User Reviews

"Daughters of Satan" is a movie about three women who are actually reincarnated witches, re-born to take revenge on the man who burned them at the stake. It's a slow-paced bad dream that holds together much better than most old horror movies. Tom Selleck stars as a man who buys a strange painting of a woman who looks like his wife… when he gives it to her she starts to "remember" her past, and so begins the violence and nudity.

This is one of those good "bad" horror movies that isn't just about moving from one violent bloodbath to the next... you get to breathe with the characters and ponder the outlandish situation in which they find themselves, which only makes it all the more believable. It's like that realization during a nightmare that you're having a nightmare, when you try to wake yourself up but you just can't come out of it.

"Daughters Of Satan" is not a great movie by any means, but it has it's own illogical occult madness that somehow winds up making sense. I'm prejudiced because I saw the last 40 minutes on late-night TV and spent five years tracking it down to see the entire movie. It was worth it, for me anyway...

GRADE: B-

Fortunately Tom Selleck has survived this messy occult horror movie that seemed so proud of its cleverness, somewhat intelligent in the first ten minutes yet completely absurd for the remainder of the film. The set-up, concerning an old painting where figures disappear from it, has the intensity of that set up quickly disappear as well. Selleck, with slightly lighter hair, is fairly decent but he's surrounded by a ridiculously chatty script, blurry photography and a holier than though bit of preaching that is disrespectful to the audience.

There are long sequences of no dialog with visuals of no consequence and rather inane acting, even by the supposedly deadly dog and especially by a supposedly demonic housekeeper. If this was trying to climb on the "Rosemary's Baby" gravy train, then the wheels went completely off the track. Leading lady Barra Grant is beyond dull, smiling blankly at the screen with a lack of magic, pretty pathetic considering that her character is supposed to be some kind of a witch. This is easy to skip, unless you are a huge Selleck fan. As for the women, they are rather sordid and obvious in their succubus characterizations.

An evil housekeeper,the number 666 and an evil dog!is this the 1976 THE OMEN?Well,no since it was made in 1972 but you get the feeling that part of the Richard Donner film was inspired by it.

While this was filmed in the philippines,it takes a very long time before a beautiful outdoor scene makes you feel that it was filmed over there since many scenes are filmed indoors.

After i saw the main actress(Barra Grant) in about the film's first ten minutes,i had the urge to fast forward the whole thing since this is simply not my type of girl. But since i wanted to write a fair review ,i decided to continue watching the film at normal speed.

There is a few scenes where normal people wouldn't react the way they do in this film.

One example is when Selleck is threaten by a gunman.Afterwards,he enters the house and doesn't talk about it at all when he rejoins his wife.

And why does Selleck want to hang the picture on the wall when her wife's first reaction is to tell him that she hates it?

There is many sights of crosses(with Jesus on it) in this film. (Perhaps it's the only type of cross that you can get in the philippines!)

There is one on the wall over the bed and Barra wears one in her neck for most of the film.

Apparently that has the power to keep bad witch spirits away but it doesn't seem to always work!

In one of the better scenes,an outside one, Barra wants to stab Selleck in the back but changes her mind when her husband hands her a cross she supposedly lost.

Other good scenes are the ones that features Selleck talking of the cursed painting with a Doctor but the appearing and disappearing figures on the painting plot kinds of gets annoying after a while.

The evil housekeeper is also annoying and you'd wished that Selleck would have waked up and fired her earlier. (He does but not with the energy that Peck did in THE OMEN and at this time, it's way too late.)

There is like a false bad ending that turns into a good ending that returns to a bad ending in this film!!!

I liked the first unhappy ending better than the last one!

I agree that some unhappy endings may have a greater impact in certain horror films but i don't think that this one is properly staged to make a satisfying or powerful impact.

Now some might like to know about the nutty parts of this film so here they are.

1-Bad words.Very few.About three. 2-Very little gore.There is a man with a knife in him which is a little bit bloody. (The crime has already been committed.) 3-Nudity.At first there is a topless woman on a table.She has her eyes closed. Not very interesting. The second scene is when kitty tries to seduce Selleck and goes half topless. Her other breast is covered by her hair. She's just a little bit better looking than Barra face wise. (But then again,not everyone will agree since beauty is in the eye of the beholder!)

This scene works because the prelude is well written as she tries very hard to seduce Selleck which isn't much interested in her.

The third scene is when Barra is stripped topless and the camera returns to her breasts a few times. Barra might not have the greatest face but breasts are breasts and if you like tied women,this scene works!

4-Blasphemy.Barra spitting on the cross plus a few praise the devil type of phrases.Some of words spoken by Barra aren't easily understandable. Really not my cup of tea if you know what i mean!!

So i guess this film could be listed as exploitation.it's about annoying, illogical and dull here and there for 30 minutes but if this is your kind of film,you might just find something you like about it.

Fans of Tom Selleck, don't miss this one! Everyone else, run away! Daughters of Satan stars the mustachioed one as James Robertson, an art collector in the Philippines who purchases a grotesque witch-burning painting that reminds him of wife Chris (Barra Grant). Love you too, sweetheart. When Chris starts acting all possessed and stuff, James divines that her body is now controlled by the spirit of one of the subjects depicted in his painting…and that, y'know, his life might be in danger. Where's Higgins when you need him? Directed by television regular Hollingsworth Morse (H. R. Pufnstuf, McHale's Navy), Daughters of Satan co-stars familiar Filipino heavy Vic Diaz.

***SPOILERS*** The big break that actor Tom Selleck waited for all these years, since he was a contestant on the "Dating Game" back in 1965, to get as the mind numbed robot-like James Robertson in the bad movie classic "Daugters of Satan". It was his part in the movie that lead Selleck straight, in about eight years hence, to his highly successful role as Magnum PI in the TV cop drama of the same name. Before "Daughters of Satan" Selleck's only significant role in a movies was as one of Mea West's young and hunky man servants in the the 1970 comedy free for all, with Rex Reed and Raquel Welch playing the main character in the movie, "Myra Breckinridge".

New York Art Museum curator James Robertson comes across this very unusual painting at a Manila flea market that has one of the people in it, being burned at the stake, looking like a dead ringer for his wife Chris, Barra Grant. As it soon turns out the painting has magical powers in conjuring up the people in it who've been dead and buried for almost 400 years! it takes James, who's not that on the ball, a while to figure this all out but with the help of local head shrinker or psychiatrist Dr. Dungal, Vic Silavan, he finally gets the hang out it. That's not until after Dr. Dangal gets himself killed in a car accident when is car's breaks were tampered with.

***SPOILERS*** The real big secret in the movie has nothing really that much to do with James' old lady Chris and her fellow witches Kitty Duarte & Juana Rios, Tani Gutrie Paraluman, as well as the Devil Dog Nicodemas who were depicted in the painting being burned along with her. It has to do with the poor confused and not too bright James Robertson himself or his great great great great great grand-pappy. It was Grandpa to the sixth or sevent power Robertson**MAJOR SPOILER*** who was in fact responsible for the witches' deaths! And now some 400 years later in 1972 it's payback time and despite having nothing to do with what happened back in Manila in 1592 James is the one to end up paying for his great great great great great grand-pappy's actions!

P.S The movie "Daughters of Satan" was released back in the fall of 1972 as a double feature with the also made in the Philippines bad movie horror classic "Superbeast".

"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 (1972) stars Tom Selleck before he was a star. The basic story: Selleck buys a painting depicting the burning of three witches. One of the witches bears a striking resemblance to his wife. Soon, she and two other women begin behaving in a very strange fashion. Selleck is sure that his wife and the other women are the spirits of the witches from the painting reincarnated. He must find a way to save not only his wife, but himself as well.

While most of the movie isn't very good, some scenes work. There are even a few creepy moments. My personal favorite is when Selleck's wife is awoken in bed by a voice whispering her name. Another good scene is when the wife as a witch is stripped and whipped. Very well done. But, there are moments in the movie where nothing happens. It's almost as if the writers had no idea of what to do next, so we get to see exciting scenes like the wife staring at a window for 30 or so seconds.

Most of the acting is forgettable. Selleck is okay, just a little green around the edges. Most of the rest of the cast is really bad. The housekeeper is especially bad. Most of her delivery is just so unnatural.

The most annoying thing about the movie is the soundtrack. It has some of the most inappropriate music you'll likely encounter. The music never seems to fit the action happening on the screen.