callanvass (Credit to Paul Lancaster) The Daughter of Darkness is an atmospheric, sub-hallucinogenic venture into the world of the unknown. The enigma facing the young woman is the identity of her father. Unfortunately for her she becomes drawn into a small Romanian underworld of brooding menace, darkness, torture chambers and bizarrely over make-overed vampires. This was actually not too shabby! The first half is a little slow, but never really boring. The second half really picks up and turns into a watchable, made for TV movie. I watched this because of Anthony Perkins! He's one of my favorites and I've tried to track this movie down for a while. This movie is very low-budget. It's also cheap looking (What do you expect from a movie that is filmed in Bucharest?) The Vampires themselves are not very creepy looking and feel somewhat out-of-place in the modern world. Placing vampires in a contemporary setting didn't work all that well in this movie. The makeup is poor and the low-budget really shows in that aspect of it. I liked how the vampires bit with their tongue, it was creative, I'll admit that. The creepy dream sequences provide a couple of thrills, though they do get a tad redundant at times. There is also some hallucinatory imagery that works, as well as some creepy atmosphere at times. Mia Sara is OK at best. She's great to look at, but she's on and off for the most part. She's slightly sympathetic, but she doesn't have the talent to pull it off. I like her, but not exactly for her acting. Anthony Perkins is nowhere near his best, but he can be entertaining, even when he's clearly here for the paycheck. His accent is average, but his presence alone keeps you glued to the screen. It was always livelier when he was around. This was one of his obscure T.V projects before his untimely demise. Jack Coleman is alright as the love interest, but I got annoyed at his cavalier attitude. If you stick with the slow first half, you'll be semi-rewarded with a solid second half. I didn't mind it and thought it passed the time decently for a TV movie. You can do better, but you could also do a lot worse5.3/10

lost-in-limbo 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.

The_Void 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.

damocaz 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.