Review: Daughters of Darkness (1971)

Directed by: Harry Kümel
Starring: Delphine Seyrig, Danielle Ouimet, John Karlen
Written by: Harry Kümel, J.J. Amiel, Pierre Drouot
Music by: François de Roubaix
Country: Belgium, France
Available on: 4K/Blu-ray/DVD (Blue Underground)
IMDb

This Belgian vampire tale is a genre pioneer in its exploration of queer sexuality and repression. Daughters of Darkness focuses on newlywed couple Stefan and Valerie, who met mere days before their honeymoon. They’re staying at a lush though largely unoccupied hotel — the only other guests are one Countess Elizabeth Bathory (related to the famous blood-bather) and her companion, Ilona. Stefan is evasive when Valerie asks about meeting his mother, and of course there is a reason: his “mother” is an actually an older male lover. Stefan’s repressed homosexuality results in vicious bouts of sadomasochism, of which Valerie is often the victim. Bathory and Ilona are quick to sense the couple’s fragile marriage and work to drive wedges; Bathory in particular preys on Valerie and her need for escape and true companionship. This film is beautifully directed, with an elegantly unfurling mystique driven by Delphine Seyrig’s quiet menace and manipulation. The score, like the film, is smoky, sensual, and dark but never overly so. Like other sexually progressive horror films of the ‘70s, Daughters is coy with both its gay and lesbian leanings and its vampirism, and while there’s no mistaking the presence of either, Kümel’s restraint dampens the aura of danger. Bathory, though at times domineering and poisonous, also seems lonely and somewhat powerless. She’s obviously grooming a protege, but it is unclear to what end, and Valerie is never shown to particularly “take” to newfound liberty from heteroppression and daylight until one of the final scenes, which results in Bathory’s sudden and unceremonious demise. Bathory and Valerie’s relationship — between a dom unable to truly exert her will and a sub too passionless to engage it — is the crux of why I couldn’t fully embrace the movie. Though Daughters of Darkness is gorgeously tenebrous to behold, with a sensual, enveloping agita, it’s ultimately too discreet for its own good.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10