As Filhas de Satã

Was Tom Selleck really in this film? Yes. He wasn't a star yet - "Magnum P.I." was still a few years away. The rest of the cast isn't much to talk about, although there is a scene where a blonde women is stripped topless, her arms strung up high, and she is whipped as part of a cult event. Other than that, not much else to talk about. I have to give credit to the actress who played that role - she looked uncomfortable and I wonder how much of it was acting.

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.

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.

"Daughters of Satan" is a cheesy but fun piece of low-budget occult Horror starring 27-year-old Tom Selleck in his first leading role. Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (nice name, buddy), "Daughters of Satan" was obviously shot on a very low budget, and while the plot is cheesy and messy and often lacks logic, the film is undeniably entertaining. Selleck plays the American arts expert James Robinson, who has recently moved to the Phillipines with his beautiful wife Christina (Barra Grant). In an obscure art gallery, he stumbles across a painting which shows a witch-burning in 1592 Spain. And one of the burned witches happens to be the spitting image of his wife! Fascinated with the coincidence, he buys the painting and brings it home; henceforth, mysterious things begin to happen... As mentioned above, logic isn't the strongest point of the film (why would anyone keep the painting when it's clear that it's causing trouble), and the plot is often messy. Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable film that might appeal to many of my fellow fans of low-budget Horror and Exploitation. There are some really cool scenes, in particular the sleazy opening sequence, and one fantastic creepy scene involving a painting, which I don't want to give away. Interestingly, Selleck's role here has some resemblance to the role of Magnum P.I., for which he would later get famous. Barra Grant, who plays his wife, has a very presentable rack, and the film includes a variety of eccentric characters. You haven't missed anything if you decide to skip "Daughters of Satan". However, it is definitely entertaining, and a film that most of my fellow fans of B-Movies and low-budget Horror in particular might enjoy.