Daughter of Dracula (1972) – Film Review
Daughter of Dracula is a French horror film released in 1972. The original title is La fille de Dracula. However, don’t let the name fool you. Apart from characters with pointy teeth, the film has little in common with Bram Stoker’s classic tale of vampirism. With several lesbian love scenes, Dracula’s Daughter has a closer connection with J. S. Le Fanu’s vampire novella Carmilla, one of the earliest works of vampire fiction and very probably the first lesbian vampire story. In Le Fanu’s story, the vampire has the family name Karnstein. The vampire family in Daughter of Dracula is called Karlstein, a fact that further hints at a connection. However, it’s more likely that this French Vampire flick was inspired by Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers (1970), a film that brought Le Fanu’s story to the screen with a strong script and capable cast, became popular all over Europe, and quickly became a cult favourite.
The central character in Daughter of Dracula is Luisa Karlstein, played by Carmen Yazalde—a Portuguese model and actress, who featured in several horror films during the 1970s.
The film begins with a young woman undressing and taking a bath, unaware someone is spying on her through a crack in a door. The voyeur is not shown. Only one of their eyes, and later their teeth, but the voyeuristic vampire appears to be female and kills her victim before she can finish bathing
The scene then shifts to Karlstein castle, where Louisa’s mother is dying and wishes to speak to her daughter, so the family has summoned her home. When Louisa arrives, her mother tells her she wants to entrust her with a secret before she dies. However, instead of just spilling the beans, Louisa’s mother provides her with the key to a chamber under one of the towers, telling her it holds a terrible secret. There is a tomb underneath it and the first Count Karlstein dwells inside.
After her mother’s funeral, Louisa visits the tomb and discovers it contains two coffins. Sensing he has a visitor, the count throws the lid off his coffin and sits up. He also knows who his visitor is and instructs Louisa to come to him.
The scene where the count sits up, baring his fangs and holding his eyes wide open is more comical than scary, but after this unusual family reunion, Laura, who is still able to walk in the sunlight, has the benefit of some new and improved dentistry.
When the body of a dead woman is found on the beach, the police begin an investigation. Adding to the mystery, several women are attacked by someone wearing a long black coat and a hat and, for a while, Laura’s uncle, the present Count Karlstein is in the frame. However, there are many holes in the plot and certain things never become clear.
Louisa is certainly a vampire and a lesbian vampire at that, but it’s unclear if she or another family member is the vampire in the coat. Some of the later scenes suggest the first Count Karlstein may be the culprit, while others contradict the idea. For instance, at one point, Louisa brings the Count a woman to feed on as he seems to be incapable of leaving his coffin. It’s also unclear who is in the second coffin and by the time the film ends, there are more questions than answers.
Even if you don’t mind watching films with subtitles, Daughter of Dracula is more likely to disappoint you than thrill you, and the scenes where the mystery vampire attacks are often more ridiculous than terrifying, making it very difficult to take anything seriously. However, if you do decide to see it, and watch it to the end, you may find Daughter of Dracula has a good shot at being the film with the stupidest vampire death scene. My advice is to give this one a miss and consider watching The Vampire Lovers (1970) instead. It’s a much better film by far.