(Streamed via Corpse Collective)
Louisa (Britt Nichols) rushes to visit her dying mother, who informs her that she is a direct descendent of the vampire Count Karlstein (Jess Franco regular Howard Vernon). Upon her mother’s death, Louisa inherits the family castle where she is almost immediately bitten by the Count. Meanwhile, a police inspector (Alberto Dalbes) searches for a killer who has left his victims with gaping neck wounds.
Director Jess Franco gives us a rather suspenseful scene right out of the gate. A peeping Tom watches in the shadows as a beautiful woman undresses and bathes. Franco does a neat thing here to let the audience know that this isn’t meant to be titillating, but creepy by cutting away from the naked woman to an extreme close-up on the peeper’s bulging eyeball every twelve seconds or so. Many directors will give you a point of view shot of the killer, but Franco gives us a point of view of the killer’s point of view.
The film’s centerpiece is a long, romantic sequence where the vampiric Louisa seduces her sexy cousin Karine (Anne Libert) and they indulge in incestuous lesbian vampire sex. There is a lot of chemistry between the two performers and the scene is a lot more tender and erotic than you might expect. Their final tryst together isn’t quite as good though and is undone by the odd music choice that sounds like a temp track from a Tom and Jerry cartoon.
Whenever the film concentrates on the romance between Nichols and Libert, it is quite involving. It’s only in the second half, when the inspector character is introduced, that it begins to run out of steam. Despite its drawbacks, Dracula’s Daughter remains a stronger than usual offering from Franco.
Speaking of Franco, he has a sizeable role as the off-brand Van Helsing character. He arguably gives the best performance too, although I would say Nichols manages to surpass him, based on the strength of her love scenes. Vernon isn’t given much to do as the vampire except rise slowly from his coffin a couple of times, so if you’re a fan of his, you might be disappointed. Lina Romay (who isn’t listed in the credits on IMDb) also pops up briefly early on, but sadly, disappears pretty quickly.
AKA: Daughter of Dracula.
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