Quote:
Originally Posted by newb
you do some very eloquent reviews.....kudos.
got this one on my netflix queue
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Thanks.
Daughters of Darkness (1971). This delicate slow-burner is more an artistic flourish with horror undertones than a horror flick proper. Eschewing a genre's unstated guidelines,
Daughters of Darkness takes us on a sensual journey where the inexplicable, or maybe the ineffable, becomes the source of its eroticism. Blood is not made squeamish, but uncomfortably attractive. Antagonists shift places, back story developments lead to perfectly ambiguous dead ends, or even better, discomforting back alleys of ignominy, culture's ugly little secret kept hidden in the closet. The acting ranged from the supreme performance of Delphine Seyrig to the occasionally wooden Danielle Ouimet, but the artistic flair of the whole overpowers the particulars, and such trivials need not matter. The direction was sublime. Kumel's style is what brings this near-classic to the forefront of envy by its competition. The camera work deserves more than a mere mention. Each and every shot was composed with care, utilized color and/or shadow to the fullest, and employed techniques to extract the ethereal sensation of the moment without ever feeling ostensibly ambitious. And the score ranged from deliciously cheezy to eloquent depending on the screen's mood. In all, the
Daughters of Darkness is a masterpiece that should be studied but never copied. Merci beaucoup.
Genruk