Dracula's Daughter/Son of Dracula (Universal Studios Dracula Double Feature)
by Lambert Hillyer, Robert Siodmak
List Price:
Our Price: $7.51
You Save: $7.43 (50%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.94 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Evelyn Ankers, Frank Craven, Lon Chaney Jr., Louise Allbritton, Robert PaigeDirector: Lambert Hillyer, Robert Siodmak
Brand: Universal Studios
Writer: Bram Stoker
Writer: Charles Belden
Writer: Curt Siodmak
Writer: David O. Selznick
Writer: Eric Taylor
Writer: Finley Peter Dunne
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 153 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-24
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Dracula's Daughter/Son of Dracula (Universal Studios Dracula Double Feature)
Movie Review: Dracula's Daughter, a gem
Summary: 5 Stars
Make no mistake, this movie is creaky and slow. It is old, and it is not a great cinematic triumph by any means. Nevertheless it is a gem. And it deserves to be seen as a classic of the genre. Gloria Holden is powerfully compelling as the tortured daughter of Dracula, an elegant and sensitive aristocrat who dreams of somehow escaping the curse of her vampire nature in order to embrace life. That she is a painter adds to her mystique. And the scene in which she seduces a lonely and vulnerable young female model in her studio is chilling, without recourse to special effects. Like all good horror films, this one has a strong moral point of view. Vampires are evil and must pay for what they are and what they do. Yet one finds here all the promise of the vampire concept which will be endlessly explored in later books and films. Here we have a supernatural monster who was once human and remains somehow human, a thinking and feeling abomination that is doomed to suffer excruciating torment as the price for the promise of eternal life. The vampire here is a metaphor for the outsider, the outcast, the lonely one in all of us, and the predator in all of us, too. The tragic dimension of the vampire is much more deeply explored here than in the original Dracula, and the atmosphere of the film, set in a very foggy London, enforces the overall theme of romantic gloom. I recommend this to anyone who wonders why vampires fascinate so many, and especially for those who want to understand the early twentieth century horror classics that inspired countless later films. I also find this an entertaining film. There is a delicacy and poignancy to it that has enduring appeal. I would love to see a faithful remake of this film, but until that happens, if it ever does, there is nothing quite like the original. Enjoy.
More Dracula's Daughter/Son of Dracula (Universal Studios Dracula Double Feature) reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
Summary of Dracula's Daughter/Son of Dracula (Universal Studios Dracula Double Feature)
DRACULA'S DAUGHTER/SON OF DRACULA - DVD MovieDracula's Daughter This cut-rate sequel to Dracula, sans Bela Lugosi, turns out to be an unexpectedly sleek and stylish movie. Gloria Holden, tall, dark, and continental, is the aristocratic title character fighting her nature and seeking a cure for her affliction. A sympathetic psychiatrist, Dr. Garth (Otto Kruger), encourages her to "face her fears," but when she lures a pretty young streetwalker to her room to model for a painting, the temptation of her fleshy offering proves too much to overcome. Edward Van Sloan reprises his role as Van Helsing, held by the police for the murder of Count Dracula (the film opens on the final scene from Dracula) but released in the nick of time to help Garth, now at the mercy of the bitter and vindictive vampire. Director Lambert Hillyer makes the most of his low budget, with austere, angular sets and an almost abstract sense of the foggy city night. Holden's mysterious face and tall, willowy body make her an even more striking vampire than Lugosi, and Irving Pichel's offbeat servant is like an American gangster with the breeding of a European aristocrat: thick and thuggish, but always proper. The script falls into the usual rut of Universal's later horror films, losing the mood in the busy plot, but the smooth style and Holden's dignified performance lift Dracula's Daughter above most Universal sequels.
Son of Dracula It was perhaps inevitable that, after playing the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's monster, and the Mummy, Lon Chaney Jr. would round out his horror resumé with a turn at the great bloodsucker himself (not, as the title would suggest, his son). Looking dapper and dignified under the cape, if not exactly threatening, Chaney plays Count Alucard (that's Dracula spelled backwards), a mysterious Carpathian summoned to America by a "morbid" heiress (Louise Allbritton). Eric Taylor's script is rather clunky, but the story (by horror specialist Curt The Wolfman Siodmak) is often quite clever, playing like a supernatural twist on a psycho-thriller. Allbritton's frustrated fiancé Robert Page accidentally "kills" her while trying to shoot Alucard (who imperiously stands up to the hail of bullets) and then goes stark raving mad as he watches the dead rise to life and the living disappear in wisps of smoke and morph into creaky stage bats.
Future film noir legend (and Curt's brother) Robert Siodmak (The Killers) does wonders with the swampy, misty Deep South setting despite his obviously threadbare budget, transforming the usual clichés into moments of inspired melodrama. Only the clumsy antics of the skeptical cops and the plodding exposition spouted by an old Carpathian doctor (he just happens to be the local MD) get in the way of this moody minor horror gem. --Sean Axmaker
Similar DVD Movies
Inner Sanctum Mysteries Complete Movie Collection (Calling Dr. Death / Weird Woman / The Frozen Ghost / Pillow of Death / Dead Man's Eyes / Strange Confession)NBC Universal; Release date: 2006-09-19; DVD
Best price: $6.77
Price in other shops:
The MummyNBC Universal; Release date: 1999-09-28; DVD
Best price: $8.45
Price in other shops:
The Return of the VampireSony Pictures Home ENT; Release date: 2002-08-13; DVD
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops:
The Mummy's Hand/ The Mummy's TombUniversal Studios; Release date: 2007-07-24; DVD
Best price: $7.09
Price in other shops:
The Bride of Frankenstein (Universal Studios Classic Monster Collection)NBC Universal; Release date: 1999-10-19; DVD
Best price: $7.17
Price in other shops:
Werewolf of London / She-Wolf of London (Double Feature)MCA; Release date: 2007-07-24; DVD
Best price: $7.81
Price in other shops:
Dracula (Universal Studios Classic Monster Collection)Universal Studios; Release date: 1999-12-21; DVD
Best price: $7.04
Price in other shops:
The Mummy's Ghost/ The Mummy's CurseUniversal Studios; Release date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $6.88
Price in other shops:
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / House of Frankenstein (Universal Studios Frankenstein Double Feature)UNI DIST CORP. (MCA); Release date: 2007-07-24; DVD
Best price: $7.62
Price in other shops:
The Ghost of Frankenstein / Son of Frankenstein (Universal Studios Frankenstein Double Feature)Universal Studios; Release date: 2007-07-24; DVD
Best price: $6.48
Price in other shops: