User Reviews

This viewer will admit right off that he is more accustomed to horror movies of the more traditional kind. However, that doesn't mean that he can't appreciate what a movie like this tries to do. Harry Kumel's "Les Levres Rouges", a.k.a. "Daughters of Darkness", as I am sure has been said numerous times before, has higher aspirations than cheap thrills. (That doesn't mean, however, that fans hoping for a trash quotient won't get it, as there is a fairly generous dose of nudity, male and female, in one key scene.) It's stately, intelligent, and very deliberately paced, with a clear focus on character and ambiance. Now, there are some genuine shock moments and scenes of sudden violence, but they are few and far between.

The action, so to speak, is mostly set inside a vast, opulent hotel that a honeymooning couple is visiting in the wintertime. So, it is actually almost empty, until the couple, Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) make the acquaintance of sophisticated Countess Bathory (Delphine Seyrig), who just might be THE Elizabeth Bathory of real-life infamy, and her sultry companion, Ilona (Andrea Rau).

Enhanced by lovely music composed by Francois de Roubaix, the movie, just like its cagey main character, has a certain, seductive allure going for it; it's hard not to be captivated by Seyrigs' performance and hang on to every word she speaks. One can sense that her presence can only lead this young couple to some pretty dark places, as passionate impulse takes over and the violent side of Stefans' personality is more prone to emerge. In fact, as this story plays out, The Countess doesn't seem as bad as Stefan turns out to be.

The other actors do a fine job of reinforcing the notion that a substantial part of acting is REACTING, as their characters feel the influence of this sexy stranger. The atmosphere and mood of this movie are simply excellent, as right from the get go, there is a very somber feel to the characters and dialogue. Stefan and Valerie go so far as to admit that their relationship is not really based on love. Character details like this are given throughout; Stefan reacts with more than casual curiosity to being present at a murder scene, and when he and the Countess recount the horrific acts of Elizabeth Bathory, it arouses them more and more; Valerie yells at them to stop, and is it the sordid nature of what they speak, the fact that they're getting turned on, or both, that is unnerving Valerie? What the characters realize about themselves and the others becomes vitally important to what unfolds.

With its elements of lesbianism, eroticism, and sadomasochism, this is an interesting piece of cinema for patient viewers.

Seven out of 10.

Stay with this film, it is incredible. Great acting, cinematography, direction. The lead actress isn't great, but the actress who plays Erzebet Bathory is phenomenal. Bizaar sets, and strange milieu really add to this film's strange portrayal of vampires and how they deal with the living. I really loved this film. Of course, today, everything happens at the speed of light. Back in 1970, they took their time with building the film and really letting it sink in before hitting you with the shocks. This one has plenty of shocking moments and some really great inventive scenes that add to the history of the vampire film. Unfortunately, today we now have 'Twilight', a disgusting parody of the genre that hopefully audiences will someday say, 'What the hell were we thinking?'.

The follow-up to Kümel's "Malpertuis" (from Jean Ray's book),"Les Lèvres Rouges " has got a much simpler screenplay and ,with one exception no great stars (no Orson Welles,Michel Bouquet,Susan Hampshire ,Jean-Pierre Cassel.....)....

One star ,but what a star!Delphine Seyrig was one of the greatest stars France had ever had.She mesmerized her audience as no actress of her generation could;her death was a major loss for the European cinema.She could play the fairy godmother of "Peau D'Ane ",the dumb bourgeois lady of "Le Charme Discret De La Bourgeoisie" or the legendary bloody countess -many historians do not believe in those blood baths -with the same aplomb;three parts so different and the same woman with the same suave voice -you MUST hear her speak,a dubbed version would be a disaster;so make sure you get a DVD with subtitles.

I have always thought Belgian directors were very good at creating a supernatural atmosphere without using a ton of special effects;like Delvaux in "Un Soir Un Train" ,Kümel makes the simple picture of a train which comes to a standstill.The baroque hotel will remind some users of "L'Année Dernière A Marienbad" ,Seyrig's debut in France.

It's to state the obvious to write that Seyrig steals every scene she is in and fortunately she's featured in many scenes ;the three other leads seem bland by comparison and it takes all the talent of the director to pull them off.

"Les Levres Rouges" gave a renewed life to the vampire movie ,like Polanski's "the fearless vampire killers" did in the precedent decade .A strong lesbian interest in this movie too:Seyrig was so hot she could appeal to both men and women.

A contained, haunting tale of vampirism, with ties to the infamous Elizabeth Bathory, this film drips with artistic merit. From the picturesque shots to the red fades to the stinger notes, it's easy to appreciate this production. The delicate, deliberate pace may turn off some viewers but the dream-like atmosphere easily held my attention, not to mention the three beautiful female leads. The bizarre ending (before the epilogue) was unexpected and indeed provided a wonderfully macabre and memorable image. Daughters of Darkness succeeds at what Vampyros Lesbos attempted to be. Just make sure to watch the full version.

While I appreciate vampires as a staple of the horror genre, I have never been a big fan of vampire films. And while I will be the first to laud the merits of Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee's contributions to the cape, they look rather timid next to Countess Elizabeth Bathory (the luminous and sensual Delphine Seyrig) in "Daughters of Darkness." While Harry Kumel's film is one of the most aesthetically beautiful vampire pictures ever lensed, dripping with subtle sexual tension, it also presses forth with a feminist/lesbian subtext that's as alluring as it is clever. The plot is relatively straightforward, and the film takes its time in establishing mood and atmosphere--Valerie (Danielle Ouiment) and Stefan (John Karlen) are newlyweds who are on the rocks only 3 hours into the marriage, and things are complicated further when Countess Bathory and her assistant, Ilona (Andrea Rau) check into the same deserted seaside hotel. While the atmosphere could be compared to the Universal and Hammer horrors, Kumel's artistry--with well-framed images, emphasis on wardrobe, and a very deliberate color scheme--exists in its own unique league. The topic of lesbianism--and even heterosexuality--is presented in a minimalist, unexploitative manner, yet maintains a pervasive eroticism throughout. Even the vampiric seduction is presented with a minimum of graphic bloodshed, which is all the more effective. "Daughters of Darkness" is the type of moody, character-driven piece that plays like a sensual sister to George Romero's similarly unique "Martin." As my comment title implies, this is an excellent film, required viewing for fans of horror and great art alike.

Two days after getting married in Switzerland, Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) and Stefan Chilton (John Karlen) travel by train to take a boat to England to visit Stefan's mother at the Chilton Manor. However, the train has to stop in Ostend and the couple lodges in the royal suite at a seaside hotel. The concierge Pierre advises that the place is empty since it is out of season and they become aware of three murders in Bruges.

In the same night, the Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory (Delphine Seyrig) arrives in the hotel with her secretary Ilona Harczy (Andrea Rau) and Pierre swears that she had been in the hotel forty years ago with the same appearance. When Valerie and Stefan cross the path with the mysterious countess, their lives are affected by the woman. Meanwhile a retired detective (Georges Jamin) snoops at the hotel suspecting that the countess may be the serial-killer that drains the blood of the victims to use as elixir of youth.

"Les Lèvres Rouges", a.k.a. "Daughters of Darkness", is a weird and stylish vampire film. The story is very erotic and keeps the sexual tension along 100 minutes running time. Stefan is a sadistic homosexual weirdo and his "mother" is actually an effeminate man. The Countess is a lesbian vampire that wants Valerie as her protégé and mate. The film was shot only during the night and has a beautiful cinematography. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Lesbian Vampire films had their heyday in the early 70s, and Belgian cult director Harry Kümmel's "Les Lèvres Rouges" aka. "Daughters Of Darkness" of 1971 is the most artistically made, mesmerizing and atmospheric film this particular sub-genre has put forth. The film maintains an exceptionally eerie and surreal atmosphere throughout its 100 minutes, the score is one of the most beautiful and ingenious horror film soundtracks I've ever heard, and Delphine Seyring is wonderfully eerie and seductive at the same time in the role of Countess Bathory. The film, of course, has nothing to do with the real Elisabeth Bathory, who terrorized medieval Hungary by murdering countless innocent girls. The real, terrible story of this sadistic countess, who is often referred to as the "Bloody Lady", however, is an immensely popular topic in Horror literature and film, and the Erzsébet Bathory story also provided a basis (as well as a villain) for this particular film.

Newlyweds Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) are staying at a Belgian hotel in the middle of nowhere, when two more guests arrive - A mysterious and tempting countess (Delphine Seyring) who is accompanied by a pretty young girl (Andrea Rau)...

"Les Lèvres Rouges" is a film as beautiful as it is eerie, mysterious and surreal. The greatest performance is delivered by Delphine Seyring, who is brilliant as the countess. Sexy Danielle Ourimet and Andrea Rau deliver enough female eye-candy to make this a classic of the erotic Horror film. I couldn't say I liked John Karlen's performance particularly, but he sure isn't bad either. Great supporting performances are delivered by Paul Esser as a hotel clerk and Georges Jamin as a retired police officer. The greatest quality of the movie, however is the mesmerizing atmosphere which is even fortified by the beautiful and hypnotic score.

All said, "Les Lèvres Rouges" is an excellent, immensely eerie, beautiful and atmospheric Horror film, and THE classic of the Lesbian Vampire sub-genre that Horror lovers can not afford to miss!

Finally it became available, the director's cut of this 40 year old vampire flick. The weirdness is that it doesn't contain real vampires like you know them. You never see any fangs but it's the atmosphere that keep you attracted to the teevee. The other part that is funny for me is that all the places shown I have seen them, easily to explain, I grow up in Ostend in the seventies. But what an excellent flick this is, even without the gore and almost without th red stuff. There is a lot of nudity but it never becomes gratuitous. It is also strange that a Flemish director (Harry Kumel) was able to get big names, Delphine Seyrig was an icon at that time and even the others were well known then. The quality available on the Blue Underground DVD is excellent, even the sound is great, no hiss or whatsoever. It is a beauty to see and remembering that it was made without a big budget. It is indeed as stated on the sleeve erotic and unusual.

A sadistic husband (John Karlen) and his wife (Danielle Ouimet) are staying at a seemingly deserted European resort. There they meet mysterious and sexy Countess Bathory (Delphine Seyrig) and her companion. It turns out she's a vampire and wants the wife to join her...

I caught this years ago at an art cinema in Cambridge MA. I heard it was a cult film and a horror film. At first the audience was quiet and respectful but (when it became clear that nothing was happening) they got restless. There was some laughter when Seyrig seems to be seducing Karlen and people just roared when a detective pops in for no earthly reason. By the end the audience was basically laughing at it and making fun of it. I can see why! The movie moves slowly, has many inexplicable occurrences (even for a horror movie) and is just basically deadly dull. The movie thinks very highly of itself and seems to think dullness = art. There's nothing worse than a film that thinks its better than its audience--the contempt comes through loud and clear.

The acting ALMOST saves this. Karlen is terrible and Ouimet isn't much better. It's really hard to care about two such lousy people. Seyrig gives a great performance--she single-handedly saves this film from being a total disaster. She's sexy, smart and dangerous--she pulls it all off. It does have kind of a nice ending but, by then, I was so totally bored I didn't care.

This does have its defenders but I can't see why. Sure cure for insomnia here. I give it a 3 for Seyrig alone.

I was fortunate enough to unwind last night with Harry Kumel's erotic and Stygian "Daughters of Darkness" (Les Lèvres Rouges). It is a tasteful vampire movie (an oxymoron?).

Let me start by saying that the art direction is astonishing. If ever a building was elevated to the status of a character, it would be the off-season and deserted Grand Hotel des Thermes in Ostend where the majority of the film is set. Its de Chirico-esqe arcades and columns shot in their full crepuscular splendour separate the action from the real world, enveloping the players in a metaphysical demi-monde. One senses from the beginning the film's perversity, everything is set in Melvillean twilights and dusks, somewhere ephemeral, between or beyond good and evil. The travelling couple of the vampire movie, the man generally virtuous and upstanding, the woman meek and ingenue, in this case are replaced by a fractured and sensual pair. He announces on the night-train to Ostend, "I don't love you", which she parrots back, and they decide that this means that they are perfectly matched.

The soundtrack is perfectly atmospheric sub-Nyman, and the sense of colour is almost unmatched in film history. Twilight exterior shots, in the mode of Whistler are interposed with glowing yellow interiors. The exquisite monochrome costumes perfectly match the psychosexual themes. Particularly memorable is Delphine Seyrig in a flowing scarlet dress sipping a turquoise cocktail from a martini glass.

Whilst this is a perfectly cast movie, one would have to say that Delphine Seyrig as the countess Elizabeth Bathory runs away with the show in a screen-stealing performance. The sensuality of her voice is reminiscent of fever dreams, and the subtlety of her expression turns what could have been, in the wrong hands, a porno flick, into a Schnitzlerian psychosexual drama par excellence.

There were a few false notes, some ludicrous Hammer-inspired shots towards the end plus a less than satisfying codicil whose raison d'etre seems to be a false belief in the relevance of the plot. But all of this can be sorted with judicious editing and doesn't really detract from the general tone of the movie. Watch this, but beware it is a truly adult fairytale and an explicit exploration of sadomasochism.

Beware as you go into this, it may sound like Hammer but it's nothing like it. It's a chic, stylish vampire film dripping with the most wanton aestheticism. The whole thing exudes the scent of an absinthe dream, the contours of a flowing red dress.

Superficially it is about a couple of newly-weds - but who, as the film opens with them having sex in a train cabin, openly declare that they don't love each other - who find themselves stranded in Ostande and move in to a strangely empty hotel for a few days. A countess Bathory arrives there with her female companion, there's also the baffled concierge who tries to stay out of passion's way.

I say superficially because the dynamics between the couple is what at first sight seems to be driving the story. The woman is desperate to break out from the limbo of anonymous sex and be introduced, thus be legitimized as a wife and woman, to the man's mother, an aristocrat back in England. The man, on the other hand, is content to derail those expectations and savour the erotic dream he has concocted to inhabit.

But of course we come to understand that the narrative is powered from outside. The countess courts both, seducing in the emotional space between them. She personifies that wanton aestheticism right down to her body language. It is important to note that she is played by the actress who starred in Marienbad for Resnais, which this film alludes to; in the mysterious hotel setting with its expansive balustrades, in the twilight wanderings, in the sense of time revoked and sensations amplified.

She is the architect of all this, building around these people the desires that will yield them to her. So it is the man's semi-conscious world of secret pleasures, but it's she who is slowly, slyly perverting them. She does this with the malevolent purity of a femme fatale.

It does not matter that she is Bathory, or that blood is eventually savored from wrists, this is merely the desire made visible in a way that would appeal to a niche audience. So even though Jess Franco borrowed the velvety sunsets and decadent air from this for Vampyros Lesbos, this operates deeper. It matters for example that she seduces the man into a new obsession with violence, the destructive flipside of eros. It further pries the woman apart from him.

Gradually what was a matter of taking pleasure from flesh is spun into something else entirely; again involving flesh but now literally draining from his.

It ends with a stunning sequence across countryside roads; a lot of the imagery recalls L'Herbier - who also inspired Resnais - but here more pertinently. The soul has been so withered away from inside, so consumed from the fever of passion, that mere sunlight sends it reeling. Of course we can explain away by falling back to our knowledge of vampire lore, but we'd be missing on the finer abstractions; how, for example, the femme fatale is magically cast into the circumstances that, as we know from our knowledge of this type of film, would precipitate her demise. Nothing else would do after all.

If we follow the set of reactions from what at first sight appears like an accident, it can be plainly seen how it all flows from her desire to control the narrative.

It's marvelous stuff just the same, the colors, the desolate aura. I just want to urge you to see as more than just an 'artsy vampire flick'. Save that for Jean Rollin.

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.

Delphine Seyrig is the best here. Though cinematography, direction, lighting are close to perfect, too.

A far way off the silly kind of lesbian vampire movies that we are usually presented. This one has class, develops - I think - at just the appropriate speed.

John Karlen and Danielle Quimet spoil the whole lot. Without them, it could have developed into a great piece of art. Both are wooden, uninspiring and seemingly uninspired. Therefore, Countess Bathory has a very easy game at getting the upper hand. I for one would have wished far better actors for a serious quarrel to develop instead of Karlen and Quimet just hanging around, seemingly just waiting for the end of the movie and cashing in.

Andrea Rau, on the other hand, is convincing as well in her role as secretary-cum-lover on the way out.

The movie is plastered with minor well done and funny tricks. The one I like best is the silhouette of the Countess folding out on the beach to protect her new acquaintance. Another one is 'mother'. For a moment I thought that 'mother' came from the exact same.'bank of the river' that the Countess comes from. The bumbling retired police officer is well put into his place, just as the concierge.

If you have the chance, go and watch this one. It doesn't reach up to Polanski, but is easily second in the category of treating this subject in more modern times.

Delphine Seyrig plays the Countess Erzsebet Bathory(a real historical figure who murdered hundreds of young women in her quest for immortality).In the film,Bathory and her young female companion (Andrea Rau)cross paths with a young couple,Valerie and Stefan who are honeymooning during the off-season in Europe.At first the couple seem fairly normal, but things quickly sour,as the woman is shown to be emotionally unstable and the man is very violent and turned on by death.Their relationship is also undermined by homosexuality on both sides.There are intimations that Stefan is in thrall to an older man back in England and Valerie soon falls under the spell of the ageless and beautiful Countess Bathory."Daughters of Darkness" is a mesmerizing and hypnotic masterpiece of lesbian vampire film.The use of color is extremely stylish,the mood is fantastic and the atmosphere is chilling and sexually tense.The visual beauty of this film is simply phenomenal!

From an '70's flick involving female characters you would of course expect an exploitation flick, with cheap scares and gore and a bunch of lesbian vampires in some tame sex sequences. "Les lèvres rouges" is being way more classy than that. It's an almost artistically told movie, with a slow pace and not so much horror or gore as you would expect from a genre movie.

It's a movie that creates a good mood and atmosphere. It's being mysterious with its story and characters, which turns the movie also often in a more sensual one. Yes it's a real vampire movie but the movie manages to be one without featuring all of the usual clichés. It's an original movie, made in European movie style.

The style of the movie overall reminds of a French movie, though the director was Belgian. The movie was still a French, Belgian and German co-production and also features cast and crew members as well, originating from those countries. The movie itself is being set mostly in Belgium. Not really that movies around that are set in Belgium, even though it has some of the same qualities as France in it.

The pace of the movie is not always being pleasant though. Sometimes the movie just feels a bit overlong with some of its sequences but there also is a shorter version of the movie around that has cut some of its sequences down in running time. Perhaps that version of the movie works out better but I haven't seen that one.

Even though it has an international cast, the language that gets spoken in this movie is still English. It means that the movie has some obvious accents in it but nevertheless this does not go at the expenses of the actors their performances really. Especially Delphine Seyrig was really great in her role.

A great, different, more European take on the vampire genre.

7/10

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Technically not a vampire movie, DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS is really a blood drinkers' movie. But the acting is superb, the cinematography is so careful and precious, and the whole movie is so beautiful that the deceiving "vampire" theme won't stop you from loving it. Many people believe that Hammer's female vampires are the most beautiful in the business. Delphine Seyrig and her supporting actresses prove those people wrong.

This film reminds me of the equally classic MARY, MARY BLOODY MARY, another movie about vampires that aren't really vampires. The legendary Elisabeth Bathory was not a vampire, she simply drank and bathed in blood to remain eternally young. Vampires drink blood (and don't bath in it) to survive, so the women in this movie aren't vampires.

The sensuality of this film drips off the screen, it so strong and thick. While not full of sex scenes, the erotic overtones of lesbianism and sexual tension between the competing Elisabeth and Stefan feels so real. Even the presence of blood is done so tastefully it seems perversely sexy. No matter how you hate the sight of blood, in this movie, it doesn't turn you off, it turns you on...literally! Highly recommended, do not miss this movie!

Vampire stories are always erotic. The dashing count spies a virginal young woman and sets out to make her his partner. Eroticism is taken to a new level with the vampiress Countess Bathory, played by Delphine Seyrig (The Day of the Jackal, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie). The sophistication of the vampire is maintained, and the seduction of the target is slow and methodical.

The target of the Countess' affections is Valerie, played by Danielle Ouimet, who has a soft-core past in Quebec. She certainly shows us her considerable talents in this film, and is a beauty to behold. She ends up in a hotel out of season as her new husband is afraid to face his mother after marrying her because of her lower caste. The eyes of the Countess are upon her immediately, and with the assistance of her servant/partner Ilona, played by European Playmate Andrea Rau, who definitely gives us everything one could wish for in a performance.

There is so little vampire lore in this film that when one sees it, it is somewhat of a shock. It is mainly an erotic thriller, and the ending suggests that the story is not over. One can only hope!

A troubled newly wed couple on their way to meet his mother are forced to stay in an off-season hotel, where a mysterious woman traps them in her malevolent web.

Interesting start to this, with lots of movement as we discover the flawed nature of the marriage. Great performance from the actress playing Barthory, who has real presence on screen and does great close-ups. But the hammy performance of the concierge sets off the alram bells, and sure enough the story stutters and starts and loses its pace even as the ridiculous killings are ticked off. This actually had the potential for a psychological thriller, but they decided to just give it a lick of the supernatural instead. And what's with the mother? Weird but random.

Lots of praise for the eroticism, but it fell flat for me. There are some good two-shots of faces closing together, but it really doesn't take its time and is a bit prudish with the wife.

The lighting of the hotel foyer was too bright and flat, but otherwise it looked good. And the music was interesting.

Overall, a misconceived story that doesn't really pack a mythology, but it looks good and covers up some of the weakness through the central performance.

I'll admit to not being the biggest vampire movie fan, but Daughters of Darkness just hit all the right spots for me. For starters, you have Delphine Seyrig at the lead and she is, without a doubt, the single sexiest vampire ever put on film. She plays against all the tropes and depicts her Countess Bathory as more of a pampered, spoiled princess than anything else. With her deep, alluring voice, you never have any doubt that she could convince anyone to do anything she ever wanted.

Daughters of Darkness also straddles an interesting and exciting line between arthouse respectability and grindhouse exploitation. It's a great mix.

Some of the other performers can't help but dim in the shadow of Seyrig, but most everyone does a decent job. The music score is lovely and haunting and the locations are incredibly moody.

If you're into smart, slow burn horror flicks, Daughters of Darkness might just become one of your favorites.

A newlywed couple take up residence in a classy European hotel, where they encounter the Countess Bathory, who may or may not be the same Countess Bathory who once killed young girls in order to bathe in their blood. Infidelity and tragedy follow, with death being not too far behind.

One doesn't often hear about the Belgian horror scene, or much in the way of European horror outside of England or Italy (although Spain, France and a few others are starting to gain steam). Belgian director Harry Kümel presents us with "Daughters of Darkness", his best-known film in America, and a decent one at that.

The film doesn't stand out as memorable, nor does it break from the formulas of many other films of its time. But it is also rather watchable, which is more than can be said for other movies... too many old horror films are left in the dustbin and with good reason. "Daughters of Darkness" is saved from there. Surely not one of the best vampire films (if this can be called a vampire film), and not as "erotic" as made out to be... but still a piece of history.

Okay, so this review isn't getting you pumped to run out and buy the movie. You may not even be getting the itch to rent it. That's a fair response. And a just one. The film is, as I say, nothing all that special. If you are a serious horror fan, you're going to run into this eventually. Otherwise, you won't. And I wouldn't say you're missing something if you don't ever see it. Fine, I give up. It's just bland... don't bother.

A thoroughly pointless film; the pretentious, pseudo-artsy direction doesn't match the kinky, trashy material. You can't make an "art" film simply by presenting a series of carefully designed pictures; you must have something meaningful to say. And you just as sure can't make a horror film simply by dealing thematically with vampires; you also need some scares (the movie's one potentially scary scene - in a shower - is badly edited). I'm sure the lesbian overtones had seemed daring back in 1971, but today they can't make the film worth your effort. (**)