Daughters of Satan (1972)

Overrated

Good start, but then it gets ruined

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This movie "feels" like a R-Rated made for TV movie or TV episode - it doesn't "feel" like a movie that would hit movie theaters or drive-ins. It also "feels" like a cop show and not a horror movie. Speaking of cops, it's a cop-out film ending.Laughably terrible, yet a somewhat mildly entertaining slow-moving film. Tom Selleck, I mean James Robertson, buys a painting because the woman being burned at the stake looks like his wife. She's not happy with the painting but lives with it. Over time the wife becomes the woman or witch in the painting - she's possessed with the witches spirit. More people from the painting appear to be possessing others as well. It's as if everyone from the painting is suddenly possessing people - including a dog! Funny, the painting of the dog is fading but not the rest of the people. It seems the dog can jump out of the painting but not the people. He's a witches familiar so I guess that makes him an exception LOL.OH expect to hear 1970's "action music" in this horror film when the "action" is taking place. The music sounds like something from some action-cop type of show and not horror. I guess because pre-Magnum P.I. Tom Selleck is in it? Weird.2/10

This film was so awful it provoked laughter rather than shudders. Tom Selleck is the major reason to see the film, done at the beginning of his career. Fortunately it did not end his career. Along with everything else in the film, he also is awful, and that is probably because the script was so bad and the direction was probably nonexistent.The first 15-20 minutes were terribly slow, and I was tempted to stop watching. But then, it suddenly became totally absurd. And enjoyable. Such as an unmotivated chase on foot through Manila. And Selleck and his wife visit a picturesque picnic spot and she finds a ceremonial dagger in the picnic basket, and while Selleck has his back to her and is talking about how scenic the place is, she makes to stab him, only to quickly hide the knife each time he turns to look at her. Hilarious.There is a scene in which Tom's pink shirt matches the pink shade on a desk lamp. And there was a red and white typewriter on the desk (it's a sad comment when you spend time admiring the details of the set decoration.) There is a scene where a woman Selleck meets at their shrink's funeral invites him over for a post-funeral drink (without his wife), and she invites him into her bedroom to check a painting, and again, he is talking about the painting with his back turned to his hostess, and when he turns to her she has removed all her clothes. He continues the conversation as though nothing had happened.The witches all belong to the "Manila Assembly of Lucifer." That is actually in the dialogue. And probably they're also listed in the Manila Yellow Pages, under "Churches-Satanic." Many of the actresses seem like they were found in porn films: substandard acting but exceptional breasts. And there's an invisible dog, a mortician who photographs naked female corpses, and so many other completely insane touches.Personally, I really enjoyed the film. But I can't give it more than three stars, because objectively it is rather bad. And if Tom Selleck had not been in it, but another actor giving exactly the same performance, I'd probably give it a 2.

"Daughters of Satan" is nothing special, but is still hard to resist on the level of an entertaining "late show" feature. It *is* irresistible to see a young and studly Tom Selleck in a horror film, a Tom Selleck who's already sporting that famous moustache.He plays James Robertson, an art expert working in the Philippines who purchases a painting for himself depicting the burning of three witches. One of the witches bears an uncanny resemblance to his wife Chris (Barra Grant). And that's just the beginning of the weirdness to follow, as both James and Chris start to encounter strange individuals, including Kitty (Tani Guthrie) and Juana (Paraluman). Also on hand is eternally jolly Filipino icon Vic Diaz as an art dealer as well as Vic Silayan as helpful doctor Dr. Dangal...not to mention a Rottweiler who's friendly to Chris but who always gives cat man James a hard time.The opening sequence very much lets us know right from the start where this is heading, so suspense is limited. This film, produced by Aubrey Schenck ("Frankenstein - 1970", "Robinson Crusoe on Mars") and directed by TV veteran Hollingsworth Morse (now *there's* a name for you), is more about enveloping the audience in an appropriately odd and dreamy ambiance. It has some violence here and there and voyeurs will appreciate the breast shots from our leading lady. There's a lot of great scenery to enjoy, and a very '70s but effective music score by Richard LaSalle.The movie is an acceptable diversion, as far as it goes, but it does rather get bogged down in talk sometimes. Still, some of the actors, especially Guthrie and Paraluman, are fun to watch, and Selleck is good as the frustrated, puzzled hero. Grant is less satisfactory (although she does look fine). Plus, the movie is worth sticking with just for the kind of downbeat ending common to cinema of the 1970s.If you're a genre fan who loves seeking out obscurities such as this one, you should have a fairly good time with it.Six out of 10.

"Daughters of Satan" is a cheesy but fun piece of low-budget occult Horror starring 27-year-old Tom Selleck in his first leading role. Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (nice name, buddy), "Daughters of Satan" was obviously shot on a very low budget, and while the plot is cheesy and messy and often lacks logic, the film is undeniably entertaining. Selleck plays the American arts expert James Robinson, who has recently moved to the Phillipines with his beautiful wife Christina (Barra Grant). In an obscure art gallery, he stumbles across a painting which shows a witch-burning in 1592 Spain. And one of the burned witches happens to be the spitting image of his wife! Fascinated with the coincidence, he buys the painting and brings it home; henceforth, mysterious things begin to happen... As mentioned above, logic isn't the strongest point of the film (why would anyone keep the painting when it's clear that it's causing trouble), and the plot is often messy. Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable film that might appeal to many of my fellow fans of low-budget Horror and Exploitation. There are some really cool scenes, in particular the sleazy opening sequence, and one fantastic creepy scene involving a painting, which I don't want to give away. Interestingly, Selleck's role here has some resemblance to the role of Magnum P.I., for which he would later get famous. Barra Grant, who plays his wife, has a very presentable rack, and the film includes a variety of eccentric characters. You haven't missed anything if you decide to skip "Daughters of Satan". However, it is definitely entertaining, and a film that most of my fellow fans of B-Movies and low-budget Horror in particular might enjoy.