Daughters of Darkness is one of those films where the viewer can generally be sure of what will happen from one moment to the next, but it's still interesting enough to keep watching. It's fairly predictable, up until the last second, which unfortunately you find yourself wishing that perhaps you're wrong...and finding out you were right all along.
It's a good enough story, though, with characters boasting many facets and many levels of depth, although unfortunately the surface is barely scratched with most of them. That's also kind of a disappointment since the cast of characters is so small, it's not like they couldn't have explored deeper. The actors were most all up to the task, so why does it seem so shallow in so many ways?
The direction, the cinematography, the hair, the makeup, the costumes -- all of it is splendid. Unfortunately by the last half-hour, it's all started to spin its wheels, and the experience has begun to sour. By the last shot, you're done with the movie and more than slightly irritated that you were asked to invest 100 minutes into something that really didn't deserve them.
But the Countess was so seductive and interesting, and the young couple were so strange and intriguing, and you knew the story like any old tale, but you hoped that familiarity wouldn't spoil you on it. And when it did anyway, you felt betrayed, as betrayed as you should, yet you still took away a particular feeling from it, something you did like, even if it was ultimately not an overwhelmingly positive experience.
This is a film with far more style than substance, and what substance there is remains mostly untapped. There's far too much time-wasting and actor-wasting, too many scenes that don't add up to anything, and an ending that will literally make you angry.
Is it worth watching? Once. And only once.
Don't make the mistake of going down that road again: it presents far more than it can back up, and that perhaps is the most unfortunate quality of all in this film. It is, at its heart, even flimsier than the shallowest Hammer vampire number, and not nearly as fun as any of them, ultimately. It could have been much better. If only it had bothered to make a good ending of itself. But a bad ending can ruin even a good story, and this was just barely adequate, struggling to breach the surface of mediocrity and pastiche.
There is a visual splendour to it, and it is enjoyable to watch and digest as a piece of art. The characters are not all so superficial as they may appear, but any depth remains sadly unexplored, perhaps tragically, by the resolution or lack thereof. Some plot threads are completely dropped, others misappropriated, and all in all this ends up an unsatisfying mess by the last fade to red.
If you like unconventional vampire films, give it a try. It won't have any secrets for you, and it won't have any surprises, but it might be amusing for a couple of hours. Don't expect it to become a favourite though.
It's a good enough story, though, with characters boasting many facets and many levels of depth, although unfortunately the surface is barely scratched with most of them. That's also kind of a disappointment since the cast of characters is so small, it's not like they couldn't have explored deeper. The actors were most all up to the task, so why does it seem so shallow in so many ways?
The direction, the cinematography, the hair, the makeup, the costumes -- all of it is splendid. Unfortunately by the last half-hour, it's all started to spin its wheels, and the experience has begun to sour. By the last shot, you're done with the movie and more than slightly irritated that you were asked to invest 100 minutes into something that really didn't deserve them.
But the Countess was so seductive and interesting, and the young couple were so strange and intriguing, and you knew the story like any old tale, but you hoped that familiarity wouldn't spoil you on it. And when it did anyway, you felt betrayed, as betrayed as you should, yet you still took away a particular feeling from it, something you did like, even if it was ultimately not an overwhelmingly positive experience.
This is a film with far more style than substance, and what substance there is remains mostly untapped. There's far too much time-wasting and actor-wasting, too many scenes that don't add up to anything, and an ending that will literally make you angry.
Is it worth watching? Once. And only once.
Don't make the mistake of going down that road again: it presents far more than it can back up, and that perhaps is the most unfortunate quality of all in this film. It is, at its heart, even flimsier than the shallowest Hammer vampire number, and not nearly as fun as any of them, ultimately. It could have been much better. If only it had bothered to make a good ending of itself. But a bad ending can ruin even a good story, and this was just barely adequate, struggling to breach the surface of mediocrity and pastiche.
There is a visual splendour to it, and it is enjoyable to watch and digest as a piece of art. The characters are not all so superficial as they may appear, but any depth remains sadly unexplored, perhaps tragically, by the resolution or lack thereof. Some plot threads are completely dropped, others misappropriated, and all in all this ends up an unsatisfying mess by the last fade to red.
If you like unconventional vampire films, give it a try. It won't have any secrets for you, and it won't have any surprises, but it might be amusing for a couple of hours. Don't expect it to become a favourite though.