Daughter of Darkness

Stuart Gordon was a busy man back in 1990. Aside from his surprisingly good retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and something called Robojox, he also made this little known TV movie, which like the Poe film; is surprisingly good! Given that the film was made for television, it's not surprising that it doesn't feature the blood and gore of Re-Animator, and overall it feels like a cheaper, more rushed production. These things don't matter, however, as Gordon makes good use of what he has here, and rather than bombard the audience with special effects, he sticks to the more difficult method of storytelling to keep the film alive; and while this story takes obvious influence from a range of earlier films, Gordon's vampire flick is an involving and entertaining little flick for the duration of it's running time. The plot follows a young woman who travels to Romania in order to find her father. It's not long before she realises that he was killed, but the story doesn't end there as new evidence turns up that links her father to a mysterious cult of vampires...

Stuart Gordon is undoubtedly one of the greatest horror directors of modern times, and one of the reasons for that is that he isn't willing to stick to conventions. Gordon is happy to take filming outside of the USA and risk making a film with a largely foreign cast and, just like it would in the later 'Castle Freak' and 'Dagon' - the alien European setting does the film no end of favours where mystery is concerned. The lead role is taken by Mia Sara, who manages to do three things with it. Her acting isn't bad at all, and she's rather nice to look at too; but perhaps the best thing about her role in this film is that her looks and persona perfectly suit the style and tone of the movie. Norman Bates himself, Anthony Perkins (complete with silly accent), gives a memorable central performance also, and the pair are backed up nicely by Robert Reynolds and Jack Coleman. The plot plays out nicely, and Gordon keeps things very much on the level. There isn't a great deal of 'bite' in the script, but it really doesn't need it as this film is all about mystery. There's a lot of very good ideas in this movie, and it's fair to say that the sum of the parts falls a little short of what could have been; but I really enjoyed Daughter of Darkness and give it warm recommendations.

A common storyline: young adult searches for their father in the "Old Country", who is elusive and given to certain noctural habits. Pacing for this made for TV "light" horror film wasn't terrible. Often there was something passably interesting and relevant happening, even if the individual acting skills by support cast were often stilted...honestly, that wasn't unexpected of this US/Hungary production. Creature make-up and effects was light, it was for TV after all, and maybe 6 star is a bit of a stretch but I thought Mia Sara and Anthony Perkins were good enough, though Mia often gives her known wrinkled brow agonized terror look. It's a solid one-watch, and I'm glad I found it for a mid-week time-passer.

One does not ask a lot of this kind of film, but this film failed to provide even a little for me...

The characters felt (to put it kindly) unreal even for a horror film! I never felt scared at all during the entire movie, and the choice of music made me want to sue for emotional suffering...

A disappointing addition to the vampire film which definitely lacks bite when dealing with its subject - now, this may not be surprising considering the TV-movie format, but it is a bit of a surprise when the director is none other than Stuart Gordon, the gentleman renowned for his two on-the-edge additions to 1980s horror cinema, RE-ANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND. Gordon here displays little of the vitality or skill he brought to his most famous movies and instead acts like more of a journeyman director, happy to pick up his paycheque with minimal effort. Not that the film is entirely bad - sure, the Romanian setting is nice and there are some arty tracking shots and good cinematography to give the movie a Euro feel. But the script is mundane and the story, which starts off so well, soon falls by the wayside.

The first hour of the film consists of the plot set-up, with nothing being explained too fully. Thus, we have a sense of mystery and a fairly close realism building up a little tension here and there. Unfortunately once the major plot twist is revealed and the vampires come to light (as it were), the film falls to pieces and becomes yet another clichéd bad guys vs. good guys fight to the finish, displaying little in the way of logic or surprises. The effects are minimal and the vampires largely lacking in interest, a typically boring group of Gothic types. The only difference is that they suck blood through their tongues rather than with fangs, although why exactly the lore was rewritten is unexplained as it isn't used for anything other than novelty value. The violence is mostly offscreen and the only thing to recommend in the film are some fairly good makeups used for the finale.

Acting wise, there are no great surprises here and nothing to make you sit up in your seat. Mia Sara (LEGEND) portrays yet another young, fragile heroine in a matter-of-fact way and her acting is neither particularly good or particularly bad, just so-so. It is good to see Anthony Perkins (EDGE OF SANITY) employing another of his sinister characters - complete with black eyeliner - but he seems mostly wasted in an ambivalent part. Robert Reynolds is forgettable and uninteresting as the evil vampire villain, although Dezso Garas is surprisingly good as the kind-hearted taxi driver with a dark secret. DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS is only worth watching if it's a quiet night and you're looking for some easy viewing before you go to bed.

Katherine Thatcher (Mia Sara) travels to Romania in search of her father. During her quest, Katherine is haunted by nightmares of a hooded, faceless man. Adding to her problems is the fact that she has arrived in Romania during the reign of Ceausescu, meaning that the country is a police state.

Katherine meets Anton (Anthony Perkins), who appears to have known her father. Running afoul of the government, Katherine attracts the attention of the secret police. At every turn, she finds her search thwarted by forces both earthly and otherwise.

Director Stuart Gordon has created a devilish supernatural thriller, complete with vampirism and other ghoulish goings-on. Ms. Sara is convincing in her harried role, and Perkins is as oddly twitchy as ever.

Though it suffers from a few dead spots and a bit of meandering, there's enough chilly atmosphere to make up for it...