Review of Daughters of Darkness (1971) by Stephen C — 31 Oct 2012
An erotic vampire movie set in Belgium?
Well yes that is the case and this film is a true one off dealing as it does with the Legend of Elisabeth Bathory the woman who kept herself young by bathing in virgins blood.
Director Harry Kumel takes this story and sets in Ostend which is an odd loaction but yet some how it totally works as the films events unfold.
Vallery and Stefan are a young couple on honeymoon who decide to spend a couple of days at a large and empty hotel.
Suddenly a Countess and her servant arrive and things begin to get very very weird indeed.
Stefan enjoys beating Vallery with his belt and also has a strange affinity with the Countess and her female servant.
Vallery begins to fall under the spell of the countess and the two story strands collide during a brutal bathroom murder sequence worthy of Hitchcock.
The vampire part of this film is only implied as we are shown that the countess may not be all she seems as the film gets odder and odder with some highly erotic charge to the whole plot line.
Delphine Seyrig channels Marelene Dietrich in her perfomance and she is easily the best thing in the film.
The style content is high and the gore content is low adding to the films high class sheen.
A real Euro horror classic and an outstanding film on its own merits.
This review of Daughters of Darkness (1971) was written by Stephen C on 31 Oct 2012.
Daughters of Darkness has generally received positive reviews.
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