What's this about?

Lately, it seems like many of the movies/shows are just a rehash or reboot of things that have already been done. And so I started to dive into the past. It's been fun, but I find myself losing track of which ones I’ve seen and whether or not I enjoyed them. Sometimes the titles themselves just don't tell me enough to remember.

I wouldn’t have voluntarily watched a lot of these movies when I was younger. It’s strange how interests change. That goes for what I read, too. I have another blog that explores books. I’m mostly reading older fiction and memoirs, and some of the books have led me to movies/shows and vice versa. In those cases, I may post the book review over here as well.

There will be spoilers, which is different than my book reviews. That’s mostly because I want to have enough information to help me remember what I’ve seen. I’m getting older. The brain doesn’t cooperate like it used to. What can I say? The gray hairs are catching up with me!

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Dracula's Daughter - 1936

Movie night! First up in our double feature was our next Universal Monster movie. I was a little wary of this one. It didn't have any names I recognized.

We start with the police finding Van Helsing right after he's murdered Dracula. He's taken into custody where he tells everyone he murdered a vampire. It's not going over well, and Scotland Yard eventually gets involved. Van Helsing call on an old friend, Dr. Garth. He's not an attorney, but Van Helsing thinks the man will believe him.

In the meantime, Dracula's daughter, Countess Zaleska, is stealing her father's body only to burn it out in the forest. Okay...Apparently, she doesn't want to be part of the Curse of the Draculas, and she thinks that since her father's dead, she's free. But she's not. And she left Renfield's body behind. That was funny.

She has this nifty ring that helps her hypnotize people. She leaves a victim partially alive, and when Dr. Garth tries to pry into the young woman's brain, he breaks her, and she dies. The Countess wants the doctor to come with her when she leaves town, so she kidnaps his secretary (it's the romance aspect, but it's not an obvious one) and takes her to Transylvania. I did enjoy how the town was celebrating being without the Draculas, but then they saw the light in the castle and immediately packed up everything.

Of all the characters in this movie, my favorite was Sir Basil Humphrey of Scotland Yard. He was great. He also loved stamps, and his butler, Hobbs, was great too. I needed more of them. It might surprise you to know that the Countess' minion, Sander, is the real hero of the movie. Bet you didn't expect that!

I didn't care about any of the main people in this movie. The Countess was weird. They never said how she existed. They mentioned her mother but not what happened to her. I was just glad Sir Basil was okay. The vampire attacks weren't shown, the marks on their necks weren't shown, and she just casually mentioned there was blood on her cape. I never saw her fangs, and I didn't even get to see a fake bat! This one's a pass.


 

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