By Melissa Antoinette Garza
DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971) wastes no time jumping in on a passionate love scene between the two leads newlyweds Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie (Danielle Ouimet). They head to a hotel to celebrate their marriage, but all is not well. Stefan’s mother seems like a bitch. Valerie’s hasn’t met her mother-n-law and wants to make nice, but Stefan tells her that his mom’s opinion doesn’t mean anything. He says that despite not ever being introduced, his mom hates Valerie. She pleas with him to smooth things.
The hotel is empty until Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Delphine Seyrig) and her young secretary Ilona (Andrea Rau) drive up looking for something better. Elizabeth is divine! She’s a blonde bombshell who wears a black mesh veil, perfect thin eyebrows, bright red lipstick, and a clinging black coat with a fur collar.
She walks in and requests a specific suite. The hotel clerk , Pierre (Paul Esser) is sure that she is a woman who was there years before. Odder still is the woman had the same name. Bathory seems unimpressed by the coincidence and says that perhaps it was her mother. She then slips and calls the bellboy by his name.
The suite Elizabeth wanted was taken by the newlyweds. Pierre offers to move them, but Elizabeth says no. Instead, she remarks to Ilona how perfect the couple is. Later in the hotel room, Bathory is decked out looking like a 1930s glam girl with a frayed violet robe. Ilona wants to go to the couple immediately, but Elizabeth demands patience. She begins to talk about Valerie’s beauty making Ilona jealous. This pleases the Countess.
The next morning, Stefan chides Valerie as she struggles reading a newspaper in a foreign language.She is able to make out that three girls had been slaughtered. That’s enough for her to turn away from the story and Stefan to show interest in it.
They enjoy time on a gondola ride when they come across an ambulance at an apartment building. They wait to see what’s happening and are told by an old retired officer in a grand checkered fedora (Georges Jamin) that a girl was murdered and drained of her blood. Stefan tries to get a closer look and gets oddly violent and a bit distant from Veronica from the visual of the corpse.
On a bus ride back, Val tells Stefan that she could tell he enjoyed looking at the dead body. He says that she gets some joy out of talking about it. She tries to get a little action on the bus and caresses a scar on his neck. Her hand drifts lower, but he stops her when he notices the fashionable-hat wearing gentleman from earlier lurking a few seats away.
Ilona believing the couple has left decides to leave the Countess. The Countess isn’t worried knowing Ilona is making an empty threat. She’s proven right when Ilona learns the couple has remained and happily stays.
Val and Stefan are warned by Pierre that Elizabeth is a Hungarian Countess that doesn’t age. They laugh it off. Later, when the Countess is talking to the couple, Ilona walks in looking like a million dollars. She has a white collared black minidress, black tights, a bob hair-do and killer red lips. She makes eyes at Stefan who is more than willing to gaze right back. I can’t blame him. She’s gorgeous. The black, white, red mix on her is something to awe over.
While chatting away, the retired officer shows up and begins questioning the countess over the murders. He’s retired. Tell him to go to hell! I want to see The Countess, Ilona and Valerie to have some fun. Stefan is a jerk….a cute jerk, but a jerk… so he’s not included. I really don’t want the ex cop coming around asking stupid questions about some dead girls. How nosy! Yep, it’s official. I’m unsurprisingly #TeamCountessBathory. She’s wonderful!
Stefan admits to knowing the story of Elizabeth’s ancestor a Countess that lived 300 years ago and drained 800 virgins of their blood. He sits in a chair across from his wife as he describes the torture the Countess perpetrated on her victims. Elizabeth is turned on by the talk and glides behind him in a hot-as-hell fire-engine red dress with a v line separated by a black broach. She encourages him to go on talking about it while she rakes her hands over his chest and caresses his face. Poor Val is in shock and horror pleading for him to shut up, but Stefan and the Countess are too wrapped up to notice or care.It’s so naughty and wrong and wicked. I love this scene.
Valerie storms out and goes to her room and they let her go. It isn’t until Val screams that Stefan runs up. She tells him that someone was on the balcony peeping in at her. Stefan and the Countess investigate. Elizabeth figures out quickly it was Ilona who begs for forgiveness. The Countess keeps her secret.
Val’s had enough and asks for Stefan to take her with him to his mother’s. He reluctantly agrees and the two begin to make love. Stefan gets a bit too rough and Val stops him. The camera shifts to reveal voyeurs, the Countess and Ilona, enjoying the show.
Stefan calls his mother (Fons Rademakers). Mother is a peculiar gentleman who definitely brings out the worst in her son. After getting off the phone, Stefan goes bat-shit Ike Turner level crazy on Valerie. He whips her badly with the belt for so long that he falls asleep clutching it.
Val awakens with a dozen or so deep cuts. She does the smart thing and tries to sneak the fuck out. Get out and then get someone the break his ribs later.
The magnificent Countess sends Ilona in to Stefan. When he wakes, Ilona puts the moves on. He fell into it quickly with no resistance.
Elizabeth spends her time with Val. She stops Val from getting on a train and encourages her to stay. They have a short talk about BDSM and Val discusses her apprehension about it. The Countess puts on the charm and instructs Val to be nice to her. She kisses her hand and says that one day she will love her. When Val insults her, Elizabeth gives her a reality check. She tells her it is men that want to enslave women and to treat them like things.
Further proving her point, Stefan becomes a super predator in the bathroom with Ilona resulting in a bloody mess. When Val and The Countess arrive back and find the mess, Val wants to call the cops. Once again, The Countess takes care of everything. She’s a goddamn rock-star. She rules with sensitivity, seduction but an assertive tone that makes me swoon.
When Val slowly falls under her spell, one can completely understand why. The Countess brings out the strength in Val. She may be a psychotic, manipulative, bloodthirsty vamp, but she is fabulous! This whole movie is my kind of sexy. It’s Gothic raw 70s sexploitation and I love it.
This is currently on AMAZON and someone uploaded it to DAILYMOTION, but otherwise I haven’t seen it other than on DVD. This is a recommended purchase as it’s definitely something lovers of 70s horror will watch more than once.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7.5/10
