Popular reviews

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  Review by single white femalien ★★★★ 4

  i'll never be a lesbian vampire and i am sad

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  Review by Ian West ★★★★★ 5

  Arthouse meets Grindhouse. 

  Daughters of Darkness transcends its vampire genre trappings (they’re in the movie, just not at the forefront) for a more psychological/psychosexual approach—plunging us headfirst into a hyper-stylized gothic fever dream equal parts haunting and mesmerizing.

  Wonderful direction, supreme production design, an extremely tense score from François de Roubaix, lush cinematography, atmosphere of the highest order, and desire fueled performances (Delphine Seyrig channeling Marlene Dietrich and Andrea Rau are magnificent) elevate this erotic esoteric vamp nightmare to god level status for me. Can’t really find the right words to describe my appreciation for movies that make me feel like I’m trapped in some mythical limbo, but this is one of those movies. 

  
  Perhaps my favorite vampire film.

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  Review by 1313: Tony the Terror😼🏳️‍🌈 ★★★★★ 17

  So I went to the ER at the beginning of the week with a really fast heartbeat that wouldn’t come down and the next thing I know I was in the hospital until today because they were trying to figure out what was causing it. Turns out it’s from severe anemia due to internal blood loss caused by esophagitis and that is due to acid reflux that is worse than I ever realized (I mean what would you compare it to right?) and there were a lot of tests and procedures I had to go through to get to that point and everything’s under control now, but through it all I couldn’t take my OCD medication because they were trying…

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  Review by nathaxnne [hiatus] ★★★★★ 16

  all day long i dream about laying my head down upon delphine seyrig's elegantly begowned lap as she combs my hair with her long perfectly manicured nails cooing to me about blood and evisceration as i dreamily sigh my doomed sigh desirous of nothing but death staring blankly out into the surging and receding world so just like now but way better because delphine seyrig in the most fabulous disco gowns ever made listen i am not as young and pretty as i once was and my body is failing in this my crepusculatory fade i have no retirement plan nothing works right i can offer u no administrative skills but i know how to drive, can grudgingly operate in…

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  Review by cuckoochanel ★★★★ 19

  CRITERION CHALLENGE 2021: 43. From the ‘Queersighted: Queer Fear’ series

  Progress: 12/52

  Belgian director Harry Kümel’s sinister erotic horror, Daughters of Darkness, is a moody take on the bloody Erzsébet Báthory legend reimagined as a queer vampire film—whose identity nebulously hovers somewhere between knowing genre homage, grindhouse sexploitation and European arthouse cinema.

  Budgetary constraints, unresolved storylines, tonal disparities, and uneven performances from the cast’s less-skilled actors hinder this from being a true triumph, but that cannot detract from the film’s crowning jewel—Delphine Seyrig in a distinguished turn as the alluring seductress, Countess Elizabeth Báthory. Literally a breathtaking personification of an immortal siren vampire queen, Kümel intentionally styled Seyrig’s character after sultry classical Hollywood icon Marlene Dietrich—her thin, gracefully arched brows,…

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  Review by SilentDawn ★★★★ 2

  75

  On the edge of an abyss. Hypnotic Euro horror, with the hotel setting being a ghostly landmark of the divide between life and death. Pacing so perfect, all you can do is luxuriate in the images.

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★★

  On a purely instinctive level I've never loved this as much as maybe I should; it's a little too straightforward, lacking the gauzy porn vibe of Franco's masterpiece VAMPYROS LESBOS or the wet-dream dread of Rollin. But as an object in and of itself it's still perfectly, quintessentially Eurocore stylish, a gorgeous, even romantic fantasy that leaves you in deep longing to stay in a world where you're torn between a lesbian vampiress who wants to bathe in your blood even while she gives you marriage advice and the domineering new husband who might want to kill you even more than he wants to fuck you. Alchemy.

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  Review by 1313: Tony the Terror😼🏳️‍🌈 ★★★★½ 9

  I watched this as part of the Joe Bob Briggs Last Drive In and how how how have I never seen this beautiful movie before?? It’s about vampires, it’s 70’s, it’s got a great gothic atmosphere, it’s surreal, it’s basically everything I love in a movie from this time period so thank you Joe Bob for making me watch this amazingness.

  It’s probably a 5 star movie, but I passed out for a bit during the 4th movie and stayed that way until after this started so I’ll hold off on that rating until I’ve seen it in its entirety without the breaks for JBB which of course I’m love love loving.

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  Review by Richard Chandler ★★★½ 2

  CRITERION CHALLENGE 2021: 43. From the 'Queersighted: Queer Fear' series

  Progress: 12/52

  "I don't know about my friends here, but I find your conversation almost distasteful."

  Despite the acknowledged cult status of vampire erotica Daughters of Darkness, I had never heard of Belgian director Harry Kümel. After some halfhearted internet sleuthing, I can report relatively little: is still alive, has taught film in various capacities for over fifty years, once directed Orson Welles. Newlyweds Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie Chilton (Danielle Ouimet) register at an ornate Belgian hotel with the ostensible purpose of later sailing to England to meet Stefan's mother, who remains unaware of their nuptials. After they miss the ferry the next day, Valerie soon realizes she'll be…

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  Review by Cormac 👑 ★★★★

  I have a new kink, and that kink is psycho-sexual, vampiric Euro-horror. Jeanne Dielman as an immortal, blood-sucking seductress? Don’t mind if I do. Invoking the very best of Dietrich? Sign me right up. Leaving you gasping for air in soft-focus and chiffon? I’m blushing just thinking about it.

  It’s cheap trash. But it’s the good kind of cheap trash, you know? Horny vampire flicks FTW.

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  Review by Disgustipated ★★★★★ 6

  When Delphine Seyrig appeared in that two-tone silver dress, outlining her figure as though each bedazzling sequin were pasted directly onto her skin, she was incredibly stunning. The brilliance of her presence could not be contained by the camera, sequins flared like supernovae across the lens, and I could not look at her for too long in the same way that one cannot stare too long at the sun. Delphine Seyrig is the purring evil at the centre of this film, and when combined with the stunning cinematography this really is a masterpiece of euro-horror. I am glad I have finally been able to catch up with it.

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  Review by Bob McCully ★★★★ 5

  Early 70's vampiric odyssey, loose and lush with a wild tone you might find yourself fidgeting with. I know I did. Still left bitemarks though, thanks.

  A newly married couple, Stefan and Valerie, check into a swanky hotel just on the seaside of Belgium. They're the sole patrons residing there until two mysterious women show up to also take lodgings, Countess Bathory and her assistant Ilona.
  They've got eyes on Stefan and Valerie - and not just because they're staying in their favourite suite. Macabre twists ensue.

  The style is easily the main takeaway, all Spooky Arthouse Elegance with a beautiful setting, glamorous clothing, a classy gothic score, and a slight dreaminess that lingers along the narrative and elevates the…