A celebrated Euro-horror that leans more into the Euro than the horror, Daughters Of Darkness is a film best explored through the lens of people much more knowledgeable and passionate about it than myself (e.g. check out anything that Kat Ellinger has to say about it). I've always found enough here to enjoy, but it's a very slight and ethereal film, one that feels almost as much about the time it was made as about the characters at the heart of it.
John Karlen and Danielle Ouimet are newlyweds Stefan and Valerie. They're supposed to be heading to meet Stefan's mother, but Stefan is actually trying to delay that encounter. Instead, the pair end up checking in to a hotel in Belgium, where they are soon also joined by a countess (Elizabeth, played by Delphine Seyrig) and her "assistant" (Ilona, played by Andrea Rau). The two couples start to interact in ways that are both exciting and dangerous, observed by an anxious hotel clerk (Paul Esser).
Presented in a number of sequences that feel like assembled painterly compositions, Daughters Of Darkness is a vampire film, but it's also much more concerned with looking at unbalanced relationship dynamics, sexual freedom, and self-exploration than fangs and bloodshed. You do get some interesting twists on classic vampire tropes (especially in one shower scene that ends badly for someone), but those expecting something traditional may be disappointed. This sits almost equidistant from both the Hammer horrors of this time and the toothy eroticism of Jean Rollin.
Director Harry Kümel, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Pierre Drouot, Jean Ferry, and one or two others assisting, doesn't have the biggest filmography, but this film alone has been enough to maintain his reputation for over fifty years now. It's mysterious without being too impenetrable, slow-paced without being boring, and gorgeous without being all style over substance. While I have yet to full embrace it as some others do, it's something I find myself drawn back to once every few years, the film itself seeming to emulate the powerful mesmerism and allure of Elizabeth.
For as well as Kümel does, (and it's also worth praising cinematographer Eduard van der Enden, as well as everyone involved in the set dressing, makeup, and costume departments, at the very least) he has a lot to be grateful for when it comes to the casting. Seyrig and Rau are an iconic duo, and both are captivating in very different ways. It's easy to see why the young newlyweds are drawn to them. It's also easy to see how Stefan and Valeria can be so easily exploited and manipulated. Karlen and Ouimet have the lesser roles, but both are fine with what they're asked to do, and that works out well when Ouimet appears to remain passive as she finds herself heading to a very important crunch point in her relationships, with others around her and with herself. Esser is enjoyable in his small role, Georges Jamin is a retired policeman who may spell trouble, and the wonderfully out-of-time hotel itself is another important character.
I can only apologise to others who will view my opinion of this as something approaching blasphemy, but I am simply putting this review and rating here as a starting point. This won't be the last time that I view this film, and future viewings will also be accompanied by deeper explorations that should only serve to enrich the experience for me. And then, one day, I may well see this as the absolute classic that others see.
7/10
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