Daughters of Darkness

**** ½ / *****

Immediately, a couple, celebrating marriage on board a train, tinted by blue light (John Karlen and the luscious blond stunner, Danielle Ouimet) as they make love, gets it on and director Harry Kümel sets us up to realize that he will take this lurid European tale and wrap it in stylish elegance. This won’t necessarily be everyone’s cup of tea, obviously, but a beautiful couple enwrapped in night blue is the director’s way of letting us know right out of the chute that he will not be afraid to go the erotica route.

The train must stop when there’s a derailment, so Karlen and Ouimet must miss their boat to England and stay at this luxurious grand hotel in Belgium. The marriage was quick and whirlwind. It is no surprise that Karlen would be smitten with Ouimet. She is a beauty. But Karlen’s mom is “aristocratic” so she might not be fond of the non-wealthy Ouimet. Regardless, the couple seems joyous in their swift union. There are two dignified, exquisite, and very chic vampires who might alter their present future courses.

Ostend is the location that the film is set, where lives will forever change…not just the human couple but for the vampires, as well.

Harry Kümel has some lovely women to decorate in the finest fashions. Ouimet has that European fashion model look that is made for the camera’s lovin’. Delphine Seyrig is a reminder of the cultured, refined opulence of the past. Seyrig’s “companion” is the seductive Andrea Rau. Rau is a lure for Seyrig. Rau brings them to Seyrig and her allure is striking and effective.

Seyrig could be considered flashy, with a finesse and theatricality the part might require (it is Countess Bathory, after all, so a little attention called to herself seems appropriate as does this quality where eyes follow her around and the inability to avoid her presence seems understandable). She uses her arms and hands, there's a showy nature to her movements, and when she speaks it has a flair that mirrors her behavior.

The director shoots this night seduction of Karlen thanks to Seyrig sending Rau to bed him with effective use of blue light and a camera that does a slow tour of Rau’s naked body…and what a body it is.

“Look how perfect they are.”

“Did you see her skin? Her lips?”

In the hotel, Bathory receives a shocked reaction from the proprietor who remembers someone who looked exactly like her when he was just a bellhop as a young man. His absolute dismay and stunned response kind of excites Bathory (I enjoy how Seyrig expresses little while her eyes are able to elicit the pleasure of maintaining her beauty despite being so old thanks to her drinking from the blood of beautiful youth and getting a reaction of such magnitude), and when she realizes a couple are in the Royal Suite she asks for, the opportunity to seize upon their youth arises.

In the town’s newspaper, Ouimet reads about the third young woman found dead with her throat cut. We know that Bathory’s arrival and the murders tie together obviously. A fourth is later discovered, with Karlen and Ouimet becoming intrigued by the whole deal. They are touring the town nearby and run across the activity of the body’s discovery and removal from the building where the victim was found. Seyrig and Rea have been busy. Plenty of young blood to supply vampires.

The film doesn’t ever portray Bathory (or her “bride”) as the traditional vampire. No fangs or a throat pierced by teeth. There’s a cut used on the throat and the blood is drank until the victim is drained dry. That much remains pretty close to the vampirism we horror fans are accustomed to. I like when the conventions of the vampire are played around with. I don’t mind old school since Dracula (1931) is my favorite vampire film, but I also like when imaginative filmmakers/writers add a little/take away some tradition. When the body is being carted off, Karlen is so intensely involved in seeing it that he brushes Ouimet to side with a swipe to the face. He’s presented as a deviant. The scene itself, with all the locals morbidly fascinated and fighting just to get a look at the body as it is moved to the ambulance. It is an obvious statement about our ghoulish interest in the dead or dying.

I have to be honest, though…I’ve seen enough arms hanging out from under blankets while bodies are gurneyed into ambulances and hospitals from watching slashers to last a lifetime.

Georges Jarmin fulfills the Van Helsing role as a retired cop who understands what Bathory is and confronts her when she among Rau, Ouimet, and Karlen in the Ostend. You can see Jarmin seeming to hang around like a nosy stalker, totally aware of Bathory’s responsibility for the murders plaguing Brugge. Paul Esser is the mesmerized and haunted hotel clerk assured that Bathory is the same woman he met 40 years previous.

One of the more memorable scenes would be when Bathory and Stefan speak of how the hundreds of dungeon-chained girls were tortured and bled because they had the “elixir of life”, the virgin youth. They get so worked-up by the ghoulish topic as Bathory gropes and fondles Stefan (Ouimet shows appall and horror while they seem overwhelmed with arousal!). This is a fascinating display of impassioned deviancy. It is almost as if Bathory has bewitched Stefan (but I think it is clear he didn’t need much of a nudge to the darkside).

There’s a little secret Karlen has been keeping from Ouimet that certainly explores his character. There’s a benefactor, presented as fey and feminine, with a hammock inside a floral environment, a phone brought to him by his very obedient butler (who even kneels and receives a pat on the head and wave to exit the premises!!!), that seems to be Karlen’s lover. Karlen has been a bit cautious and evasive when talking about “mother” and her “disapproval” before even meeing Ouimet. There’s a reason why. Karlen gets so angry and enraged, he viciously belt whips Ouimet, causing her to leave him.

With all the analysis and time spent on the characters, performances, and content, ultimately this is a movie, I think, about seduction. Rau wants to be free from her servitude, Seyrig desires Ouimet, Karlen seems to be the odd man out whose services aren’t that desired, and Ouimet does her best to resist but soon falls under Seyrig’s spell when circumstances arise that assist in the seduction. Rau is obviously a tool for Seyrig to get Karlen out of the way so Ouimet is free for “persuasive” temptation. Seyrig has powers of persuasion and eventually Ouimet is unable to shake her. When Rau perishes after Karlen gets a little frisky and rough with her (running water in the shower and a naked/wet Karlen trying to drag Rau into the bathtub are the beginnings of the traumatic event) in the bathroom, this proves to be just another opening for Seyrig to attain Ouimet and get rid of her “competition”. Seyrig had no idea that once she was able to secure Ouimet from Karlen and remove him out of their lives that total seduction and playful erotic touching would conclude in a car wreck, impalement on tree branch, and a burning body.

When it comes to movies about Elizabeth Bathory, Ingrid Pitt comes to mind. But Seyrig, besides Pitt, is who I instantly call to my thoughts when contemplating the best portrayals of the character. The mention of Bathory serves to remind me of how Seyrig interpreted the part and made it her own. She’s wonderfully fun to watch. It didn’t hurt that the film was beautifully shot and featured beautiful people. This is the very definition of eye candy.