Delphine Seyrig is ageless in Daughters of Darkness from 1971.
Delphine Seyrig is ageless in Daughters of Darkness from 1971.
WHANGANUI FILM SOCIETY
Daughters of Darkness (Les lèvres rouges) Monday, November 5, 7pm Davis Theatre, Whanganui Regional Museum Directed by Harry Kümel Belgium/France/West Germany • 1971 • 101 mins • R16 violence, sex scenes • In English
This cult classic is a sumptuous blend of highbrow European art film and campy lesbian vampire B-movie,starring Delphine Seyrig as an ageless Countess who seduces a troubled newlywed couple at an isolated off-season resort.
"Delphine Seyrig's silver lamé presence and Harry Kumel's evocative direction make this an above-par vampire tale." — Variety Memberships and more info at www.whanganuifilmsociety.org.nz
REVIEW "Stranded in a palatial seafront resort hotel in out-of-season Ostend, newlyweds Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) find themselves in thrall to the hotel's only other guests, the Countess Elisabeth Bathory (Seyrig) and her surly but sultry companion Ilone (Andrea Rau). Tension within the young couple — Valerie is pressurising Stefan to inform his disapproving mother of their marriage — is exploited by the countess when she rouses Stefan to ecstasy with an account of her ancestor's unquenchable thirst for blood. Three young women, meanwhile, have been found murdered in nearby Bruges, their bodies drained, and the hotel concierge (Paul Esser) can't get past the fact he remembers the countess staying at the hotel 40 years previously, and she hasn't aged a day.
There are neither fangs nor longueurs in this sumptuous blend of lesbian vampire flick and European art movie. The casting of Seyrig, trailing memories of Marienbad, is inspired, and her swooning performance bewitches the entire cast. Kümel casts his own spells with alternating blue washes and red dissolves, and skilful location work that doesn't allow you to see the join between hotel exteriors and interiors — in Ostend and Brussels respectively." Nicholas Royle, Time Out
