Very well executed

Excellent, a Must See

Better Late Then Never

A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

This is yet another of the obscure werewolf movies I've been reviewing lately. It stars Gloria Talbott-who'd later star in a cult classic called I Married a Monster from Outer Space, John Agar who appeared in plenty of these genre films during this time, and Arthur Shields whose more famous brother Barry Fitzgerald won the Oscar for Going My Way. Ms. Talbott inherits the house of her father, the famous Dr. Jekyll. He's being described as once having turned into Mr. Hyde who in this version is a werewolf who can be killed by a stake in his heart. Talk about mixing legends! Despite that mixed-up premise, this was quite an enjoyably atmospheric thriller that only runs an hour and 10 minutes. The direction by Edgar G. Ulmer was good enough for making the material as believable as possible. So that's a recommendation of Daughter of Dr. Jekyll.

On her 21st birthday, Janet Smith (Gloria Talbott) discovers she has inherited an estate and a large sum of money. She's suddenly a wealthy woman about to be wed to the man of her dreams, George Hastings (John Agar). But she learns something else. She learns her father's secret. She discovers she is the daughter of the infamous Dr. Jekyll. And she begins having vivid nightmares of killing people in the most horrible of ways. She wakes to find herself covered in blood, her clothes torn, and her shoes muddy. Has she somehow inherited a dark, split-personality from her father that turns her into a snarling maniac? For anyone who has seen both Daughter of Dr. Jekyll and Universal's She-Wolf of London, am I alone in comparing the two? I hate to give too much away about either movie, but there's no denying the similarities – two women about to be married, both under the impression that they turn into killers when the moon is full, slowly being driven mad, yet neither is responsible for the acts they are accused. It's too much of a coincidence to be just dumb luck. Oddly enough, though, I prefer Daughter of Dr. Jekyll to She-Wolf of London. It's not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it is slightly more enjoyable to me than the earlier movie. Chief among the reasons that I prefer this movie is the female lead. June Lockhart is one of my biggest complaints with She-Wolf of London. Gloria Talbott is far more believable in the similar role.My biggest complaint with Daughter of Dr. Jekyll is the changes it makes to the Jekyll/Hyde storyline. Hyde is now referred to as a werewolf that had to be staked through the heart to kill him. Huh? So now he's some sort of werewolf/vampire creature? News to me! And I never quite understood how his daughter was supposed to have inherited his "curse". Wasn't Dr. Jekyll's "curse" self-induced? It doesn't seem that something that could be passed from one generation to the next.

I haven't seen this movie since I was ten years old, but it scared the hell out of me then. That was over forty years ago. Seeing Gloria Talbot standing in front of that mirror and see herself seemingly transform into a werewolf gave me the creeps, and then the cut to the full moon rolling through the clouds. Mighty scary stuff. It was made even more scary by that eerie music that played into the background. I thought this movie would never end. I wish I could remember more of it, but it's been so long since I've seen it. I would love to see this on DVD, it's been so long since I've seen it. It's probably tame by today's standards, but if you're a ten year old kid looking for something to give you a good scare, then this movie will do it. It did for me.

Or, perhaps skids is more like it. How did John Agar get such wretched work as this in between films with John Wayne? (All right, I suppose most Wayne films are schlock, too.)But, this is Dr. Jekyll's daughter. And he looks silly as her husband. This is a ridiculous Universal wanna-be, complete with a family estate and curse. The whole werewolf explaination for this curse is very contrary to Robert Louis Stevenson's original conception.But, the werewolf ploy is not enough. DAUGHTER...is so boring, that I defy anyone to sit through it twice. I was in a coma by the time the end finally came.Gloria Talbott rules, though. She is the quintessential mid-50's scream queen. She always played an able woman, but it always took a man by her side to work things out in the end(this time it is Agar). Talbott's appearances in this film and, THE CYCLOPS(the same year) cemented her image into many a Saturday-matinee patrons' mind.Is this before or after Agar divorced Shirley Temple? This is certainly not the most pickled he looked(he looks more bleary-eyed in his later, Larry Buchanan period), but he looks just a little too cheery in some scenes. Maybe he was happy that the filming would soon be over.I was glad when DAUGHTER OF DR. JEKYLL was over. Unless you're a Gloria Talbott fan, skip it.