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Dracula's Daughter This cut-rate sequel to Dracula, sans Bela Lugosi, turns out to be an unexpectedly sleek and stylish movie. Gloria Holden, tall, dark, and continental, is the aristocratic title character fighting her nature and seeking a cure for her affliction. A sympathetic psychiatrist, Dr. Garth (Otto Kruger), encourages her to "face her fears," but when she lures a pretty young streetwalker to her room to model for a painting, the temptation of her fleshy offering proves too much to overcome. Edward Van Sloan reprises his role as Van Helsing, held by the police for the murder of Count Dracula (the film opens on the final scene from Dracula) but released in the nick of time to help Garth, now at the mercy of the bitter and vindictive vampire. Director Lambert Hillyer makes the most of his low budget, with austere, angular sets and an almost abstract sense of the foggy city night. Holden's mysterious face and tall, willowy body make her an even more striking vampire than Lugosi, and Irving Pichel's offbeat servant is like an American gangster with the breeding of a European aristocrat: thick and thuggish, but always proper. The script falls into the usual rut of Universal's later horror films, losing the mood in the busy plot, but the smooth style and Holden's dignified performance lift Dracula's Daughter above most Universal sequels.

Son of Dracula It was perhaps inevitable that, after playing the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's monster, and the Mummy, Lon Chaney Jr. would round out his horror resumé with a turn at the great bloodsucker himself (not, as the title would suggest, his son). Looking dapper and dignified under the cape, if not exactly threatening, Chaney plays Count Alucard (that's Dracula spelled backwards), a mysterious Carpathian summoned to America by a "morbid" heiress (Louise Allbritton). Eric Taylor's script is rather clunky, but the story (by horror specialist Curt The Wolfman Siodmak) is often quite clever, playing like a supernatural twist on a psycho-thriller. Allbritton's frustrated fiancé Robert Page accidentally "kills" her while trying to shoot Alucard (who imperiously stands up to the hail of bullets) and then goes stark raving mad as he watches the dead rise to life and the living disappear in wisps of smoke and morph into creaky stage bats.

Future film noir legend (and Curt's brother) Robert Siodmak (The Killers) does wonders with the swampy, misty Deep South setting despite his obviously threadbare budget, transforming the usual clichés into moments of inspired melodrama. Only the clumsy antics of the skeptical cops and the plodding exposition spouted by an old Carpathian doctor (he just happens to be the local MD) get in the way of this moody minor horror gem. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

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William S. Hart was the first and arguably the most fascinating of silent-film cowboy stars. Hard and humorless, with a face that looked chiseled out of granite, he straddled the line between hero and criminal as the "Good Badman" of silent Western cinema. In The Toll Gate (1920), directed by Hart regular Lambert Hillyer, he plays Black Deering, the leader of a train-robbing gang sold out by one of his own men. Deering escapes with revenge on his mind, but he's wounded and seeks shelter in the lonely cabin of an abandoned woman (the beautiful Anna Q. Nilsson) where he considersthe possibility of a new life, but only after he escapes not one but two posses, one of which is led by his betrayer. The stunning locations paint a hard, rugged West where Hart has practically stepped out of the craggy landscape, ruthless enough to take on the elements on their own terms and quietly driven by a harsh moral code that demands he put his own life on the line to save a boy. The only disappointment in this tinted and toned presentation is the sorry shape of the deteriorated master: rain-like scratches cover the picture in places, and burns, bleeding, washouts, and overexposures overwhelm the picture in particularly damaged spots. Also included (on the Kino video and Image DVD) is the Mack Sennett short His Bitter Pill, a slapstick parody that pokes fun at Hart's stony persona. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Robin Hood of the West,"The CISCO Kid" comes to DVD!
Of all the Western heroes in the 1940's and 1950's the "Cisco Kid" (Duncan Renaldo) and his sidekick Poncho (Leo Carrillo)were the most loved and easily recognized. They were the first internationally accepted western stars.

Now through VCI Entertainment we have 3 great samples of "The Kid". The first installment a 1945 movie, "South of the Rio Grande" (Standard Format / Black & White - digitally remastered, excellent quality) is about the daring duo go to the aide of a rancher friend to thwart a terrorizing dictator. The second movie (1950), "The Girl from San Lorenzo" (also a Standard Format/ Black & White - not digitally remastered, fair quality) - has Cisco & Poncho tracking down a criminal gang which has been robbing stagecoaches disguised as them. (Cisco & Poncho) The third film is from "The Cisco Kid" tv show of the 1950's (Standard Format / in Color - not digitally remastered (fair quality).

The extra features include; Photo & Poster Gallery, Biographies & Interview with Duncan Renaldo.

You get alot with this double feature DVD. A great introduction or re-introduction to "The Cisco Kid". Duncan Renaldo is "Cisco" and Leo Carillo was the perfect "Poncho". For many movies & for several years this duo graced the big screen and our television sets with their lovable personalities.

This is fun family stuff. A real touch of western nostalgia. Enjoy. ... Read more

Description

Not your typical western, this is a tale of the wagon trains that rolled west through scorching deserts and hostile Indian territory. It's got a twist: there's a murderer in this wagon train, and it's up to expedition leader William S. Hart to find him!

There's a great sequence here in which Hart coerces a confession from the killer. Think of the climactic scenes of "Greed", add a dash of frontier justice, and you'll get the idea. And the movie only builds from there... the wagon train hasn't even met the Indians yet!

This is just the kind of film that made Hart the leading western hero of the World War I era. Here he's rugged and tough, and there's barely a trace of the weepily over-sensitive persona that would diminish later films like "Wild Bill Hickok." Practically all of "Wagon Tracks" takes place on location, giving it a gruelingly authentic feel never found in your typical horse opera. Organ score by Bob Vaughn.

Supplemental material: It's the very first king of the cinematic western, G.M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson, in "Naked Hands" (1918). The film was actually produced by Essanay in late 1915 as "Humanity," but was held back from release. Anderson took it with him when he left the company, and released it himself a couple of years later. Eventually, the feature-length "Humanity" was condensed into this two-reel version called "Naked Hands." Anderson again stars as Broncho Billy (more or less), a gold prospector who strikes it rich but loses his wife to another man. When she dies, and that man is responsible, Billy vows to take the guy apart with his naked hands... and does exactly that, in a surprisingly vicious fight scene! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

More than just Cowboys and Indians
This is quite a good DVD featuring the silent era's two greatest Western stars: William S Hart in the feature film, "Wagon Tracks" and G M Anderson, the first real Western star in a 2-reeler called "Naked Hands".Both are powerful dramas with superb acting performances by both Anderson and Hart, and together they make this DVD great viewing.G M Anderson became famous as 'Broncho Billy' in a staggering 350+ 1 and 2 reel films from the early 1900s to 1916, when William S Hart took over the reigns as the screen's Cowboy hero.Although "Naked Hands" was originally made as a 5-real feature length film, it was later shortened to 2 reels, as presented here.It is a sad and stirring little drama with some surprising and very good scenes, and despite many missing parts, this condensed version still packs a powerful punch.It serves as a great introduction to the feature film, "Wagon Tracks" in which William S Hart is the expedition leader of a wagon train across the western deserts to Santa Fe.Much more than just a story of pioneers braving the Wild West, "Wagon Tracks" is mainly about a murder, finding the real killer and serving justice.The victim is expedition leader Hart's own younger brother whom he wanted to meet and escort to Santa Fe, but the actual events of the murder are covered up to appear as an accident.Hart is very good in these emotional and dramatic scenes, and the story moves along at a steady pace with an interesting twist at the end when justice is done.Some parts of this film reminded me of Paramount's 1923 production of "The Covered Wagon", and "Wagon Tracks" is of a similar high standard, even the picture quality on this DVD is very good overall.There is also a nice bonus slide show of about 80 pictures, mainly color posters of Hart's many Westerns, as well as some nice portrait photographs.All up, a good and entertaining DVD for lovers of good silent films, not just of Westerns. ... Read more