Daughters of Darkness

A newlywed couple is entangled by the spellbinding aura of a vampire in Harry Kümel’s seductive horror.

Set in a near-empty Belgian seaside hotel in winter — all twilight hues and faded grandeur — a newlywed couple falls under the spell of the enigmatic Countess Elizabeth Báthory (Delphine Seyrig). With her glacial poise and exquisite gowns, the Countess exerts a quiet, hypnotic pull, pitting the couple against one another until she draws them into her silken oblivion.

The 1970s saw a glut of lesbian vampire films, but few as haunting or as singular as this. Harry Kümel’s take on the Báthory legend replaces carnal excess with fetishistic allure, abstracting desire into ravishing surfaces: PVC boots, crimson nails, lacquered lips. The result is erotically charged yet curiously detached — desire without heat, beauty as armour, eroticism rendered both alluring and impenetrable.