Daughters of Satan

"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.

Manila-based art-buyer James Robertson (Tom Selleck) purchases a fugly old painting depicting the burning of three witches in 1592, after which his wife, Chris (Barra Grant), becomes possessed by the spirit of one of the witches and attempts to kill her husband, who just happens to be a descendant of the inquisitor who condemned the satanic trio to death.

Could Daughters of Satan have influenced the creators of classic series Magnum, P.I.? Not only does this cheesy Filipino B-movie feature an early starring role for future TV private eye Selleck, but his character drives a red sports car (albeit not a Ferrari), while the name of the film's writer, John C. Higgins, is uncannily similar to that of Magnum's stuffy superior, John Q. Higgins. If all of this is a coincidence, then it's certainly spookier than anything that happens in Daughters of Satan, which completely fails to delivers the chills.

Director Hollingsworth Morse worked primarily in television, and his uninspired visuals, coupled with predictable editing, a weak script and cheap special effects, means that Daughters of Satan definitely has the look and feel of a bad TV movie, and as such offers very little in the way of genuine horror. What just about saves the film from being a total waste of time is some good old-fashioned gratuitous nudity (Barra Grant's splendid rack making up for her 'constantly surprised' eyebrows), a reasonably fun chase scene that features a couple of decent stunts, and a welcome cameo from Filipino character actor Vic Diaz, who sports a really strange hairdo.

3.5 out of 10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

Vic Diaz was so good in The Big Bird Cage that I just had to see him again to see if he was as funny in all his films. He was in 112 films and is considered the jolly evil fat man of Filipino exploitation cinema. It may take a while to track them all down.

As a bonus, this is Tom Selleck's (Magnum P.I., Blue Bloods, Jesse Stone series) third film. He even has a mustache then.

Jim (Selleck) finds a painting of a witch burning, and the with looks like a dead ringer for his wife Chris (Barra Grant). Suspicious things start occurring. She blurts out the exact date of the burning, and a dog in the painting disappears after she sees it for real. Things just get stranger from there.

It's all about revenge for a 16th century crime. Very interesting.

I'd never heard of this 70's horror movie until the other night when TCM had a late night airing. I've always liked Tom Selleck and even in this effective but somewhat cheesy scare-fest he does an awesome acting job! For the time and plot, this movie does include some chilling suspense and eerie music and/or chanting--the freaky calling out of the wife's name in the middle of the night was a perfect tool to get you on the edge of your seat!

However, the ending was really stupid in my opinion! I don't want to say what happens, as I don't want to really include a "spoiler." But, with all the build-up and suspense, the way the film concludes was a total let-down and ridiculous! To me no matter how awesome or superb a movie was...if the end is terrible then it ruins the rest of it as well.

I would not recommend bothering with this...unless you're a die-hard Selleck fan, or a 70's cult-horror film collector (that doesn't care how films play out or end). However, if you like Selleck...stick with "Magnum, p.i.!"

A very rarely seen little oddity this but I like it. The unusual location of the Philippines is pleasing and there a couple of very creepy sequences. The Robertsons seem positively crazy about each other which is a sure sign she'll end up doing very nasty things to him, but they were both quite believeable and the supporting cast were all adequate. The painting that is the centre of the whole mystery is very chilling, especially in the scenes where Jim meets the new housekeeper and then glances at the picture and sees her in it. The death of the Doctor is very eerie but best of all has to be the very simple scene of Chris lying in bed and hearing a voice in the night calling out "Christina..." Very creepy especially if you are watching this movie for the first time on late night television and wonder if the sound is on the screen or not! There is also an extraordinary sequence where Jim sees movement outside the house at night and investigates only to be attacked. When he returns to the house the incident is almost forgotten in his bemusement..just like a sort of "was it a dream?" sleepy kind of unreality. My main reason for liking this movie is that compared to what Hammer were churning out it is different and scary, unlike most of Hammer's films, and doesn't need to rely on gore. It also predates The Omen and The Exorcist and yet deals with the subject matter intelligently, so in a sense it is ahead of it's time. Good stuff...not exactly the greatest movie ever made but effective and successful in its clearly limited ambitions.