“I’ve seen many a night fall away into an even more endless night.”
Lesbian vampire films became a phenomenon in the 70s with Belgium film director Harry Kümel’s Daughters of Darkness (1971) as no exception. Known as Les Lévres Rouges (The Red Lips) in France, the beautifully crafted film is about two lovers who cross paths with the vampire known as Countess Elizabeth Bathory, portrayed by the enticing Delphine Seyrig. The character of Bathory is based on the real life Hungarian Countess, Erzsébet Báthory; a serial killer known for torturing and killing hundreds of young women between 1585 and 1610. She was eventually apprehended and was sentenced to incarceration until death. The legend tells us that Báthory was terrified of ageing, and would only kill young female virgins so she could bathe in their blood, believing it to retain her youth.
Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) and Stefan (John Karlen) are a newly married young couple who arrive to a grand hotel on the Ostend seafront in Belgium on their honeymoon. They intend to catch the cross-channel ferry to England where Stefan would be introducing his new wife to his mother, though he has his concerns. This upsets Valerie and remains their only conflict at the isolated hotel – they are there out of season – until Countess Elizabeth arrives with her “secretary” and lover Ilona (Andrea Rau). Upon the introduction of the Countess, she is mysterious, enchanting and red-lipped. The hotel’s concierge tells her that he is sure he has seen her here before when he was a young boy 40 years ago, only she has not aged a day. The Countess tells him it is impossible and must have been her mother, perhaps.
Among the gothic, dreamy and luxurious set, the young couple find out about three separate gruesome murders of young girls that occurred in Bruges the previous week. Stefan seems to be captivated by the fourth victim’s body which they see been carried away on a day trip. As the Countess grows increasingly fond of Valerie’s beautiful lips and flawless skin, Ilona becomes jealous and entwined in the erotica, the four become involved in a twisted tale of sadism, betrayal and death. Stefan’s secrecy regarding his mother becomes unsettling once she is revealed to be a man.
Kümel achieves a somewhat spooky and ethereal tone with his blood thirsty Daughters of Darkness, ensuring that the scenes are not there solely for exploitation but reveal a sense of beauty and story to the audience. Seyrig’s performance as Countess Elizabeth Bathory is the best in the film; she is alluring, ambiguous and “haunts one place after another” as she says, with her trade-mark red lips. Kümel says he deliberately styled her character after German-American actress and singer Marlene Dietrich.
★★★★★
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