Daughters of Darkness (1971)
Australian Premiere - 4K Restoration
“Lesbian vampires made frequent incursions in the early 1970's—in movies ranging from hardcore pornographic to dreamily aesthetic—as the Gothic horror movie took to flaunting its psychosexual subtexts. Daughters of Darkness leans flamboyantly toward the artistic end of the spectrum, with Delphine Seyrig sporting Marienbad-like costumes and the Belgian director conjuring up images of luxurious decadence replete with feathers, mirrors, and long, winding hotel corridors…If Fassbinder had made a vampire movie it might have looked something like this.” – Geoffrey O’Brien
Stefan Chilton is travelling with his new wife, Valerie, through Europe. The couple check into a grand hotel. Because it is winter, the hotel is empty aside from Stefan and Valerie. At nightfall, a mysterious Hungarian countess, Elizabeth Báthory (Delphine Seyrig), arrives accompanied by her "secretary", Ilona. Elizabeth takes the adjoining suite, and appears fixated on the young couple. In their suite, Valerie reads a local newspaper article about a series of child murders in Bruges, each a girl whose throat was slashed…
Long a cult classic, the restoration of Daughters of Darkness by the Royal Belgian Cinémathèque has brought back the film to all its luminous colour glory. Delphine Seyrig has never looked more ravishing as she effortlessly channels Marlene Dietrich via Josef von Sternberg at their greatest.
Introduced by Stefan Solomon at Ritz Cinemas and by Janice Loreck at Lido Cinemas.
Rating
M
Duration
107 min
Country
Belgium
Language
French (English Subtitles)
Cast
Delphine Seyrig, John Karlen, Andrea Rau, Danielle Ouimet
Director
Harry Kümel
