good back-story, and good acting

A Major Disappointment

A Brilliant Conflict

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

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.

A mile wide and an inch deep. Typical of the many "soft sleaze" films cranked out by the hundreds for a couple of decades in Europe. Some disrobing of the cast just for the sake of having skin in the film. Lip-service is given to the Elizabeth Bathory legend but they could have substituted any old legend because no depth is explored here in any way.Fine cinematography, great fashions and a faux expensive look are achieved. Good winter seacoast atmospherics but to what end? No substance is to be found here- Delphine Serig looks attractive in an expensive, shallow Euro-aristocrat sort of way. Can she act? I dunno- that's really not why she was hired here. Her purpose is to appear attractive, Euro-aristocratic and shallow. In other words, pretty much just superficial.The leading man is indistinguishable from all the other hundreds of mediocre Euro film guys of the era. I don't know his name- does it really matter? Danielle Ouimet is the only cast member who manages to impart any humanity onto the screen during these proceedings- I would say that she shows promise as an actress, although its hard to tell because not much acting is required here by anyone. I would watch more of her films if I ever happen to run across them.If you like to use up hours of your time viewing shallow European pretty pictures this film is OK for you. But it is.... a mile wide and an inch deep.

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.

Daughters of Darkness is often quoted as a horror movie, Gothic/vampire tale, actually is far more than that. It focuses on other aspects of human condition behind the theme and the plot, Delphine Seyrig proves when she is anything but scary, indeed a mirror of a society, which are developed through a purely French cinema of the 70 decade in the form of film making, enjoying performances from a handful of actors in a superb camera work and a a no less magnificent soundtrack, creating an atmosphere very own, much like the scenes chosen and the acting itself.You can see this film as a horror movie entertainment fleeting, but in this case do not expect a creepy experience, or watch the movie expecting nothing and feel that the film does not aim high flights, but a stunning purity.