FAQ

Psychiatrist Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger), who studied under Professor Van/Von Helsing, is called in to defend his mentor after he staked and killed Count Dracula. At a party, Garth meets Hungarian Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden), daughter of the Count. She requests his help in escaping what she sees as her father's ability to control her mind from beyond the grave, forcing her to do things that she doesn't want to do. Garth promises to help her affect mental release from her obsession but, as he digs deeper and deeper into various crimes happening in London, he becomes convinced that Zaleska is also a vampire.

Dracula's Daughter is a sequel to Dracula (1931) (1931). It is based on a short story, 'Dracula's Guest', written by Irish author Bram Stoker [1847-1912], who created the Dracula character for his 1897 novel Dracula. In fact, 'Dracula's Guest' is thought to be the original first chapter for the novel, ultimately deleted for unknown reasons. The screenplay for Dracula's Daughter was written by American screenwriter Garrett Fort based on a previous screenplay written by American playwright John L. Balderstone, who also wrote the stage adaptation of Stoker's Dracula. Dracula's Daughter was novelized in a 1977 paperback by Carl Dreadstone (pseudonym for John Ramsey Campbell). A remake of the movie, Nadja (1994), was released in 1994.

Dracula's Daughter begins minutes after Dracula ends, just after Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) (called vOn Helsing in this movie) has staked the Count. Officers arrive to arrest and charge him with murder.

In Stoker's mythos, vampires were dead creatures, kept alive only by the ingestion of human blood. They did not breathe nor did their hearts beat. Although procreation was never discussed in the novel, it is doubtful that Stoker meant for Dracula to be able to manufacture living sperm in order to impregnate a woman. Consequently, viewers have theorized other means by which Dracula could have a daughter. The simplest explanation is that Count Dracula sired her before he died and became a vampire. However, since Dracula (according to the movie) was made a vampire 500 years ago and Marya was made vampire 100 years ago, that seems unlikely. Other possibilities include (1) Dracula stole Marya as a baby and raised her with his brides (one of them being her "mother"), (2) Marya was a descendent of one of Dracula's living descendents, or (3) Marya was the daughter of a woman that Dracula attacked while she was pregnant. The implication in all of these scenarios is that Marya is not a flesh and blood descendent of Dracula but a child that he somehow procured and turned into a vampire. At one part in the movie, however, Von Helsing says these creatures are undead and that they have never died, which offers another explanation.

He makes the first connection when Von Helsing says that a vampire will have no mirrors. Jeffrey remembers being struck by the fact that Zaleska has no mirrors in her house. He tests his awakening suspicion by offering to use a mechanical device that uses mirrors to induce hypnosis, but she flat out refuses to try it. After that, the evidence begins piling up, especially after he hypnotizes Lili (Nan Grey), a young girl preyed upon by the Countess under the guise of her posing as a model at Zaleska's studio.

Jeffrey follows Zaleska to Transylvania, where she has absconded with Janet (Marguerite Churchill) in hopes of securing Jeffrey to her side. He arrives just as Zaleska is about to drink from Janet, but Sandor (Irving Pichel) attempts to scare him away by shooting an arrow at him. Zaleska offers Janet's life for Jeffrey's, asking him to remain with her as her undead consort. Suddenly, in a pique of jealousy, Sandor shoots an arrow through Zaleska's heart, destroying her and causing Janet to awaken from her trance. Fortunately, Scotland Yard has also been following Jeffrey. They arrive at the castle just in time to stop Sandor from killing him. In the final scene, Von Helsing and Sir Basil (Gilbert Emery) lean over the dead Countess. Sir Basil remarks about her beauty. Von Helsing replies, 'She was beautiful when she died...a hundred years ago.'

Only remotely. In 'Dracula's Guest', an Englishman (often presumed to be Jonathan Harker, although he is not identified as such), while traveling from Munich to Transylvania on Walpurgis Night, encounters a female vampire in a cemetery. That appears to be the connection. The rest of the story revolves around the man being bitten by the vampiress, whose name is Countess Dolingen (according to her grave). In the story, she is not linked to Dracula in any way. The traveler is subsequently tended to by 'a wolf -- and yet not a wolf', who lies on him through the cold night and keeps his blood warm. At the end of the story, the man is shown a telegram from Count Dracula, asking officials to ensure his safety while traveling.

Seven. Prior to Dracula's Daughter, there was Dracula (1931) (1931) and Drácula (1931) (1931), a Spanish version made on the same sets using the same script. Following Dracula's Daughter was Son of Dracula (1943) (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944) (1944), House of Dracula (1945) (1945), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) (1948).