Dracula's Daughter (1972)

Jess Franco has a name for himself and some of it is rather unfair. Known for his zooms (especially of female nether regions), out of focus shots, gratuitous sex scenes etc. Whether this is fair or not Dracula's Daughter seems to encapsulate all of Franco's perceived filming techniques. Unfortunately it also plays into his detractors hands as the film wanders aimlessly, seemingly just waiting for the next lesbian lovemaking scene. The story of a young lady being told of her family's curse on her grandmother's deathbed could have been better but Franco is in one of his more laviscious moods and without some of his more artier veins present the film just drags, something that I don't usually mind in his films. Not all bad, but you end up wishing for more. Howard Vernon in particular is woefully under-used as Cout Karlstein/Dracula, never once straying from his coffin. He does, though, manage to encapsulate the Hammer feel during the opening credits. It's just a shame he couldn't keep it up.