Daughters of Satan

James Robertson (Tom Selleck) buys a painting depicting witches being burned at the stake, one of whom bears an uncanny resemblance to his wife (Barra Grant).

This is Tom Selleck before "Magnum PI", but still with the same great mustache... much, much better than the film "Runaway". Some of the stunts are pretty cool (like flipping over a horse). I would like to believe Selleck did them himself, but I am not so gullible.

The film opens with a pretty intense scene, possibly a sacrifice, and soon after we are treated to a story of a satanic knife... definitely a solid start to a movie.

Director Hollingsworth Morse worked almost exclusively in television, and it shows, though not in a bad way. The quality is television quality, but the story really holds strong for the full length.

The film takes place in the Philippines... and it makes me wonder: was this a decision because of the plot (which does revolve around Spanish conquistadors) or because of budget? The Philippines were a notorious hotspot for low budget films... curious.

After buying a strange painting at a sale, a man begins to suspect something sinister is occurring after noticing his wife's resemblance to a figure in the painting and comes to realize that a coven of witches are involved and tries to stop them before he becomes a victim of their wrath.

This was an admittedly fun witchcraft movie, though it does has a few minor areas of improvement to really work itself out of it's overall hum-drum feel. That's the main fault of the pacing in this one feeling just so dreary that nothing really exciting happens, with everyone tending to talk about the proceedings since the film plays it off as a mystery about painting and the reincarnation which can be fun but overall it tends to just drag the pace out. That said, the mystery angle here is actually inviting due to being a rather creepy mystery surrounding the painting, the few action scenes are rather well-done and it's certainly got enough horror elements to keep it enjoyable. Plus, any film that opens with topless female whipping definitely has it's head in the right direction. Overall, not bad but has some problems.

Rated R: Violence, Language and Nudity.

Manila-based art-buyer James Robertson (Tom Selleck) purchases a fugly old painting depicting the burning of three witches in 1592, after which his wife, Chris (Barra Grant), becomes possessed by the spirit of one of the witches and attempts to kill her husband, who just happens to be a descendant of the inquisitor who condemned the satanic trio to death.

Could Daughters of Satan have influenced the creators of classic series Magnum, P.I.? Not only does this cheesy Filipino B-movie feature an early starring role for future TV private eye Selleck, but his character drives a red sports car (albeit not a Ferrari), while the name of the film's writer, John C. Higgins, is uncannily similar to that of Magnum's stuffy superior, John Q. Higgins. If all of this is a coincidence, then it's certainly spookier than anything that happens in Daughters of Satan, which completely fails to delivers the chills.

Director Hollingsworth Morse worked primarily in television, and his uninspired visuals, coupled with predictable editing, a weak script and cheap special effects, means that Daughters of Satan definitely has the look and feel of a bad TV movie, and as such offers very little in the way of genuine horror. What just about saves the film from being a total waste of time is some good old-fashioned gratuitous nudity (Barra Grant's splendid rack making up for her 'constantly surprised' eyebrows), a reasonably fun chase scene that features a couple of decent stunts, and a welcome cameo from Filipino character actor Vic Diaz, who sports a really strange hairdo.

3.5 out of 10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

Vic Diaz was so good in The Big Bird Cage that I just had to see him again to see if he was as funny in all his films. He was in 112 films and is considered the jolly evil fat man of Filipino exploitation cinema. It may take a while to track them all down.

As a bonus, this is Tom Selleck's (Magnum P.I., Blue Bloods, Jesse Stone series) third film. He even has a mustache then.

Jim (Selleck) finds a painting of a witch burning, and the with looks like a dead ringer for his wife Chris (Barra Grant). Suspicious things start occurring. She blurts out the exact date of the burning, and a dog in the painting disappears after she sees it for real. Things just get stranger from there.

It's all about revenge for a 16th century crime. Very interesting.

I'd never heard of this 70's horror movie until the other night when TCM had a late night airing. I've always liked Tom Selleck and even in this effective but somewhat cheesy scare-fest he does an awesome acting job! For the time and plot, this movie does include some chilling suspense and eerie music and/or chanting--the freaky calling out of the wife's name in the middle of the night was a perfect tool to get you on the edge of your seat!

However, the ending was really stupid in my opinion! I don't want to say what happens, as I don't want to really include a "spoiler." But, with all the build-up and suspense, the way the film concludes was a total let-down and ridiculous! To me no matter how awesome or superb a movie was...if the end is terrible then it ruins the rest of it as well.

I would not recommend bothering with this...unless you're a die-hard Selleck fan, or a 70's cult-horror film collector (that doesn't care how films play out or end). However, if you like Selleck...stick with "Magnum, p.i.!"