DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971) review

I’ve seen DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS four times now (three times on VHS), but I watched it on Blu last night and it was absolutely stunning. A weird, perverse tale of honeymooners that cross paths with Countess Bathory and her Familiar (both vampires), DAUGHTERS is filled with eroticism, lesbianism, and full-on kink. It’s also a full-on art-house flick, so the real beats are in the subtleties and allusions — there are no rules, there is no internal logic.

The aesthetics on Blu Ray just pop for this film — beautifully shot, the colors of the landscape, locations, and costumes are rich. And although I can see how a lot of people would be turned off by the subject matter and ethereal storyline, it is really interesting to put into a historical context, having an incredibly strong female (Bathory) dominate over her “pets” as well as the sadistic husband (a complete bastard).

And I have to say, the women in the film are absolutely gorgeous. Delphine Seyrig (Bathory) has this whole Marlene Dietrich vibe dressed in bold reds and whites, Andrea Rau (Bathory’s Familiar) is a goth girl dream and Danielle Ouimet (the honeymooning wife) is a natural beauty with straight long blonde hair and bedroom eyes. If you’re gonna make a lesbian vampire film, there are a lot worse choices to put in…