Daughter of Darkness (1990)

A Major Disappointment

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Cathy Stevens has been suffering dark dreams, and believes they have something do with her father. After the death of her mother she travels to political-torn Romania to find her father. However her investigating gets the local police questioning her motives and gaining the interest of a mysterious cult that might be able to share her information about he father.Director Stuart Gordon brings it home again. If there's a consistent director in the horror genre, Gordon's right up there. Even with the boundaries of a low-budget TV enterprise. Gordon's 'Daughter of Darkness' is an interestingly slow grinding story-driven outing that evokes sensual titillation, dreamy flickering and makes excellent use of the decoratively alienating European locations. The film authentically looks the part and is perfectly shot too. Action is limited and sees little daylight, so does any real sort of make-up FX and special effects. When the latter comes into play, there's quite an inventive inclusion to how these vampires feed on their victims. Nice touch. On the down side the story feels minor, and the developments are traditionally dry and foreseeable. However even if this the case, it's broodingly melancholy styling of such superstitious folklore manages to hold you there and lead actress Mia Sara's sensitive performance helps shape that moody allurement. Alongside her is a modest Anthony Perkins. Even with that wobbly accent, he injects some glassy intensity. Jack Coleman, Robert Reynolds and a scene-stealing Dezso Garas offered good support. Pacing can hit a few bumps, but Gordon's infectious imagery (some piercingly eerie dream scenes) and positional work is efficiently implemented. Colin Towns' music score was nothing you would expect, as I found it to be majestically layered.

I vividly remember the harrowing news bulletins and devastating images of Romania during the late 80's/early 90's, when the controversial reign of Ceausescu slowly came to an end and the nation was consumed with relentless violence and economical recession. It was definitely not the best place to be around that time, especially not if you were a member of a foreign (and thus 'wealthier') film crew. All the time whilst watching "Daughter of Darkness" I was wondering how Stuart Gordon and his crew were able to film amidst the thoroughly dangerous political climate in Bucharest, until of course I realized – and double checked the filming location section on IMDb – the whole movie was shot in Hungary instead. This was probably the wisest, not to mention safest, thing to do and in all honesty Budapest looks and feels just as ominous as Bucharest. That needless bit of information being said, "Daughter of Darkness" is a fairly successful and worthwhile little made-for-TV chiller that offers an okay albeit predictable and cliché-ridden plot and a couple of admirable acting performances. Those who are familiar with director Stuart Gordon's awesome repertoire (and if you're not: move your butt towards the nearest video store and rent "Re-Animator", "From Beyond" and "Castle Freak"!!) will promptly notice this is a rather atypical effort coming from him. His usual work features Grand Guignol make up effects and utterly absurd situations whereas this modestly produced film maintains a serious, almost dramatic tone and very sober decors. Following the death of her mother, cherubic twenty-something Cathy Thatcher travels to Romania all by herself because the only thing she knows about her father is that he and her mother met in Bucharest. With little help from the American ambassador and only a creepy taxi driver to rely on, Cathy quickly gets entangled in a mysterious web hinting at vampirism and political murder. She meets a peculiar glassblower (Anthony "Norman Bates" Perkins) and falls in love with a local hunk, all the while completely unaware of how dangerously close she finds herself to the truth regarding of her family's bloodline. The plot is remotely involving, even though you're always several steps ahead of the script, and Mia Sara's natural charm & innocence make it pretty much impossible not to care for her. The actual vampires are stereotypical characters and behave as such, though with one notable exception, namely they suck the blood of their victims using fangs that only appear when their tongues split open. This is a bizarre little gimmick, and I have no idea where it origins from, but it's hardly special enough to make the film is must-see genre effort. Perkins tries his best, but he obviously struggles with the accent as wells as with the lack of motel rooms and shower kills. There's very little blood and spectacle to find here (TV-movie, remember?) but the atmosphere is moody and the old buildings look uncanny. Hardly priority viewing for horror fans, but worth a peek nonetheless.

I recently bought this film for my girlfriend who had fond memories of watching it as a teenager. Being a made for TV film it does have some rather low production values, and some of the scripting is a little wooden. However, there is no denying that it has a certain atmosphere that you don't find in many films. Perhaps it had something to do with the location (the bulk of the film is set within Bucharest in Romania) or perhaps it is the combination of the set and the subject matter.Whatever the cause, the dreamy, sinister atmosphere of the film does make it worth watching...so long as you don't expect too much from it.If you like vampire films and haven't watched this yet then I can recommend it, a good film also for anyone wanting to catch a flavour of Eastern Europe and some of Romania's seedy little area's.

I remember Daughter of Darkness from 1990, I was 14 at the time (hard to believe that part of the 90s is 15 years ago!) and I found to be a very compelling film. This was a great little flick by made for TV standards, and they had a unique take on vampire lore. From what I remember, the vampire's tongue had some sort of fangs or pricks on it. I remember this film being VERY sexy too. It turned me on at age 14 back then. I would probably think it's stupid today, but I would still love to watch this again. I wish I could say more about this movie, but I just don't remember enough. It aired on CBS from what I remember. What I was doing watching CBS at age 14 back in 1990 I can't tell you. In 1990 CBS was still the 45+ year old peoples channel.