Thursday, January 29, 2009

Dracula's Daughter (1936), Lambert Hillyer.

Lovely little follow up to the 1931 Dracula, this picks up right where we left off with Renfield having just fallen down the stairs and broken his neck. Kind of a weird, intriguing film - with tall, dramatic Gloria Holden as a conflicted victim of her own desires. (Tall? Or was it all the worm's eye shots?). Apparently seven years on, psychotherapy is considered a possible remedy to vampirism/lesbianism. Magic versus science! Bizarro henchman "Sandor" has American midwestern accent, making him sound a lot like Peter Graves (ok, that would make Graves 128 years old which seems a tad old even for him). Holden is costumed by Brymer, whose designs allude to original film. The tone of the film is classy and Holden and her hypnotic ring and not a bad match for Mr Lugosi and his mesmerizing performance.

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