Daughters of Satan

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.!"