Villain(s)  Vampire

Actor(s):  Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden, Marguerite Churchill, Edward Van Sloan

Brief Description  Released by Universal Pictures on May 11, 1936, Dracula's Daughter is a direct, gothic sequel to the 1931 classic Dracula. Directed by Lambert Hillyer, the film stars Gloria Holden as the tortured Countess Marya Zaleska, Otto Kruger as psychiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Garth, and Edward Van Sloan reprising his role as Professor Von Helsing.

Plot:
Search for a Cure: The film picks up immediately after the events of the original movie. Scotland Yard discovers Professor Von Helsing standing over the staked corpse of Count Dracula and the body of Renfield. Von Helsing is promptly arrested for murder. Meanwhile, Dracula's daughter, Countess Marya Zaleska, arrives in London accompanied by her devoted and sinister manservant, Sandor. Hoping to eradicate her vampiric curse and live a normal life, Zaleska performs a midnight ritual, burning her father's body in a remote cemetery to break his psychic hold over her. However, the cremation fails to free her from her insatiable bloodlust. Desperate, she seeks help from prominent London psychiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Garth, presenting her condition as an "unhealthy obsession" rather than literal vampirism.

Descent and Confrontation: Dr. Garth attempts to treat the Countess using early psychological techniques, but Zaleska slips back into her predatory habits. Under Sandor's influence, she lures a young street model named Lili to her studio, hypnotizes her, and feeds upon her in a sequence heavily laced with early subtext regarding same-sex desire and abnormal psychological appetites. Realizing that psychology cannot cure her, Zaleska abducts Dr. Garth's assistant and romantic interest, Janet Blake, and flees with her back to Transylvania. Zaleska promises to free Janet only if Dr. Garth agrees to stay with her forever and join her as one of the undead.

Climax and Resolution: Arriving at Castle Dracula, Dr. Garth confronts the Countess to save Janet. Before Zaleska can complete her transformation or permanently bind Garth to her, Sandor—consumed by a jealous rage over his mistress's obsession with a mortal man—takes aim and shoots her through the heart with an enchanted arrow or crossbow bolt. Police forces arrive just in time, and Sandor is killed as well, bringing an end to the Zaleska bloodline.