Stefan, a major weirdo with a strong penchant for sadism, has just married Valerie. They honeymoon at an empty old hotel and soon they are joined by Countess Elizabeth (a MEGA weirdo) and her 'friend', Ilona. During this time, you see a lot of nudity and the Countess clearly is grooming Valerie to be her next sexual play thing.

Around the time "Daughters of Darkness" came out, in the 1970s, there seemed to be a trend involving lesbian vampires. In addition to this film, "Vampiros Lesbos", "Vampyres" and "The Blood Spattered Bride" (among others) also has salacious plots involving lesbian vampires...and featured copious amounts of nudity. Why this was a relatively common sort of film at that time, I have no idea...and perhaps it was more a case of folks trying to cash in on the success of the previous picture. What makes "Daughters of Darkness" different is that it features ample amounts of sadism and talkiness.....lots and lots of talkiness. Many times through the course of the film, the famed sicko from history, Elizabeth Bathory, just talks and talks and talks. I think it's supposed to be sexy but when seen today, I could also see many folks very bored by these portions of the film. So you have an odd combination of suspense, lovely nude people strutting their stuff AND incredibly boring and pretentious dialog. The traffic accident scene, while an interesting idea, was incredibly badly filmed. Overall, it's a very mixed bag...one that is enjoyable, rather kinky and dull all at the same time.

A slow-moving art film dealing with a pair of women who are vampires - except not in the typical sense. I'll make it clear from the start that I'm not a big fan of art-house films - I'm more of a traditionalist myself. This accounts for the film's average rating - the rating is of how much I enjoyed the film, not of how good the film is. I admit that the film is very good and deserves 5/5 for its merits, however, I only enjoyed it partially because I'm not really into these slow-paced, character-focused movies.

It's a film which makes good use of some European locations - the photography is wonderful and reminds me of DON'T LOOK NOW. The acting is also above average, with standout performances from Delphine Seyrig as the hypnotic Countess and John Karlen as the violent, hypocritical husband. It's only Danielle Ouimet who spoils things with her wooden performance - she may be beautiful, but she's no actress. There is very little action in the film, apart from the finale, making this one hard to sit through for some impatient viewers.

Throughout the film, the key focus is that of relationships - between the two couples, and how they interact with each other. Although billed as a lesbian vampire affair, it's actually quite subtle, with only a couple of kisses here and there - don't worry, there are no explicit scenes in this film. The basis is the story of Countess Bathory, the real-life woman who bathed in virgin's blood and who was also the inspiration for the Hammer film Countess Dracula, starring Ingrid Pitt. Indeed, the blood is kept to a minimum too, and the blood-drinking is tastefully portrayed. The film succeeds in enchanting the viewer and wrapping them up in the vampire's spell, becoming almost hypnotic. There are a couple of shocks - the sudden, brutal whipping, or the bloody bathroom death - but these are few and far between. For the most part it's a subtle, understated, dreamy affair. Only occasionally dipping into unintentional comedy - the murder of the bicyclist was unexpected and amusing - DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS is otherwise a well-made, but only moderately enjoyable film.

Two days after getting married in Switzerland, Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) and Stefan Chilton (John Karlen) travel by train to take a boat to England to visit Stefan's mother at the Chilton Manor. However, the train has to stop in Ostend and the couple lodges in the royal suite at a seaside hotel. The concierge Pierre advises that the place is empty since it is out of season and they become aware of three murders in Bruges.

In the same night, the Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory (Delphine Seyrig) arrives in the hotel with her secretary Ilona Harczy (Andrea Rau) and Pierre swears that she had been in the hotel forty years ago with the same appearance. When Valerie and Stefan cross the path with the mysterious countess, their lives are affected by the woman. Meanwhile a retired detective (Georges Jamin) snoops at the hotel suspecting that the countess may be the serial-killer that drains the blood of the victims to use as elixir of youth.

"Les Lèvres Rouges", a.k.a. "Daughters of Darkness", is a weird and stylish vampire film. The story is very erotic and keeps the sexual tension along 100 minutes running time. Stefan is a sadistic homosexual weirdo and his "mother" is actually an effeminate man. The Countess is a lesbian vampire that wants Valerie as her protégé and mate. The film was shot only during the night and has a beautiful cinematography. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available