto Kruger (Kruger does a great job here as well). Garth informs her there is a way to release herself from the curse while Sandor tells her there is no escape and that evil will always prevail. but Sandor isn't simply there saying these things for the sake of being there and saying them to provide contrast. he is saying these things because his character plays a much deeper role in the context of the plot. he seeks immortality and if he is to achieve his goal he mustn't let Zaleska achieve hers. but back to Gloria Holden's performance. her screen presence is what makes the film work so well. charming, sensual, hypnotizing and desperate she chews the scenery in nearly every scene she's in. in the original Dracula Lugosi portrayed Dracula as a more sinister and evil character. but because of his Charisma and style we also rooted for him because we couldn't help but to want to see more of him. in this film however we do feel genuine sympathy for our female Dracula, this is something that was not present in the previous film and this makes this sequel very unique and ground breaking. Edward Van Sloan returns as Professor Von Helsing and does an excellent job as well.I should also mention that the score is utterly haunting and wonderful in this film. one of the best of the universal era horror scores. now, some people speak of a lesbian undertone or sub text in the film that I was not fully aware of. while I do believe it is possible for it to be an underlying thing here I do not think it was intentional.so in short, the performances are all great, the character are all written well and the atmosphere and story are on point.one thing that is a massive negative here though is the comedy that is shoe horned in. it feels terribly out of place and has not aged well at all. the ending also felt a tad bit rushed. while it was good and I'm aware that the intent was to create a suspenseful and climactic ending I think it could have been a tad bit better.overall Dracula's Daughter is a classic and the second best in the universal Dracula legacy.the verdict: 8.5/10

skybrick736 Give props to Lambert Hillyer and Garrett Fort for following up from the first Dracula with a well-planned sequel that takes place pretty much directly after the original. They pulled it off too only bringing back one central actor, Edward Von Sloan, who didn't exactly have the biggest role. The new stars include Otto Kruger, who was a strong lead and also Gloria Holden are new villain. The writing for Holden's character, Countess Zeleska aka Dracula's Daughter, was more sympathetic than ominous, which in my mind wasn't really the right portrayal to make. A darker female vixen would have been an extremely effective move and added a bit of an excitement factor that the film was missing.Another aspect of the film which I thought might have been played out a bit more was a backstory about the daughter and Dracula's relationship. Not having that connection is kind of a missing element of the story-line but not having one at all is probably better than if it was overdone. Dr. Garth himself was a well-developed witty character and interesting protagonist, the type we rarely see, which has doubts about the adversary. Dracula's Daughter has its pros and cons just like any other film but from as a classical horror film perspective it's still a viable watch.