Let's be realistic.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

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.

The 1970's were the peak for the lesbian-vampire films. They varied from being more mainstream titles such as Hammer's "Carmilla" adaptation "The Vampire Lovers", to more deliberately artsy, trippy works such as Jess Franco's aptly named "Vampyros Lesbos" as well as basically every Jean Rollin film, such as "Shiver of the Vampires" and "Fascination". They all seemed to have been inspired, one way or the other, by Roger Vadim's exceptional "Blood and Roses", but none more so than "Daughters of Darkness", which is most definitely a cut above your regular Eurotica. But whereas "Blood and Roses" is a lonely, delicate film, "Daughters of Darkness" is a bolder, darker and disturbing slice of the genre. I have a slight preference for "Blood..." if only for it's one of the few films that can make me cry, but that doesn't diminish the impact of "Daughters..." at all - in fact, it may even be the better of the two. As usual for an Eurohorror, this is a visually breathtaking work of art. Harry Kumel's mise-en-scene is simply phenomenal, with almost every shot being a knockout of imagery and aesthetic delight. The first two colorful death scenes are bound to make Dario Argento envious. From the lush but eerily deserted hotel interiors to the breathtaking shots of the Belgium twilight, accompanied by François De Roubaix's minimalistic but effective score, this is a visual and aural feast. Still, so far it doesn't diverge much from the norm. What makes it stand above the titles mentioned above, is that "Daughters of Darkness" is a very well written film with extremely developed characters - a rarity for the genre. Set in a vacant hotel whose sole guests are two young, healthy and happy newlyweds and a mysterious Countess and her assistant. Judging by her name alone - Elizabeth Bathory - it's not surprise that the mysterious aristocrat is a vampire, and the one responsible for a series of murders in the area. She sees the couple as both possible lovers as well as prey. The couple itself soon turn out not to be what they initially seemed, as the husband in particular seems to have more than his share of skeletons in the closet. The Countess begins to realize this and soon, she begins a terrifying mind-game with the two, draining them first out of their sanity and moral values, and then out of their blood. Kumel doesn't seem too interested in fangs and vampire attacks, but rather in creating a claustrophobic, decadent atmosphere of psychosexual madness, that grows tighter and tighter as the story progresses, to the point of becoming almost unbearable, but yet, you just can't take your eyes off the screen. The amazing use of editing, quite ahead of it's time, helps in creating this bewildering, grueling atmosphere of a fever dream, mostly through rough and rapid cuts, or intercuts between different scenes. Another extra point is due to Delphine Seyrig's timeless portrayal of Elizabeth Bathory. Sporting the looks of a once glamorous but now decadent 1930's actress, she is seductive and beautiful, but yet something not quite right with her. Opting for a relatively low-key performance, she relies on her strong screen persona, with her husky voice and enticing body language that lures the characters as well as the audience into her dark, twisted world. Her casting is all the more ideal considering the film's constant references to Alain Resnais' "Last Year in Marinebad", of which she was the star. Danielle Ouimet and John Karlen, while not on the same league as Seyrig, but are quite good. Karlen is particularly convincing as another tortured soul who, like Bathory, possesses a vampire-like fascination with violence, and is driven by madness by his own unwholesome backgrounds. Andrea Rau as the Countess' lover Illona doesn't have to do much other than look pretty, but she gives a hysterical and haunting, if brief, showcase during her particularly nasty bathroom death scene - possibly the film's saddest and most cringe-inducing set piece. The film's two more noticeable flaws are the somewhat silly final scene and the police officer character, which detracts from the story. The latter's death is a somewhat humorous moment that feels out of place with what had been seen before. These flaws, however, are minor and easy to ignore, specially since you consider it's degree of excellency in almost every other level. Overall, this is a fascinating, unique lesbian vampire film that definitely ranks among the very best of it's kind. It may not be for everyone, but those looking for a more psychological, emotionally raw take on this often used theme, you simply can't go wrong with "Daughters of Darkness".

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.

Erotic Euro-horror of the 1970s, which kind of began with a fascination for lesbian vampires parading around mixing nudity and violence in fixating web. Going a long way to make that happen, depended on what actresses you could get to allure an audience. The stylishly classy, but voluptuously psychosexual art horror "Daughters of Darkness" wins out on all counts, despite some convoluted plot mechanics. Quite unconventional, as it's a slow-burn Gothic story driven by its concentration on exploring characters (richly melancholy, tragic and sadistic if still having an ambiguity to it all) and arranging edgy, if almost fairytale-like atmospherics. There's something slightly unsettling about its tone, but while explicit it's done in a low-key manner. An unforgettable Delphine Seyrig is beautifully mesmerizing as the infamous "Scarlet Countess … Bathory" --- who bathed herself in the blood of 300 virgins for eternal youth. It's hard to take your eyes off Seyrig. An enticing Andre Rau with her striking facials (large eyes) and bob haircut plays the countess's young companion. These two characters come across a newlywed couple (John Karlen and Danielle Ouimet) staying at the same empty seaside hotel during the dead season. The countess soon becomes fascinated with the couple, especially with the wife. Director Harry Kumel crafts out an exquisitely surreal looking nightmare, where the detailed art direction (the eerily grand hotel and hauntingly isolated locations) is just as important as the story and performances. Visually captivating (like the powerful positional work in the climax), Eduard Van Der Enden's spaciously offbeat camera-work is distinctly framed in a sense if your peering in or sensually intruding while the unhinged music score is seductively expressive.