Daughters of Darkness DVD coverLent to me by Horrorphile Bryn, Daughters of Darkness is a great example of the short lived fad in lesbian vampire movies in the 60s and 70s.
Personally, I ask, why did we stop making lesbian vampire movies? Aren’t they the best kind?
The term ‘lesbian vampire’ for a genre, seems trashy and vulgar, but Daughters of Darkness is anything but even though the plot is ludicrous and the dubbing awful, it’s still quality filmmaking, with restrained pace and interesting character moments on screen.
In fact, by today’s standards, there’s nothing shocking or exploitative about this film at all. A little blood, very few ghoulish scenes, and no real sex scenes. I think people would be more likely to be offended at the American Pie series of films.
What is breathtaking to watch, however, is the long drawn out exposition. We know, because we read the back of the DVD case, that there are vampires, The vampires even reveal themselves to the viewer early in the film, and the characters already suspect something odd.
We don’t see vampires flying, turning into bats, sucking blood like cliched eroticism. In fact, they seem oddly mortal and fallible in Daughters of Darkness, which is a refreshing change from modern horror movies. And instead of leaping on their victims, the head vampiress seduces the young woman that she wants turning her against her man.
Though slow moving, Daughters of Darkness is an entertaining reminder of horror in the early 70s. We’ve all become desensitized to the idea of gentle macabre, but the atmosphere and the eroticism of lesbian vampires is enough to keep this film charged up with enough energy to hold our interest.
I say: See this film if you like horror, the 70s, lesbians or vampires. Ideally, all four.
See it for: Strangely enough, the vampires aren’t the most sadistic characters in this film…
To watch more movies like Daughters of Darkness (1971) hurawatch
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