Daughters of Darkness

A newly married couple check into a vast hotel in Ostend, empty out of season. There is one other guest: a woman who introduces herself as Countess Elizabeth Báthory and is said never to have aged, travelling with a young companion. Harry Kümel builds his vampire film on seduction and power rather than blood and teeth, and the countess does not attack the young wife so much as the husband's authority over her. Delphine Seyrig plays it far from any horror tradition, with something closer to the coldness of a fashion shoot. Colour is the signature: red, silver, and the bare marble corridors of the hotel. Made in 1971, it still looks strangely modern. Who it is for: viewers drawn to the meeting point of European art cinema and horror. Who it is not for: anyone after tension and pace, since this is almost entirely atmosphere.