11. Daughters Of Darkness (1971)
A Belgian film this time, directed by Harry Kümel, Daughters of Darkness is another lesbian vampire flick, but one with considerable style and panache that has made this film a firm cult favourite. Stefan and Valerie are a young couple on honeymoon. They book into a grand hotel in Ostend, intending to get the ferry to Britain. Stefan doesn't seem too keen to introduce Valerie to his mother. A mysterious Hungarian countess - Elizabeth Bathory - arrives at the hotel with her secretary and becomes obsessed with the newly weds. This results in sadism and murder. Basically everyone dies except for Valerie who is transformed into a predatory vampire. Daughters of Darkness is truly a high art European horror film. It is perfectly cast and beautifully directed by Harry Kümel. It may well appeal to the art house crowd, more than the horror crowd, but all Euro horror fans should be delighted that there is a classy, elegant horror film that they can steer the naysayers toward whenever the state of European horror films is bing discussed. This is a film to make you truly proud to be a Euro horror fan.