En route to England, newlywed couple Stefan and Valerie (John Karlen and Danielle Ouimet) book into a luxurious but almost deserted hotel in Ostend; while there, they meet the mysterious, never-aging Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Delphine Seyrig) and her sexy secretary Ilona (Andrea Rau), who set about seducing the couple, gradually luring them into their vampiric ways.
I confess to being a tad nonplussed by certain aspects of Daughters of Darkness, mostly regarding Stefan: his relationship with his parents (his father is almost vampiric in appearance), his interest in death and propensity for sudden violent outbursts, and that scar on his neck. Not a scooby! Fortunately, there is so much else to enjoy about the film that I don't mind being left in the dark on such things: the stylish direction and stunning visuals, the wonderful acting, the haunting music - they all add up to an atmospheric, sensuous, and memorably perverse erotic horror.
In particular, I enjoyed Seyrig's central turn as Bathory, the actress delivering a finely tuned turn that is deliberately ostentatious, pitched perfectly on the edge of camp, but never entering parody. Also great, but for other reasons, is Rau: she's mesmerisingly beautiful and not shy about stripping for the camera. As for the protagonists, Karlen and Ouimet are more than adequate, but it is the lesbian countess and her aide who steal the show.
Director Harry Kümel adopts a languorous approach for much of the time, allowing his cast to carry the film, although the imagery throughout is superb, with great attention to detail, particularly the use of colour, Bathory and Ilona, and even Stefan, wearing black and red, while the uncorrupted Valerie wears white. Kümel occasionally fades his image to red, rather than black. Chokers and scarves are used to hide any tell-tale marks on the neck, which leads me back to Stefan's father... why the neckerchief?
Although there's not much in the way of gore, there's plenty of sexiness to compensate and most fans of Euro-vampire flicks (particularly the films of Jean Rollin) should find plenty to enjoy here.
6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.
I confess to being a tad nonplussed by certain aspects of Daughters of Darkness, mostly regarding Stefan: his relationship with his parents (his father is almost vampiric in appearance), his interest in death and propensity for sudden violent outbursts, and that scar on his neck. Not a scooby! Fortunately, there is so much else to enjoy about the film that I don't mind being left in the dark on such things: the stylish direction and stunning visuals, the wonderful acting, the haunting music - they all add up to an atmospheric, sensuous, and memorably perverse erotic horror.
In particular, I enjoyed Seyrig's central turn as Bathory, the actress delivering a finely tuned turn that is deliberately ostentatious, pitched perfectly on the edge of camp, but never entering parody. Also great, but for other reasons, is Rau: she's mesmerisingly beautiful and not shy about stripping for the camera. As for the protagonists, Karlen and Ouimet are more than adequate, but it is the lesbian countess and her aide who steal the show.
Director Harry Kümel adopts a languorous approach for much of the time, allowing his cast to carry the film, although the imagery throughout is superb, with great attention to detail, particularly the use of colour, Bathory and Ilona, and even Stefan, wearing black and red, while the uncorrupted Valerie wears white. Kümel occasionally fades his image to red, rather than black. Chokers and scarves are used to hide any tell-tale marks on the neck, which leads me back to Stefan's father... why the neckerchief?
Although there's not much in the way of gore, there's plenty of sexiness to compensate and most fans of Euro-vampire flicks (particularly the films of Jean Rollin) should find plenty to enjoy here.
6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.