Dracula's Daughter (1936) · 8:48am May 20th, 2017
You know Equestria must be one of the slimiest places to ever exist. Way too many of the residents there use their mouths to do things. Seriously, it's pretty gross when you think about it.
I mean here you are wandering around you reach for a door knob and pony spit all over your hand. You can't eat the food there because pony spit is in your food. Think that's a pitcher of water? Not completely. What happens if one of them catches a cold or an STD? Are you so sure you want to touch that glass?
For my money at this point in time I'd prefer Griffonstone. Sure the residents are fairly surly but, that's just like living in New York City, Philadelphia or even southwestern Ohio. On the plus side their baked goods are getting better and if Gabby is any indication there are some friendlier griffons that you can chat up. Plus with no functioning central government you can kind of do what you want. You just have to hope that some weird descendant doesn't show up with their issues and what not to try and change things.
Speaking of weirdos with daddy issues Gloria Holden stars as the countess Marya Zaleska in the sequel to the 1931 classic Dracula entitled Dracula's Daughter. Apparently over the course of the many centuries of his existence Dracula decided it was important to have a family or something and passed his vampirism on to the countess. She doesn't care for it very much.
That's not to say she mopes about and sheds glitter all over the place for the enjoyment of twelve year old girls. She's still her father's daughter and drains the blood of people who she singles out. However, she also has a desire to rid herself of the curse and return to daylight. She first tries magic and then she tries to get in good with a psychotherapist (Otto Kruger) who she may or may not have the hots for.
Dracula's Daughter is an interesting movie. Countess Zaleska is a more sympathetic character in some respects, sort of like Lon Chaney Jr's wolfman. She's killing people because she's compelled to but not because she really wants to. She periodically attempts to find joy in things like music or parties, something that her servant Sandor continually puts a damper on.
The movie also has bits of comedy thrown in as well. I think one of my favorite parts involved a wedding party in Transylvania. During it one of the groomsmen nudges the groom with a knowing wink and says, "I bet you can't wait for night to fall eh?"
Overall, Dracula's Daughter is an odd little movie. It doesn't boast a lot of the visuals of the original and in fact borrows a little from the previous movie in terms of lines. The movie also lacks appropriate motivation for the countess. After a bit it seems more like she's more interested in the notion of being cured than actually being cured, so motivations are all over the place. That said, the movie isn't boring and is actually kind of fun in its own right. It's worth a watch.
The Stats: 6 dead bodies, 1 stake through the heart, 1 arrow through the heart, 1 bullet through the chest, 2 bare shoulders, gratuitous wedding scene, dragnet fu, airplane fu, hypnotic stare fu.
Shout outs:
Edward Van Sloan as Professor Von Helsing who when asked how long Dracula has been dead (it's a fresh corpse after all) replies, "About 500 years."
Otto Kruger as Dr. Jeffery Garth the psychiatrist who the countess wants to fang for saying on a hunting trip, "There are a few birds in London I'd like to shoot and they don't have feathers."
Gloria Holden as Marya Zaleska who just wants to be free to take her place in the light.
Irving Pichel as Sandor who is the Zaleska's constant buzz kill and servant.
Check it out.
Reminds me of Young Frankenstein for some reason
Other than perhaps a less-focused plot, this sounds remarkably not-terrible.
4539731 Well, while Young Frankenstein from Frankenstein movies I wouldn't be surprised if Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder had seen the movie at some point.
4539903 It really isn't. One thing I'll give it is that even though it could have defined some parts of the story a bit more it never felt like it dragged.