joe-pearce-1 I am dismayed by just about all the reviews which precede mine, mainly due to the fact that they seem seriously involved with the film only when trying to psychoanalyze the title character, which simply cannot be done because the screenplay never really gets very involved in doing so; this actually makes the nuanced performances of all concerned that much more admirable and certainly does so with the direction of the film by Lance Comfort. This may not be LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, but I think the dismissal of it as a quota quickie or a British B film is a bit much. The carnival scenes alone seem to demonstrate that some expense was gone to in the film's making and, in pure size at least, compare well with those in Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. And while Comfort may not be David Lean, it is obnoxious to call him, as one commentator did, the English Ed Wood, as this bespeaks a total lack of knowledge of either man's work. Comfort achieves a tremendously atmospheric production throughout, and is hampered in suspense only by the holes in the screenplay, which simply do not give any indication of what forces drive the title character. (He does similar and excellent work in BEDELIA.)As for the acting, which is excellent on everybody's part, someone complains about the 'posh' accents used in the farming family for whom the Irish girl goes to work, but he should be advised that not every farming family in England is the British equivalent of the Joads, especially in the post WW2 era. Many of those families were quite wealthy and educated - this particular family seems to have at least 15 or 20 farmhands working for them and are leaders in the community. Also, with the exception of some undeservedly nasty remarks about Maxwell Reed (who could hardly be better at playing a lowlife than what we see here), and a couple of mentions of this being Honor Blackman's first movie (actually, it was her second), the important considerations about most of the cast go unmentioned. The first may be that we get a look at a very young Barry Morse (later, of THE FUGITIVE TV fame), more importantly at the very stylish Anne Crawford, who was a fairly major English star of the day and who tragically died of leukemia at 36, and most particularly, at Siobhan McKenna, who was quite arguably the greatest Irish actress of the entire twentieth century (and certainly of the second half of it) and regarded so by critics and audiences alike, but who, with the exception of not more than a half-dozen times (mostly early on), eschewed film appearances almost entirely in favor of stage work on both sides of the Atlantic and a very occasional TV appearance. Do most of the correspondents here even know that? It would seem not. That all of this about her (and to some extent the others) goes unmentioned, while commentators waste their time with gratuitous attacks on even the unnamed wife of one of this film's stars, does not say a great deal of good about much of what appears in these reviews. This is a rock-solid film made less than it might have been by an unclear screenplay; it might have been something of a masterpiece if made by an Alfred Hitchcock, but to blame Lance Comfort for not being Alfred Hitchcock is like blaming Cary Grant for not being John Gielgud - in other words, just plain silly.

MartinHafer "Daughter of Darkness" begins with some very cool opening credits. The font and backgrounds are quite striking and work well with the rest of the film. As for the rest of the movie, it's an odd little story about a strange woman who rubs other women the wrong way. While I thought this aspect of the story was overdone, the overall film is worth your time.The story begins with a bunch of sexless old biddies approaching the local priest. They think that his housekeeper, Emily, is evil. Why exactly they think that is a bit vague--but apparently they hate her because men are inexplicably attracted to her (she's not THAT pretty by the way). Regardless, the priest is a wimpy guy who just wants things to be quiet, so he sends her to work for some far off folks. However, once in the new locale, once again the local women inexplicably grow to hate her. The problem is, you learn later that they have darned good reason--though they have no idea how bad she really is! This is a good film but I think some of it was overdone. The way women almost automatically hate Emily seems ridiculous and making all this more subtle would have worked much better. Still, it is an enjoyable little film and worth seeing despite a few limitations.

writers_reign If you know the name Lance Comfort today you're either 80 plus with a total recall of British 'B' pictures you saw more than half a century ago or else a film student specializing in British 'programmers' from the 40s and early 50s. Daughter Of Darkness dates from 1948 and introduced Siobhan McKenna to British film-goers, not that anyone seemed to care. In one sense acting joke Maxwell Reed enjoyed a higher profile but then he did marry Joan Collins before she decided that one non-actor was enough in any family and gave him the old heave-ho. What we have here is the old con trick; we're shown McKenna as a seemingly innocent, naive colleen in Ould Oirland, who wouldn't say boo to an erect phallus and gradually come to realize that she is a prototype serial killer before the term existed. Liam Redmond, Ann Crawford and Honor Blackman are along for the ride and those with a keen eye will note an uncanny resemblance between Maxwell Reed and another Max, Wall. Worth watching if it surfaces on the Late, Late Show but don't go out of your way.

melvelvit-1 Emmie, a chaste young serving girl, is driven out of her small Irish village by the womenfolk who hate and fear the effect she has on men. The parish priest, giving in to prejudice, finds her a position with a family in rural England but the same revulsion women feel in her presence, combined with mens' lust, lead the child-like girl to take revenge until (Divine?) intervention brings the sad, sinister story to a shocking conclusion.This movie amounts to a very subtle horror film in that the viewer never sees Emmie kill. A number of men are found dead after going off with her and, no doubt, the girl is responsible -but is she a succubus? A serial killer? Emmie, as portrayed by Siobhan (pronounced "She-vahn") McKenna (resembling a sensual Agnes Moorehead), seems to be the embodiment of "Original Sin" with the supernatural sex powers of a Lilith and she is eventually "hounded" to death a la the Biblical Jezebel. Based on the play "They Walk Alone" by Max Catto, the storyline is similar to Val Lewton's superstitious CAT PEOPLE in that sex (and the fear of it) can wreak havoc. Here, lust -and the ability to arouse it- are evil and, like Eve in the Bible, temptation has to be driven out. The way the young girl is persecuted is not unlike what happened during the Salem witch trials and the poor thing evokes audience sympathy throughout the film. All women -the only sex to sense the presence of evil- refer to her as horrifying and revolting so the audience may come to believe there's something unearthly at work. That the girl has a devastating effect on the male of the species is never in question. Handsome Maxwell Reed plays a carnival boxer who's infatuation unwittingly releases the girl's inner demon and pays a terrible price as does the family who, once again, intends to drive Emmie from civilization. Honor Blackman, in her first role, plays one of only two young girls who can abide Emmie's presence and this implies that the real problem may lie in the fears and hatreds of adults. Emmie herself is afraid of what's inside her and only uses her strange sex-power to defend herself from the lustful intentions of the opposite sex and the constant persecution by her own sex who seemingly won't be happy until the girl is permanently removed from society. The story begins and ends in a church and gives this rather Gothic tale a strange allegorical feel. If one discards the nebulous supernatural interpretation, humanity is a bit barbaric here and the moral, if there is one, is right out of the Dark Ages. Society had made the girl a killer. The film's very theme is of a dual nature- man's inhumanity to man vs. confronting something that may be "not of this earth". The movie's title and the presence of the Church throughout slants the debate in favor of the latter interpretation -and the fact Emmie plays sombre, "unholy" music on that venerable institution's various organs implies a stranger in its midst. There are a number of masterful set-pieces (the carnival, the countryside, the church services) that are visually arresting and shows the care and effort taken with this film. Directed with style by Lance Comfort, the baroque play of light and shadow, sanctimonious good and ambiguous evil, and a possible force of Nature that can't be tamed give this psychological melodrama, with its references to Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN, more than a semblance of "Brit Noir". The fact that McKenna has the same off-beat appeal (and thin upper lip) as that genre's masochistic temptress, Gloria Grahame, only adds to this impression. True horror fans may be disappointed -as will "noir" purists- but if one goes in with no expectations, they won't be disappointed and may even find themselves pondering some complex issues long after the movie's over.Recommended, for sure.