Daughters of darkness = The Promise of red lips = The Red lips = Le Rouge aux levres

France, 1971

Film
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In the lost space of an opulent Ostend hotel, eerily deserted in the off season, a young but hardly innocent couple on their honeymoon encounter the apparently ageless, sunlight-fearing, lesbian Countess Bathory. Kumel imaginatively balances the erotic malaise and violence of vampire folklore and a European (specifically Belgian) surrealist tradition with thirties Hollywood camp and comic strip tableaux. Perverse sexuality is located in a setting of decadent highlife which seems to immobilise the “victims”. Originally titled “La Rogue aux Levres” (Lips of Blood). Cast includes John Karlen, Delphine Seyrig, Danielle Ouimet and Andrea Rau.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Harry Kumel

co-producer

Henry Lange

Paul Collet

production company

Maya Films

Showking Films

Duration

01:36:00:00

Production places
France
Production dates
1971

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

316913

Language

English

Audience classification

R (18+)

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Wikidata

Q631568

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/93469--daughters-of-darkness-the-promise-of-red-lips-the-red-lips-le-rouge-aux-levres/ |title=Daughters of darkness = The Promise of red lips = The Red lips = Le Rouge aux levres |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=12 September 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}