The Bloody Pit #238 - DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1990)

Our series of shows on the films of Stuart Gordon returns with his first effort for television. DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS (1990) features Mia Sara as a young lady on a trip to Romania in search of her family history. When she meets Anthony Perkins as a glass blower who might know something about her absent father things get interesting. Soon she starts to have odd encounters with the locals who seem curious about her background with questions pointing to dark deeds in the past – the distant past! Her lifelong nightmares begin to intensify, blending flashes of details from her visits to historic buildings around Bucharest. Could those lurking creatures she keeps spotting on the streets be supernatural in nature? Is Perkins actually her father? Well, yeah. That one is pretty obvious. But the film unspools its secrets effectively and it qualifies as an underseen little gem.

 

Troy Guinn joins John Hudson and I to dig into this nearly forgotten movie. We discuss the location shooting and the well-structured narrative. The surprise revelation about the lineage of a sweet taxi driver character is praised with nods toward the classic Van Helsing styled characters in horror fiction. We mourn the decline of Mia Sara’s career and acknowledge that this film marks one of the last horror movies from the great Anthony Perkins. There is some parsing of the one bit of nudity seen in the prints that are available and real doubt that fleeting shot was broadcast on CBS in 1990. And we finish up hoping that some enterprising Blu-Ray company will see the wisdom of getting the rights to this and lavish it with special edition love. Fingers and bizarre tongues crossed!

If you have comments or suggestions thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening and have a safe and happy Halloween!

Wild, Wild Podcast - NOSFERATU IN VENICE (1988)

Venice is stalked by an aging madman with a perverse attraction to beautiful young women, and then they turned the cameras on and started filming Nosferatu in Venice. Yes, this is that one where Klaus Kinski turned up and made impossible demands on an under pressure film crew, and it is a miracle that there was any kind of finished film at the end. But what will Rod and Adrian make of it? And just how will Donald Pleasence attempt to steal his scenes with that kind of ego on the set?

This season is dedicated to that great quiet man of British cinema, Donald Pleasence, who spent a great deal of time in the 1980s in Italy. We would love to hear from you about your favorite Donald Pleasence films from this period, or if you have ever had to deal with an insane megalomaniac with artistic pretensions.

You can get in touch with us, follow us on social media, buy our merch, and all that stuff, through our Linktree.

*Apologies for the occasional lapse in sound quality. This is because Adrian recorded next to an open window. In his defense, it was really hot that day, and how was he to know that his mic would pick up every passing breeze as well as every passing ice cream van?*

THE VAMPIRES NIGHT ORGY (1973) Poster Art

On my mind lately - for various reasons.

 

LADY VAMPIRE (1959) a.k.a. Vampire Man

I discovered this film last night and watched it this afternoon because the internet is often a true wonder. The more accurate title is definitely Vampire Man but I understand the desire to give it the Lady title. Whatever it is called this is a wonderfully odd little hidden gem of Japanese supernatural horror that takes a novel approach to the idea of the bloodsucker myth. Here the vampire is capable of moving around comfortably in daylight but the direct rays of the moon transform him into a ravenously thirsty monster attacking the throat of any female within reach. He also casts a reflection in mirrors and uses golden crosses to immobilize past victims he likes to keep around as decorations. And he has a small group of Renfields including a dwarf, a bald muscle-man and a witch! Did I mention it is an odd movie? 

There is a very good subtitled copy available on the Sinister Cinema YouTube page HERE and I recommend it if you are the least bit curious.

 

Vampirella Classic Cover Gallery

 

Tomb of Dracula Cover Gallery!

Still the gold standard for mainstream horror comics!

 

Italian Vampire Movie Poster Art

 

What I Watched in December 2024

Among the many (obvious) joys of Robert Egger’s new NOSFERATU (2024) is a reaffirmation of the timelessness and malleability of the core Dracula story. Each of the three film versions to bear this title tell essentially the same tale but emphasize very different things. And while each has grown organically out of the times in which they were produced they seem to reflect the specific creative ideas burning within their directors. The 1922 classic is a brilliant exploration of then new cinematic ways of employing German Expressionism to visualize horrific images that had never been attempted onscreen before. This was the cutting edge of stage and screen storytelling at the time with the film seeming like a call to others to elevate their visuals. Herzog’s 1979 vision was of societal destruction by a plague of evil and the overwhelming sense that the event was unstoppable and inevitable. This bleak view of the horrors of the (super)natural world clawing at the thin veneer of civilization was typical of the director’s harsh opinion of humanity. Egger’s film shifts the focus to the character who sacrifices herself to end the horrors being visited upon the entire world. His movie centers her struggle with both mental illness and the ways the world treats her affliction because of how it is viewed by the people around her. She is the inevitable hero character and she suffers in more ways than any person should have to with her only solace being that she can save humanity through self-sacrifice. All three films contain each of these elements but the focus shift is fascinating and shows why I hope I live to see another version made in the future. 

The List 

THE HOUSE OF WITCHCRAFT (1989) – 6 (Lenzi supernatural horror) 

THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION (1968) – 5 (sexual freedom ain’t free)

GLADIATOR II (2024) – 8 

BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) – 9 (rewatch on Blu) 

THE RETURN (2024) – 8 

MISSILE TO THE MOON (1958) – 4 (rewatch)

FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTER (1958) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

SHE DEMONS (1958) – 6 (rewatch)

GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN (1958) – 7 (rewatch on Blu) 

SUPERMAN III (1983) – 4 (rewatch on Blu)

WEREWOLVES (2024) – 4 (nice practical effects but the film is blah)

LARCENY INC. (1942) – 7 (comedic crime with Edward G. Robinson)

INVASION USA (1985) – 5 (rewatch on Blu) 

THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT (2023) – 4 (interesting idea but poor execution) 

COVER UP (1949) – 7 (good noir set at Christmas) 

SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE (1987) – 4 (rewatch on Blu)

NERCROPHAGOUS (1971) – 5 (rewatch on Blu) 

NOSFERATU (2024) – 9 

THE TREASURE OF SILVER LAKE (1962) – 7 (excellent German western)

Poster Art for NOSFERATU (2024)

MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935) Poster Art and Publicity Photos

Rewatched this very entertaining film the other night and was reminded of all its fine elements and why so many are frustrated by it. On my first viewing years ago I was peeved by the ending too but I've come to an appreciation of it that makes it a great addition to my annual October horror film watching.
 

Marvel Horror - Tomb of Dracula Cover Gallery