See Tom Selleck Battle Witches In Horror Cult Classic, Stream Now For Free

Daughters of Satan opens with a coven of witches torturing a woman that they’ve suspended in the air with ropes. After several minutes of whipping and admonishment, the scene fades into the present, where museum curator James Robertson (Tom Selleck) is visiting a shop that deals in East Asian antiquities. While he’s there, he discovers a painting that catches his eye.

The painting becomes the primary plot device in Daughters of Satan. The canvas depicts a scene from the late 16th century where Spanish Conquistadors are burning three witches and a dog at the stake for crimes against the Catholic Church. Tom Selleck’s character notices that one of the women in the painting looks remarkably like his wife, Chris (Barra Grant).

James buys the painting and brings it home as a gift for Chris, who is immediately repulsed by it. Chris tells him that the painting is a depiction of the execution of a coven of witches known as the Duarte, but can offer no explanation of how she knows this detail. A mystery soon begins to take shape in Daughters of Satan that is worthy of Tom Selleck’s Magnum character

James discovers a dog near his home that looks like the one in the painting, then notices that the image of the dog has disappeared from the canvas. When he goes to the address on the dog’s collar, it turns out to be a mortuary. To further add elements of suspense, a woman that looks like a figure in the painting arrives at the house insisting that she was hired to be the Robertson’s housekeeper, and her painted likeness disappears.

Daughters of Satan becomes more intense as audiences realize that the figures in the painting have been reincarnated into modern times and are set to avenge their deaths. James soon becomes their primary target, as it’s revealed that he is the reincarnation of the man who ordered the deaths of the coven members centuries before. Will he make it out alive in true Tom Selleck style, or will the coven make him perish?

There’s a noticeable difference in Tom Selleck’s ability to deliver a line when his time on screen with Daughters of Satan is compared to what he accomplished on the hit 1980s CBS series Magnum, P.I. While his presence is solid and commands nearly every frame of film he’s in, Selleck’s delivery is flat at best and goes to show that he had much better days ahead of him. The rest of the cast also had less-than-stellar performances, the film’s score really being the best sound that’s emitted.

An intriguing storyline, for sure, and the plot device of using vanishing figures from the painting to represent awakening was thought provoking and grabbed attention. There is certainly an element of suspense in Daughters of Satan that, with or without Tom Selleck, would have persisted throughout. The film is a mediocre horror film at best, worth seeing for those who want an early look at Selleck or for hardcore fans of witchcraft films, but overall it’s one that most will gladly pass over.

GFR SCORE

Daughters of Satan gets 1.5/5.0 stars, with Tom Selleck getting the same rating for his entry level acting in the film. For better witchcraft films of the era, there are much better ones to consider, The Devil’s Nightmare and A Touch of Satan being more rewarding of a fan’s foray into 1970s cult horror films.

You can stream the Tom Selleck cult classic for free with Tubi and Freevee, or rent it on Prime.