Synopsis
These are the Daughters of Darkness… They are waiting for you – They thrive on blood!
Ostend, Belgium. In a decadent seaside hotel, Stefan and Valerie, a newlywed couple, meet the mysterious Countess Báthory and Ilona, her secretary.
Ostend, Belgium. In a decadent seaside hotel, Stefan and Valerie, a newlywed couple, meet the mysterious Countess Báthory and Ilona, her secretary.
Le Rouge aux lèvres, Hijas de la oscuridad, Vörös ajkak, Solo für einen Vampir, Kırmızı dudaklar, Criaturas de la noche, 闇の乙女, The Promise of Red Lips, Blood on the Lips, The Redness of the Lips, 赤い唇, Blut an den Lippen, La vestale di Satana, El rojo en los labios, 暗夜之女, Τα Κόκκινα Χείλη του Σατανά, Дочери тьмы, Дъщери на тъмнината, Dorst naar bloed, Escravas do Desejo, Dzieci nocy, 어둠의 딸들
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.
I finished this movie three hours ago and have been trying to think of a review that isn’t just “yes vampire mommy” but I simply have to throw in the towel
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…
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…
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.
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.
husbands these days are so unsupportive of their wives' interests (lesbian sex and murder)🙄
Absolutely, utterly obsessed with this movie that is mostly just four people faffing about in an empty hotel.
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.