Since I’ve been watching a ton of Eurohorror classics lately, now is as trustworthy as a time as any to say a few words about “Daughters of Darkness.” I made a assure some time ago to ignore vampire films as a general rule. It’s not that I strongly disapprove all vampire films, mind you, but I fair feel like the genre has been done to death over the years. How many versions of Dracula can you sight before your eyes begin rolling over the predictability of it all? The plots are all essentially the same, suitable? You’ve got the obligatory virgin, the dashing young lad, the wizened vampire hunter, and reliable frail Drac himself ambling around in the dismal tormenting the others. A bunch of people tumble prey to the vampire, the hunter teams up with the young man in an worry to achieve the young girl, and a stake through the venerable ticker aesthetic great wraps the whole thing up. Well, a bit of experience reveals quite a few films that play around with this tried and honest formula. One method to do something different, if these European flicks are any indication, is to punch up the proceedings with a favorable helping of bare flesh. There’s nothing like a bunch of gals trooping around in revealing outfits, or no outfits at all, to perk up the dead outmoded Stoker chronicle. And if you can compose the head vampire a woman, that certainly can’t wound either. Welcome to “Daughters of Darkness.”
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Something curious and amazing is going on in this movie, but you have to wait awhile to leer it. The represent starts out by showing us two freshly wedded lovebirds, Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) and Stefan (John Karlen), heading to the European glide on a express. Ostensibly, the two married in secret and are now going to head over to England to meet Stefan’s domineering mother. Valerie worries whether the woman (ha!) will collect her since Stefan makes it abundantly positive that his beloved mother is quite picky about her son’s girlfriends. Stefan assures Valerie all will go well, but it soon becomes apparent that he isn’t hurrying to score to England. While waiting for the ship that will select them home, the two check into a massively creepy hotel on the sail. No other guests are staying in the building since it’s out of season, so Valerie and Stefan have the heavenly building all to themselves. That is until Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Delphine Seyrig) and her shapely companion Ilona (Andrea Rau) advance on the scene in a vintage automobile. Most of us are aware that Elizabeth Bathory was a celebrated sixteenth century Hungarian noblewoman who supposedly kept herself eternally young by bathing in vats filled with the blood of young maidens. Unfortunately, Valerie and Stefan don’t create the connection.
Still, the newlyweds grow increasingly aware that something isn’t correct with the radiant countess. First, it’s rather queer that the hotel manager claims that he remembers Countess Elizabeth showing up at the hotel nearly fifty years before looking exactly as she does now. Second, she’s downright creepy. There’s something hidden slack her horrific grin that makes you want to cry. Second, the Countess Elizabeth takes an fantastic interest in the activities of the couple. She always seems to appear whenever Stefan and Valerie leave their room, grinning that heinous grin and cooing like a cat over the two newlyweds. Bathory seems to have an contemplate for the pretty Valerie, too, which makes sense when we examine exactly why Ilona follows her around like a puppy. It turns out history made a mistake about the blood vats, not recognizing or refusing to narrate that Bathory was really a vampire with a penchant for young gals. She’s roamed Europe for over three hundred years playing the same bloody game, a game that now threatens to rip apart forever this hapless couple. In no time at all, Elizabeth manages to drive a wedge between the Stefan and Valerie, recruit the latter to her thirsty cause, and wreak a whole heck of a lot of havoc in the hotel.
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You honest gotta savor this film. “Daughters of Darkness” is one of the best vampire films I have ever seen for a multitude of reasons. The critical reason the describe succeeds is due to the fantastic talents of Delphine Seyrig. Who is this intelligent woman and where has she been all my life? I esteem this lady! She manages to do her character insanely aesthetic and metaphysically eerie at the same time. She slinks around in intelligent outfits dropping suggestive comments, tells horribly gory stories, winks, and grins with the greatest of ease. And her fate at the slay of the film is unpleasant and disturbing. Unbiased as superb as Seyrig is the oppressive atmosphere of the hotel and the desolate surroundings. Characters travel around outside under overcast skies and through pouring rain. Forests nearby are dense and spooky. Every residence section seems to telegraph a sense of impending doom for the film’s participants. Finally, you simply won’t acquire your eyes when Stefan calls his mother on the phone. What was director Harry Kumel thinking here? What an incredibly bizarre scene to insert into the narrate! Oh man, you unprejudiced won’t comprehend the insanity of it!
“Daughters of Darkness” deserves five stars for its fabulous performances and over the top antics. I can’t thank Blue Underground enough for releasing this esteem on DVD. While the print transfer occasionally suffers from some minor blemishes and fading colors, most of the movie looks mountainous. Extras include two commentary tracks, radio spots, a trailer, stills, and an interview with Andrea Rau. Race, don’t slither, to assume up a copy of this underrated gem.
The idea of “vampirism” has always had ties to unlit and forbidden sides of human sexuality, and has served as metaphor for homosexuality, nymphomania, and maochism. The sexual revolution of tedious 60’s and early 70’s produced a bevy of erotic, “lesbian” vampire films, in which their creators were able to graphically exploit all manner of sexual taboos that had only been hinted at previously. DVDs have given us a amazing cross-section of these forbidden fruits from Jess Franco’s psychedelic Vampiros Lesbos to the surreal-dreamy trappings of Jean Rollin’s Shiver Of The Vampires, but Daughter’s of Darkness is for many (myself included) is the cream of the slit.
Daughter’s is kind of a hybrid between Sheridan Fornau’s often-filmed vampire legend, Carmilla, and the many legends and exploits of real-life “vampire” Elizabeth Bathory. Brought into the display, the film begins with the arrival of two newlyweds, Stephan & Valerie (John Karlen & Danielle Quimet), to a dusky and mostly deserted beachfront hotel in Belgium. From the onset we sight all is not correct with this union, Stephan refuses to dispute his “mother” of their marriage and is revealing an calm and sadistic temperament, which Valerie mournfully tolerates. Out of the night arrives the Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Delphine Seyrig) and her sultry companion/accomplice Ilona (Andrea Rau) . The Countess takes an immediate, carnal interest in the young newlyweds, and especially in Valerie. Meanwhile there seems to be a rash of murders in the nearby villages in which the young female victims have been drained of all their blood. Before long the countess and her reluctant companion have seduced the haunted newlyweds, and this is where the fun begins.
Though many erotic vampire films of the time boast involving visuals & copious nudity, director Harry Kummel clearly meant Daughters of Darkness to be more than a thinly veiled soft-core “art film”. Not that it’s minus these elements, Daughters’ is quite explicit, but it’s also a sophisticated and highly styled fright film laced with bewildering moments of black-comedy. In short, it’s delightfully European.
As the ageless and decadent Elizabeth Bathory, Euro-star Delphine Seryig is without look. More often than not, female erotic-vampires are portrayed as baleful, unwilling victims of their fill desires, but not Elisabeth. The Countess takes gigantic pride in her wickedness, and done-up like a thirties Marline Dietrich, Seyrig is believable and silly, but never corny as she gleefully corrupts all that she touches.
Blue Underground’s anamorphic transfer of Daughters is a immense improvement over the early Anchor Bay edition. Though utilizing the same source, Blue Undergrounds mastering is sharper, the colors are more stable and it’s free of the bleeding and artifacts that plague the previous release. It quiet contains the commentary track with male lead John Karlen, but raises the stakes greatly with an additional commentary track with director Harry Kumel, an onscreen interview with actress Andrea Rau, an safe theatrical trailer, radio spots, and a poster and aloof gallery. Priced at $20 (or less) this is an considerable up-grade for Euro-horror fans and an gracious entry for the Euro-curious.
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