70s Trash: Daughters of Satan (1972)

It was this or Dr. Orloff.  Every once in a while I go 'I have 1,003 Films in my Instant Queue- I should watch one.'  Given that I have 1,003 Film there, I obviously don't do it too often.  Quick plug, by the way: Nymph is now on Instant as Killer Mermaid- check it out.  So, anyways, I decided to watch Daughters of Satan- why not?  This 1972 Film is about a young couple in the Philippines that run afoul of some evil folks.  Naturally, there are evil Witches!  Of course, there's another thing that this Film is more famous for- its Star.  The movie Stars a young Tom Selleck as our Hero, a good 10 years before Magnum P.I.  Yes, he still has the mustache and it is fantastic.  There is evil afoot and our hero...will eventually figure things out.  I kept waiting for a moment where he reveals how much he has figured out...but it never quite came.  The Film has some good point, some bad and it even reminded me of a Film I saw about 4 years ago called Lucifera.  That Film sucked.  Will this one fare better?  To find out, read on...

Right off the bat, we get Witches, Torture and a topless woman.  We are only 1 minute in!

After that, Selleck goes to a local Dealer to buy a bit of tapestry.  It is a fake, but he does find a painting he likes.

This may seem weird, but you can totally trust this guy, right?

He brings the painting home and his slightly-unstable wife freaks out.  Why?

Well, it is of 3 Witches being burned at the stake and one of them is a dead ringer for her.  Odd.

All sorts of weird stuff starts to happen like a dog named Nicodemus appearing, mysterious women disappearing and people dying.  The wife is acting odd too.  Why?

Well, all of the women are in a Coven.  There is a whole thing involving ritual sacrifices of a single family line.  They are persistent, apparently.

Naturally, we learn that Selleck is part of the line of people who did the burning originally.  Of course he is.

He confides in his wife's Therapist as things get worse.  The guy actually agrees with Selleck and tries to help...so he dies.

The ending is...well, weird.  The Coven sets up Selleck's death- which involves putting his car near a cliff and putting ice blocks in front of the tires-, but he lives.  There's something about them having mental blocks about their involvement...or something.

After teasing us with a calm, but silly Ending, she just stabs him.  So...um...this face.  The End.

Decent at times and just plain ridiculous at others.  The idea certainly has merit.  The idea that this force exists in the shadows and manipulates events to come to fruition is good.  The problem is that their methods and execution are just weird.  They kill the guy who sold Selleck the painting, so was he part of the group?  Did he need to buy it to trigger the wife's transformation?  If not, wouldn't it have been better for him to be in the dark this whole time?  Why did those random guys at the camp fire (on his lawn) not kill him if the whole goal was to kill him?  All I can figure is that the women have to kill him...I guess.  I'm really not clear.  The whole thing about the women having no memory at the end is also kind of strange.  Basically, they hear a bell at the Diner where they are establishing their alibis and then forget who they are.  Of course, they don't forget some things- like the Therapist's name or that our heroine is married- but seem to forget major parts of the last few days- like the fake names they used and what jobs they did.  Can someone explain this properly?  I also love how Selleck acts really suspicious towards the women the last time...but still drinks the water they give him.  When he gets back, he doesn't think that they tried to kill him...even though he was clearly drugged earlier, not where he was before and set up to die.  Speaking of which, they set him in the passenger seat to die.  People could check that, you know.  Logic!  So, in summary, it seems neat until you start to think about it alot like I tend to do.  It does, however, set me up for a Film I kind of want to see now thanks to this double-bill Poster I found online...

Next up, a special Review that is unlike anything before.  All I can say is that you won't see this coming.  Stay tuned...