Daughters of Darkness

Hammer Studios' output was nothing if not varied with a heavy focus on horror, particularly period horror. Although they will forever be associated with the various 'monsters' (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy), they also produced a series of vampire movies which generally followed the Karnstein legend and is now known as the Karnstein trilogy (The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire and Twins of Evil). There are also other female vampire movies including Countess Dracula (1970) and this, Daughters of Darkness (Les lèvres rouges), which are inspired by the 16th century Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who is supposed to have murdered hundreds of virgins and bathed in their blood to maintain her youth and beauty.

Rather than being one of the overtly sexualised Hammer films, this Belgian offering by director Harry Kümel (probably best known for the bizarre fantasy Mapertuis, 1972) and has a far more subtle take on lesbianism, seduction and sex.

The film begins by following a couple of newlyweds, Stefan and Valerie, travelling from Switzerland to Belgium as a stopover point before travelling on to England to meet Stefan's mother, someone who he is extremely reluctant to inform, for reasons that become all too clear later on. Checking into a huge hotel in Ostend which is entirely deserted apart from the hotel clerk, they book into the Royal Suite for an overnight stay but, when a striking older women and her younger female companion check-in and also ask for the Royal Suite, settling on the room next door, Stefan and Valerie are so intrigued by their presence that they decide to stay on a little longer.

The hotel head clerk remembers the woman, Countess Bathory, because she stayed there for two years earlier and hasn't aged a day in the intervening period. The headlines in the Belgian newspapers are full of tales of murder across Europe in which young women have had their throats slit and been drained of blood.


Rather than dwelling on the bloody murders, the film is a psychological horror which concentrates on the magnetic appeal of the enigmatic Countess of varying degrees to which Stefan and Valerie fall under her spell. The only real actor of note is the great French actress Delphine Seyrig, who is probably best known for her performance in Last Year at Marienbad and seems to have been born to play aristocrats. Most Hammer films were entirely British productions this is more of a European production, helmed by Belgian director Harry Kümel who co-wrote the screenplay with another Belgian, Pierre Drouot, and a Frenchman, Jean Ferry. Comparisons with the Hammer output are inevitable given the date (1971, the same year as Lust for a Vampire was released) and the period setting which, although this is set in contemporary Ostend, feels as if it was 100 years before then.

Predominately set in one location (the hotel), the film is clearly designed to concentrate on the erotic nature of Countess Bathory and how she targets Stefan and Valerie, subtly seducing them -- especially Valerie -- much to the chagrin of her female companion, Ilona. Although there isn't a great deal of overt horror and bloodshed in Daughters of Darkness, there is one scene in which two of the women pounce on the set the tourists of one of the other characters -- I won't say who as that would be a massive spoiler! When compared to films like the Karnstein trilogy and Countess Dracula, this is surprisingly light on nudity and Sapphic love scenes but that is perhaps more to do with the director and star as Delphine Seyrig is hardly Ingrid Pitt!

Daughters of Darkness is an interesting addition to the similarly themed films from the Hammer canon as it shows the sheer variety of films that can be seen within a very narrow theme and even based on the same character. The film itself is a real slow burner and I found it was better on the second viewing as I appreciated the aesthetics, acting and characterisation a little more than the first time I watched the film. There are some interesting visual touches such as a fade to red when the film would normally have a fade to black.


The Disc

Extra Features
Slightly disappointingly, there are absolutely none on this vanilla disc and that was being the material somewhere for a retrospective or even people such as Kim Newman who would be more than willing to sit down and record a commentary.

The Picture
On a scale from 'terrible' to 'superb', this is somewhere in the middle with what is probably best described as a passable transfer. There is a fair bit of camera wobble, graining and softness but this is really to be expected from a moderately budgeted film from 1971 -- nearly 40 years ago -- which hasn't undergone any serious restoration or digital remastering.

The sets and costumes are all extremely good and it is interesting that fashions have changed in such a way that if someone were to dress in the same clothes as Stefan whereas during the film and has the same haircut, he would look absolutely ridiculous but if a woman did the same based on Ilona, she wouldn't look at all out of place. The colour scheme of black, white and red suits the tone and atmosphere perfectly.


The Sound
A perfectly good and reasonably clear Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono soundtrack which does a fine job with the dialogue which is, oddly for a European film from this era, not dubbed in post production so the cast all keep their accents from around continental Europe. It would seem slightly odd if they all had cut glass English accent so I think it's perhaps the best that there is no ADR or dubbing so the lips match the dialogue and you also have the differing accents adding to the sense of 'old Europe' and that this isn't a typical Hammer film.

There is a particularly effective score which works because of its subtlety, complementing the colour scheme extremely well and really emphasising the atmosphere of the huge, near empty hotel and the web of seduction spun by the aged Countess.


Final Thoughts
If you watch this expecting something like Countess Dracula, The Vampire Lovers or Lust for a Vampire then you will be sorely disappointed as there isn't any of the sheer amount of flesh on show or quantity of blood that are in the Hammer films with this relying more on erotic tension and psychological horror than the more visceral kind. It is still an extremely welcome release despite the lack of extra features and will be a title that will be of great interest to those who know and love the Hammer films from this era.