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Newlyweds Stefan and Valerie are travelling through Europe when they make a detour to a deserted seaside hotel. Their romantic idyll soon takes a dark turn when they meet the enigmatic countess Báthory (Delphine Seyrig, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles) and her mysterious companion Ilona, whose unsettling charm and aristocratic poise mask a deadly intent. A Euro-horror classic, Daughters of Darkness is an opulent fever dream, weaving a Sapphic subtext and feminist undercurrent beneath its baroque surface. Thematically rich. Harry Kümel’s vampire tale transcends convention and is presented in a stunning 4K restoration for the first time in the UK.

4K UHD & BLU-RAY DUAL FORMAT LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES

4K restoration from the original negative by Blue Underground, approved by director Harry Kümel
4K UHD with Dolby Vision HDR and Blu-ray presentation of the feature
Audio commentary authors Virginie Sélavy and Lindsay Hallam (2025)
New interview with director Harry Kümel and critic Anne Billson (2025)
Archival interview with Delphine Seyrig in which the actor discusses her career (1989)
On set footage with Harry Kümel and stuntman Thierry Hallaert (1970)
Behind-the-scenes footage of Delphine Seyrig shooting a scene from the film and an interview with Harry Kümel (1971)
Interview with critic and author Kim Newman (2025)
Immoral Tales: Daughters of Darkness, Class, Cruelty, and the Cinematic Legacy of Bathory - a visual essay by Kat Ellinger, author of the monograph on the film (2025)
Anna the Maid - Harry Kümel’s short film based on a Jean Cocteau poem about a murderous maid (1958, 5 mins)
Aether - Harry Kümel’s short film about the surreal visions of a man following an accident (1960, 7 mins, co-directed by Herman Wuyts)
Limited edition 80-page perfect bound booklet featuring new writing by Suzanne Boleyn, Martyn Conterio, Joseph Dwyer, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Mairéad Roche
Limited edition of 5000 copies, presented in rigid box and full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Released in the UK: October 13th.



Jan (Mathieu Carrière, Police Python 357), a sailor newly arrived onshore, is unsure about returning to land but makes the journey to visit his childhood home only to find it no longer there. He goes to Bar Venus and joins his friends but an altercation leaves him knocked out cold. He wakes up in Malpertuis, a gothic mansion presided over by his uncle, Cassavius (Orson Welles). All the inhabitants of Malpertuis are waiting for Cassavius to die and the opportunity to inherit his vast fortune. But Cassavius wishes anyone who inherits to stay there forever. Jan investigates as those who leave meet with mysterious deaths. Harry Kümel’s (Daughters of Darkness) phantasmagoria is a Matryoshka doll of fantastic ideas, realised with stunning photography by Gerry Fisher (The Exorcist III) and scored by Georges Delerue (Contempt). Newly restored and overseen by Kümel, it is released on Blu-ray for the first time in the world.

BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES

New 4K restoration of the film overseen by director Harry Kümel
Audio commentary by Harry Kümel and assistant director Françoise Levie (2005)
New interview with Harry Kümel (2025)
New interview with author and gothic horror expert Jonathan Rigby (2025)
Malpertuis Archive - an archival documentary on the making of the film featuring Kümel, actor Mathieu Carrière and director of photography Gerry Fisher among others (2005)
Orson Welles Uncut - a featurette on the casting of Welles, including rare outtakes of the actor (2005)
Susan Hampshire: one actress, three parts - an archival interview with the actress, including screen tests and contributions from cast and crew (2005)
Archival interview with Michel Bouquet and Harry Kümel from Belgian television (1971)
Jean Ray, John Flanders 1887 - 1964 - an archival interview with the source novelist and co-writer of Malpertuis (2005)
Malpertuis Revisited - Harry Kümel revisits locations from the film (2005, 4 mins)
Malpertuis: The Cannes cut - the rejected version of the film which premiered in Cannes (100 mins, SD)
The Warden of the Tomb - Kümel’s early film based on Franz Kafka’s play (1965, 37 mins)
Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Limited edition 80-page perfect bound booklet featuring new writing by Lucas Balbo, Maria J. Pérez Cuervo, David Flint, Willow Catelyn Maclay, Jonathan Owen
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in rigid box and full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Released in the UK/US: October 13th/14th.

That gets a big "at last! " from me.

I love Daughters of Darkness so I'm very glad I'll get to see this. Also glad Willow Maclay and Jonathan Owen were commissioned to write on it.

"our Malpertuis Cannes Cut will indeed have EITHER French OR English Language. Sorry as I was misinformed before. So, as you correctly identified before, you can select this edition to play entirely in French or in English-language audio-tracks (although there is only English subtitles)"

https://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/viewto ... &start=255 - see post by halford66, July 25

Both sets delayed a few weeks to the end of October

Malpertuis available in the UK with original release date though (mine is on its way).

I haven't purchased DoD yet (may pick it up in the new year if discounted) but it is streaming on BFI Player (as is Malpertuis). DoD is fantastic;

Spoiler

the austere winter of the Belgian coast is such a different location for a film of this type, but the sexual tensions and undercurrents of DoD really set it apart from shallower 'vampire' films. Valerie and Stefan seem like a typical young, urbane couple but there's definitely something amiss - his reluctance to tell his mother about their marriage gets revealed much later. He has an edge about him that makes it clear where the roles between genders lies (which of course, is reversed). Ilona (looking like Louise Brooks) and the Countess Bathory (wearing a series of impeccably glamourous costumes) - who stayed in Ostende four decades ago without ageing(!) - upset the equilibrium. Kumel captures this shifting dynamic with some astonishing shots (the Countess's cape, spreading her wings around the couple, repeated at the end!), some nice offbeat humour and an ending that really shows how the balance between the four has changed. A nice double bill with Rollin's Fascination, I reckon.