Dracula's Daughter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Dracula's Daughter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf May 22, 2017

Losing the leadership of Bela Lugosi, 1936’s “Dracula’s Daughter” tries to return to the Bram Stoker saga with a new direction of evil, but the production plays one too many funny games to help revive the brand name for a sequel. Messing with time and character, “Dracula’s Daughter” is best appreciated as its own creation, tackling the subject of monster movie loneliness with a uniquely feminine perspective, adding a sense of psychological warfare to chiller expectations. It’s not a successful continuation, but “Dracula’s Daughter” has its own thespian achievements that support the feature, better off as a study of isolation and need than a follow-up to Lugosi’s legacy.

Weirdly, “Dracula’s Daughter” picks up right where “Dracula” ended (though the time period has been moved from the 19th century to the 20th without explanation), keeping Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) as the bridge between the features, with his execution of the famous vampire setting up the saga of Countess Zaleska (Gloria Holden), Dracula’s daughter and a woman looking to break her bloodsucker curse. Psychiatrist Dr. Garth (Otto Kruger) joins the saga as a man looking to crack the monster code, pulled into strange events as Zaleska balances her urges with agony. There’s psychological depth to “Dracula’s Daughter” that’s compelling, which looks within to grasp the torment of vampiredom, finding Zaleska fighting her thirst but succumbing to the lifestyle, which also includes light touches of sexuality as the cursed offspring looks to another woman for eternal companionship, shaking up the norm.

Dracula's Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.33:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "Dracula's Daughter" has its fair share of soft glamour cinematography, but the rest of the viewing experience enjoys satisfactory detail, picking up on costuming highlights and hard stares, handling close-ups well. Delineation has a few scenes of solidification, keeping frame information iffy at times, but most evening sequences (it's a dark movie to begin with) are open for inspection. Source is in terrific shape, without points of damage.

Dracula's Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix does carry hiss throughout the listening event, which prevents complete clarity. However, dialogue exchanges are easy to follow, taking note of dramatic surges and accents. Scoring also offers adequate support, selling moods with volume and agreeable instrumentation. Sound effects register as intended.

Dracula's Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:24, SD) is included.

Dracula's Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Dracula's Daughter" doesn't have the expanse of "Dracula" or its interest in creeping out crowds with sinister vampire manipulations. It's more of a psychodrama than a horror film, which is disappointing, but the patient are rewarded with strong performances, especially from Holden, and some satisfying scenes of procedure as weird science attempts to cure vampirism.