5/12/2007

The “Dracula MAY-hem” in the merry month of May continues tonight on the Svengoolie program- as we bring back the second film of the Universal “Dracula” series, featuring the feminine side of the family. It’s “Dracula’s Daughter”- starring Gloria Holden as daddy’s little ghoul. This film picks up- literally at the end point of last week’s “Dracula” film- Van Helsing is being apprehended standing over the body of the staked Count Dracula, and taken into custody. With Drac’s body then impounded at police headquarters, a mysterious female shows up –and the body disappears. She’s Dracula’s daughter, calling herself Countess Marya Zeleska –and she’s trying to escape the family curse of vampirism. Meanwhile, Van Helsing is enlisting the help of a friend to try to convince authorities that he did not murder the Count, but was serving as a fearless vampire fighter to save the public from this deadly menace. And then, the bodies of dead women start showing up… It’s very cool continuity to have the story continue from the original film, along with Van Helsing, again played by Edward Van Sloan. The movie is supposedly based on a chapter of Bram Stoker’s original Dracula novel, entitled “Dracula’s Guest”- and that chapter was released as a stand-alone novel after the release of this film. Our star, Gloria Holden, appeared in films well into the fifties, pretty much avoiding the horror genre for the rest of her career. If you’re creeped out by her wide-eyed stare, then consider this- according to the International Movie Data Base- Dracula’s daughter blinks exactly ONCE in the whole movie! (Kind of like Peter Francis Geraci…) the single blink occurs when she’s attending the party of Lady Hammond- played by one-time queen of Hollywood gossip (and famous for her outrageous, Dorothy Tilmon-like hats) Hedda Hopper. This film sticks pretty closely to the feel of the original Dracula film, and I’m glad that we could play it more or less “in sequence,” following “Dracula.” Plus- we’ve still got two more to come in the next couple weeks of our “Dracula MAY-hem!” For those who were Abbott-and-Costello-ed out, and kept asking when the REAL classic stuff would be on- this is just the beginning! You’ll see more of the famous monsters this summer- then again in the fall. Keep watching- we appreciate the loyalty all you Sven fans have shown us!