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Was quite surprised after my initial viewing of this Canadian film as it was really quite good. I was surprised because it is a harder to find horror film and don't think it was ever popular. I must say though that it may not be for all tastes.

Its really the twisted, weird and gets quite creepy story of a 16 year old girl named Julie (wonderfully played by Isabelle Mejias). She's a bit of a bad ass as she enjoys feeding rats to her pet snake, shooting Canada Geese and loves her Nestle Quik. It's really about her relationship with her father (Anthony Franciosa). She watched her mother (Cindy Girling) get killed, did nothing and now steps in the next woman named Susan (Sybil Danning). Guess who wants her dead?

If this does sound interesting I would suggest finding it and giving it a watch.

What a very disturbing film. I began by thinking "What a brat!" Now, I knew she was not a nice little girl, but her incredibly disturbed being didn't enter my mind. She has such a a fixation on her father like no other film I've seen. There are very disturbing scenes. This actress's face is so angelic, and yet the coldest of hearts beats behind it. This is a pretty explicit film with lots of very graphic scenes. There is real violence here. I guess it's really based on total psychosis, because our little heroin is bound to do anything to latch on to her daddy.

As a film there is a great deal of suspense. This happens because only we know this child. She also has had weapons training and is quite the hunter. Talk about arming the enemy. The father never has a clue. Gosh, in addition to losing his first wife, isn't it odd that his new stepson gets put in an old refrigerator. The young rapist/murderer, however, doesn't hold a candle to Julie, which is pretty amazing.

I was searching through lists of 80s horror/slasher movies because I am a big fan of that era's horror/slasher genre. Every now and then I like to watch those movies, especially one's that I've never seen. I found this and streamed it online and I thought it was pretty good.

Although lower budget, it is suspenseful and the little girl in it is pretty disturbed! It's almost a mix of a drama/horror/thriller movie all rolled into one. Acting is OK, especially the little girl's part. She is fairly convincing in her role as a spoiled, jealous, and downright evil kid. She seems to have a strong attachment to her father and doesn't like when others steal the attention away, let's just say! Some may find this movie dull and too low budget, but if you're a big 80s horror/slasher fan, I think you'll like it enough. It does have that made-for-TV feel a little, but it keeps you interested. It isn't necessarily the most believable plot, but how many movies are, right?! Interesting ending by the way, I think you'll like it. 6/10

This movie is marketed as a Sybil Danning vehicle even though the erstwhile German-American sex symbol is really only in the last half of the movie, and the really memorable performance is by the unknown Isabella Mejia as a disturbed teenage girl whose infatuation with her father (Antonio Franciosa from "Tenebra")leads her to allow an intruder to rape and murder her own mother. She then blackmails the same guy into trying to do the same to her new stepmother (Sybil Danning). The disturbed girl at one point even locks her young step-brother in an old fridge in the middle of a junkyard.

I saw this film almost back-to-back with another, much more terrible Sybil Danning-starrer "They're Playing with Fire". But while that film was a horrid hybrid of a dumb 80's teen sex comedy and an idiotic 90's erotic thriller (featuring Sybil in the sack with the annoying kid from "Private Lessons", and the once great Andrew Prine flushing his career right down the toilet), this film does the burgeoning erotic thriller genre proud (or as proud as you can do that crappy genre). It has a real, if not necessarily highly believable, plot and pretty decent acting. Other reviewers have compared it to "The Bad Seed", but it is actually better than that stagey, melodramatic flick (which ends with the villain literally being struck down by lightning). I'd put it somewhere between that one and a truly deserving classic like "Pretty Poison" (with Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins).

This movie is certainly no classic, but it doesn't really deserve its current obscure status either. It's probably Danning's best (American)movie. Those who watch it just to see her take her clothes off for the zillionth time won't be disappointed of course, but I think they'll also be pleasantly surprised with the rest of the movie.

There have been plenty of movies about evil children over the years, but Julie Darling distinguishes itself by being more perverse than most.

Isabelle Mejias plays cherubic teen Julie, who only has eyes for daddy (Anthony Franciosa), but isn't as innocent as she pretends to be. Her wicked streak is evident in the relish she takes in feeding live rats to her pet snake, her joy at shooting birds while hunting with her father, and the cruel pranks she plays on her long suffering mother Irene (Cindy Girling). Julie takes her callousness to a whole new level when delivery man Weston (Paul Hubbard) tries to rape her mother: even though she trains the sights of her gun on the man, Julie doesn't pull the trigger, her deliberate inaction resulting in the death of her mum, who hits her head on the stone floor during the struggle.

With her mum gone, Julie has dear daddy all to herself, or so she thinks: the girl is shocked to learn that her father has a mistress, Susan (sexy cult star Sybil Danning), and now, with his wife dead, he is free to marry her. Worse still, Susan has an irritating young son who is stealing daddy's attention. After Julie wakes to hear a noisy sex session between her pops and his sexy new spouse (during which it becomes very clear that the girl harbours incestuous desires for her father), she hatches a plot to get rid of her new stepmother.

Mejias (actually 21 at time of filming, but looking younger) puts in a commanding performance as the conniving minx, utterly convincing as a cold-hearted psychopath. Franciosa is less credible, especially when doting on stepson Dennis (Benjamin Schmoll), and Danning does what she does best: look sexy and remove her clothes (other gratuitous nudity comes courtesy of Girling, who takes a bubble bath, and Mejias, who is topless during her jaw-droppingly twisted Oedipal fantasy sex scene with Franciosa).

Director Paul Nicholas does a great job in keeping the suspense levels high, constantly surprising the viewer with Julie's lack of empathy: not only does the evil brat blackmail Weston into killing Susan ("And you can rape her all you want before you kill her"), but she also orchestrates the murder of her best friend Michelle. The brutal, bloody climax sees Susan beaten and thrown through a window, Weston stabbed in the crotch with a broken bottle (nasty!) before being blasted by Julie with a shotgun, and Susan proving that she wasn't lying when she said she would do anything to protect those she loves.

Isabelle Mejias has the ultimate Daddy fixation, and Stepmothers who get in her way become expendable. The object of her attention, Anthony Franciosa, seems oblivious, clueless, or both, to his Daughter's unnatural behavior. The methods employed by Mejias to torment Stepmothers borders on sadism. While the script is sometimes clever, it also has a brutal amount of time wasted on small talk not relevant to the story. Sybil Danning and Isabelle Mejias give good performances, while Anthony Franciosa is so boring, you will almost cringe. "Julie Darling" is an effective thriller that could have benefited from some script tightening, however the extremely satisfying ending totally redeems any minor faults the film might have. - MERK

Im a big fan of Sybil Danning,she ruled the eighties,a real tough but sexy woman from Austria,i saw this one from the suspense classics 50 movie collection.and i can tell you its a real nail biter of a movie. sort of like the Macaulay culken thriller the good son.but this little girl is much more disturbed and evil.not to mention slick and calculating.she has a pet python and even locks her stepbrother in a refrigerator that is kept outside.why is it outside?? who knows.this thriller also stars late great Italian actor;Anthony Franciosca as dear old dad.the film is Italian/American made and in the beginning it shows the new york skyline showing the world trade center.I'm not giving any spoilers but ill tell you.nobody messes with Sybil Danning. and if you wanna see a good well made suspense flick,then Julie darling is the ticket.7 out of 10.

This is something of a strange one. Julie loves her daddy and wants him all to herself so when she witnesses a delivery guy attempting to sexually assault her mother she does nothing to help which ends in her mothers death. Now Julie has daddy all to herself and everything is perfect until her fathers mistress turns up with her son in tow. Julie doesn't want the competition so she goes about trying to get rid of the two usurpers.

I went into this hoping it was going to be a killer kid film along the lines of 'Bloody birthday' or 'Mikey' but it's not it's more of a thriller. I found it quite dull and with the exception of a disturbing incestuous daydream on Julies part I'd seen it all before. Some of the dialogue between Julie's father (Anthony Franciosa) and his lady friend (Sybil Danning) is pure cheese. At times I thought I'd started watching a Danielle Steele TV movie. The acting isn't that great even from the stars of the movie add to that some truly ridiculous plot developments and you end up with a film thats quite hard to take seriously.

For me the most disappointing thing was that Julie didn't do enough evil stuff. She wasn't a particularly likable character So I never found myself rooting for her. What the film does do well is maintain a creepy unsettling feeling around the father daughter relationship through out the movie. This was the only thing that kept me watching.

Julie Darling promises much at the beginning but fails to deliver.

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently. This movie was far ahead of it's time in depicting the sexual abnormality of a teenage girl, specially her attachment to her dad. Her day dream/visualization sequence may put off some viewers but it was necessary to establish her sick mind, including her voyueristic attitude.

If Damien form Omen is the epitome of evil n sinister, Esther from Orphan wickedly sly n a cold blooded killer, Rhoda Penmark a psychopath n manipulator serial killer, then meet Julie, the epitome of a pervert, amoral and sociopath teenager.

We have a Kevin Bacon lookalike who cries like a girl aft his assets gets slashed. I was never a fan of Sybil Danning n her nude scene wasn't titillating for me.

This movie gave me the creeps. Why didn't the father realize how messed up his daughter was? I don't want to watch this movie ever again. I love horror movies, but not when they actually make me feel uncomfortable. Don't see it unless you are doing some kind of report on Freud.

I've been searching and waiting to see "Julie Darling" for quite a very long time, and now that I finally watched, I'm both pleased and upset. Pleased because it's one of the most intense and disturbing 80's thrillers I've seen in a very long time, and upset because it undeservedly became obscure and forgotten amidst the overflow of inferior slasher pictures in that same decade. "Julie Darling" can more or less be categorized as a so-called Bad Seed effort, or – in other words – (horror) movies dealing with evil, psychopathic and murderous children. But this awesome little gem qualifies as a lot more than just that as well. It's a psychological "family" drama with a thoroughly uncanny atmosphere, numerous controversial undertones and a handful of very efficient shock moments. Julie Wilding is a cherubic and well- educated adolescent girl with a rather unhealthy affection for her daddy. Her mother notices Julie's rivalry and possessive behavior and wants to send her to a boarding school. But then her mother gets raped and killed by the grocery delivery boy, and even though Julie witnesses the whole thing from atop of the stairs, she doesn't move a muscle. Just when Julie thinks to have her daddy all for herself, he reveals that he's been having a secret affair for many years and wants to raise a new family with the lovely Susan and her little son. Rather than to get her own hands dirty, Julie tracks down her mother's murderer and blackmails him into doing the same with her new step family. She even joyously adds the words "Oh, and you can rape her all you want…". If Sigmund Freud would have ever written a movie script, the result would look a lot like "Julie Darling". The film is literally stuffed with psychosexual references and disputatious elements, like incestuous, intercourse with minors and matricide. In spite of its obscure status, "Julie Darling" features quite a few famous (in the cult/horror business, at least) names. Writer/director Paul Nicolas was also responsible for the greatest Women in Prison exploitation flick ever made, namely "Chained Heat" released that same wondrous year 1983. Anthony Franciosa, known from Dario Argento's giallo classic "Tenebre" is excellent as the unsuspecting (?) father and many horror fanatics will be super enthusiast to see Sybil Danning stars as the lovely stepmom. The one true diva of the film, however, is young Isabelle Mejias as Julie. I always thought that Patty McCormack ("The Bad Seed" 1956) was the most devilish child star, but she's a church choir girl in comparison to Isabelle Mejias. She depicts a truly frightening, cold-hearted and malignant teenage psycho.

It is not flashy. It is not unbelievable. In fact, it is played very realistically.

And the actress who plays Julie is just creepy enough to make you think she is capable of being quietly psychotic. The character is a petulant little daddy's girl.

And that is the worst part. We all know kids like this. And this one loves chess. Hers is akin to a true crime tale indeed.

For those who remember The Love Boat, she does come across like Vicky Steuben - with an evil streak. And a rifle under her bunk.

You couldn't make this today, Isabelle mejias is an interesting actress an overlooked gem of the 80's should of been bigger and more known but that's me, movie wise it works for what it sets out to do, she's not biggest fan of this movie and I can see some of her points when talks about in the DVD commentary. I'm 50/50 on it.

Isabelle Mejias, an under-recognized talent who deserved better material than she received during her brief acting tenure, performs strongly as Julie, a socially disunited young lady with a ravenous Electra complex. Julie harbors malicious and dangerous resentments toward anyone she feels is competing for her father's affections, or who might create a rift within her delusional fantasy world. Hapless potential-victims-to-be are her new step-brother and step-mom(Sybil Danning, upstaged once again by her extremely well-ventilated 36-C juggage). It's a minor B gem with a brisk pace, mounting suspense, and some pretty grim deaths...JULIE, DARLING was not a boxoffice success, and received a rather limited VHS release. This is a better quality picture than its relative obscurity might suggest, and ripe on the vine for rediscovery. 6/10

Categorized as horror, 'Julie Darling' is more of a psychological horror, and the evil that men do - or as it turns out in this case, the evil that a teenage girl does.

Julie hates her mother (who is always complaining about everything), and she adores her father...well, maybe too much. She's in love with him. When Julie's mother is accidentally killed by a delivery boy, Weston - which Julie could have prevented - Julie seems almost overjoyed at the fact she will now be alone with her father, Harold.

It turns out Harold has been having an affair with the beautiful Susan. When he invites Susan and her son Dennis along to his country house, Julie is upset and jealous. She was hoping to spend the time alone with her father (I would too!!).

Julie's evil intentions intensifies as she puts a plan into motion to get rid of Susan. People are always so eager to believe 'innocent' children, but this movie should serve as a wake-up call. The film has a well set-up plot, which kept me engaged throughout.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Julie Darling; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.25 Acting: 1.50 Enjoyment: 1.50

TOTAL: 6.75 out of 10.00.

I'd say that Julie Darling is as close as Hollywood gets to the Italian Giallo thrillers. And that comes down to the incestuous storyline and the multiple twists and cunningness. Sadly, it doesn't feel as callow as the European films. And, it's this more polished approach that hinders the film slightly.

The writers, Paul Nicholas (who also directed) and Maurice Smith, skip merrily down the oedipal love path in this dark thriller. Julie is a cute sixteen-year-old with a screw or two loose. Like most teenagers, she has a crush. But it's not on the star quarterback or her English teacher, but on dear old daddy. As we observe them taking breakfast together, it becomes evident that the women are both vying for the man-of-the-house's attention. Furthermore, it's clear Julie's been pressing her mother's buttons. Ma is wired and verging on the brink of a nervous breakdown. She's attributed her mental state to Julie and is considering sending her daughter away to school. Of course, Julie is unimpressed with the idea and decides to behave and wait. Luck tends to favour the patient. And it does. The local delivery boy has taken a shine to her mother after he rids her of Julie's snake. He's not the type of man that takes no for an answer. Besides, she owes him. Julie hears her mother screaming for help and quickly grabs her hunting rifle. And though she has the kill shot on the assailing carnal courier, she doesn't squeeze the trigger. She waits. The man kills mom before he can get frisky and runs out of the house and out of the city. But for Julie, that's okay because he's gone, her mother's gone, she won't be sent away to school, and now she can set her mind solely to looking after daddy. But daddy has had a straying libido, and before one mother is cold in the grave, another is sitting at the table. And this supplemental spouse comes with a son. Now her plans have been scuppered, what is she to do? She waits - luck favours the patient. The one and only drawback to the story is dear old daddy. Nicholas and Smith write within him a naivety that is cringeworthily unbelievable. How he can't see his daughter's twisted affection as unnatural, beggar's belief. And when he lets her sleep with him after her mother's murder, it's mind-boggling. I know she's witnessed a brutal killing, but still, she's sixteen and your daughter. But apart from these little indiscretions in his character, the other characterisations are decent. Julie is an intriguing individual. On the surface, she's mild and sweet. However, under the surface, she's cunning, devious, and entertained by her dark machinations. And when mommy wannabe comes along, she finds a nemesis who may be as clever as she. There's a delightful chess scene between the pair where they're feeling each other out: Trying to comprehend each other better. And you realise, from this moment on, they're not only playing chess on the game board. Another bonus for the audience is the progression of the story. It's logical, devious, and cold-blooded. All the things a good thriller should be.

Because he possessed a marvellous story, Nicholas didn't have to go overboard with the camerawork. However, he still throws in some agreeable and engaging camera angles and light work to boost the picture's atmosphere at the correct times. Nicholas also didn't have to vary the tempo of the piece. He merely utilised every moment the brisk pace gave him. And, it works a treat to keep the viewers entertained and watching the screen.

As do the cast, for they are brilliant in their portrayals. I even have to give Sybil Danning a round of applause. In most movies I've watched with Danning starring, I can easily state they didn't hire her for her acting talent but for the other two prominent assets she purchased - Check out Howling II. But in Julie Darling, not only does she lose her clothes once again, but she acts, and acts well. In fact, I cannot believe I'm saying this, but she's the best actress in this movie - don't let that put you off because it's a solid performance, one of which to be proud. All the other cast members give a similar degree in their portrayals, adding to the film's sleekness.

I would happily recommend Julie Darling for a winter's evening watch. Cuddle up with your loved one next to a fire with a glass of your favourite tipple, and enjoy. Just make sure your daughter's not in the same room - uncomfortable.

Now we've saved your new brother from that locked freezer, let's take a gander at the IMDb list - Killer Thriller Chillers and see where he rated Julie Darling.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Someone took what could have been an interesting story line and ruined it with terribly dry, dull, often cliche dialog.

But what really sinks this stinker is the acting - or lack thereof.

As someone who enjoys movies immensely and has watched thousands upon thousands during my time on this planet, I can honestly say that very few that I've seen have ever suffered from such god-awful acting.

Did no one involved stop to think that perhaps rehearsals might be in order? No it's OK. Just deliver you lines as if you're reading them for the first time right from a cue card. That's seriously just how bad this is.

This movie makes Troll 2 look like Oscar material.

In this melodramatic variation on THE BAD SEED, Julie (Isabelle Mejias) is deeply in love with her surgeon father, Harold (Anthony Franciosa), and in essence will do whatever it takes to have him all to herself. Julie's tense relationship with her mother, Irene (Cindy Girling), is aggravated when she lets her pet snake loose around the dinner table, which freaks out Irene. Irene gets a grocery delivery man to take the snake away, which in turn angers Julie. When the grocery man returns and attempts to rape Irene, he accidentally kills her. Julie witnesses the attack but does nothing to stop it.

Assuming she and daddy can now live happily ever after, Julie is thwarted yet again when daddy brings home Susan (Sybil Danning), with whom daddy has been having an affair. This leads to a war of nerves between Susan and Julie that quickly escalates to attempted murder, when Julie locks Susan's young son in a refrigerator and the boy nearly suffocates.

The plot veers into implausibility when Julie blackmails her mother's rapist into killing Susan. This arrangement backfires on all concerned, in a clever twist ending.

Director Paul Nicholas provides a remarkably subdued and realistic atmosphere, and coaxes good performances his players, especially from Danning and Mejias. Given the incest theme, this even-handed approach keeps DAUGHTER OF DEATH from becoming a purely exploitative exercise.

This obscure film at the intersection between exploitation, erotic thriller, and horror was made on a modest budget in Canada and West Germany and not given a wide release until it ended up on the video market in 1985. Although this wasn't exactly a big loss for big-screen audiences, the film has an enticing thematic boldness and a certain mean streak that make it an interesting watch, despite its obvious shortcomings. The production values are below par, not least regarding special effects, stunts, and action sequences, diminishing whatever shock value the film could have had. And director Paul Nicholas doesn't quite seem to know how to work with his actors, although young Isabelle Mejias finds her own delightful flavour of wickedness in the title role.

Julie (Isabelle Mejias) is a young girl with a profound love for her father Harold (Anthony Franciosa) and a strained relationship with her mother Irene (Cindy Girling). From chocolate milk, a snake as a pet, to boarding school, Julie and Irene have different opinions, and their relationship is far from being ideal. They argue about everything, and mischievous Julie likes to make her mother angry, for instance, letting her snake loose so Irene scares herself to death. The arguing ends when Weston (Paul Hubbard), a delivery man with problems with the law, murders Irene while Julie watches with a rifle in her hands without shooting, just standing there letting him finish what he started.

Directed by Paul Nicholas and co-written with Maurice Smith, Julie Darling is an interesting concept owing to how provocative it is. Children supposed to be pure little angels would not be conniving with murderers, let alone if said plan is to rid themselves of members of their family. It is a movie, as usual in the 80's when it came to genre, aiming to produce shock by any possible means, e.g., Julie feeding her snake with a rat. It has references to Giallo, for instance, in the use of gloves, something commonly seen in the killers. Conveyed in the nudity it has and also in the always present incestuous desire of its protagonist, Paul Nicholas's feature is also lascivious. Julie embodies an extreme case of what psychologists refer to as the Electra complex, that is, the psychosexual development in girls where they feel a special affection for their fathers and a rivalry with their mothers. From kisses on the lips, sleeping on the same bed, to imagining herself being physically possessed by her father, the movie's portrayal of love exemplifies mores most would find questionable. It also exemplifies possessiveness with no boundaries, even if it means committing matricide.

As a low budget movie, some of its performances could definitely be better. It is not clear if they purposely wanted to be humorous, but that is certainly the effect they produce more than once. Also responsible for this, sometimes, unintentional comedy, is the use of its overly dramatic and expressive non-diegetic music.

Ultimately, Julie Darling is many things, but never uneventful, and for this reason it overcomes its flaws and makes us be attentive to its unstoppable fast-pacing rhythm that manages to be engaging and entertaining from the start. It has a certain charm because it is not what you see every day. Julie Darling is a hidden gem of the genre, making it worth watching.

I just watched this movie; I have never seen it before. I found it very interesting and suspenseful; and the ending surprised me. I give this movie 4 stars; it's a good one. I did find it disturbing when (Julie) was watching her father and his new wife making love, and she imagined that it was her with her father but, other than that; this movie was good. Julie was good at pretending to be a good girl even though she wasn't; she was only good with her father; a real (daddy's girl). I'm just happy and relieved that her new brother (Dennis) wasn't home at the time so, he didn't get hurt. Worth Watching !!