Tom Selleck might have lost out on the role of Indiana Jones, but by that point he had already played a museum curator who finds himself at the center of a supernatural debacle. Before he broke through as Thomas Magnum in “Magnum, P.I.,” Selleck played James Robertson in “Daughters of Satan,” a horror film that saw the young actor in his first leading role. The movie itself has been long forgotten, but it’s well worth a watch over on Tubi, not only because it’s Selleck’s first time as star, but because it’s equally hilarious and dark.
“Daughters of Satan” is directed by Hollingsworth Morse, who’s best known for his prolific TV directing career. Aside from overseeing 50 episodes of “The Lone Ranger,” Morse directed installments of “Zorro,” “The Dukes of Hazzard,” and “The Fall Guy,” just to name a few. In 1972, he helmed one of his few films. “Daughters of Satan” was equal parts horror B-movie and exploitation film, infused with the paranoia of the Satanic Panic era before that mass delusion had even begun to filter its way throughout society in the 1980s.
Selleck was coming to the movie with a fairly slight filmography. Having made his screen debut on two episodes of “The Dating Game” in 1965 and ’67, he had embarked on an acting career and seen modest success. Throughout the 1970s, Selleck starred in commercials and bit parts while working his way towards stardom. By the end of the decade, he secured a recurring role as private investigator Lance White in “The Rockford Files,” before finally debuting in “Magnum, P.I.” in 1980. But back in 1972, he was still very much an up-and-comer.
Tom Selleck has witch trouble in Daughters of Satan
There are many gems in the Tom Selleck oeuvre. His emotional 2000s sci-fi movie has a bold view about the future, and his 90s Western proved Selleck should have been a star. But “Daughters of Satan” is significant for being the first time he ever starred in a movie. Taking the lead role in a film, even a horror B-movie, was a big step for Selleck in 1972. His only two film credits at that point were as “Stud” in 1970’s “Myra Breckinridge” and as Phil Sanford in Russ Meyer’s legal drama “The Seven Minutes.”
The movie sees Selleck — already handsomely mustachioed even back in the early ’70s — play Manila-based art collector and museum curator James Robertson (Tom Selleck). During a trip to Carlos Ching’s (Vic Díaz) antiques store, he finds a painting from 1592 which shows three women and a dog being burned at the stake. Robertson is surprised to find that one of the women in the painting bears a striking resemblance to his wife, Chris Robertson (Barra Grant), and buys the painting. When he returns and unveils his find to Chris, she’s deeply disturbed. Oddly enough, she also knows the name of the coven being cooked, as well as the year the gruesome event occurred. Soon, strange occurrences abound, with Robertson eventually uncovering his family’s connection to the witch-burning depicted in the painting.
Some scenes are a tad sluggish, but the film switches things up enough to keep you on your toes. You’ll go from Tom Selleck talking quietly to a guy in an antiques store to a naked witch being flogged in surprisingly violent detail. It’s weird, but in a strangely funny and compelling way.
Daughters of Satan is an interesting early ’70s curio
“Daughters of Satan” is a low-budget occult horror that doesn’t shy away from its exploitation influences. An unfortunate musical cue for the “Treasures of the Orient” antiques store is better imagined than described here, and multiple shots of topless witches being tortured in various ways sort of take you out of the otherwise macabre tone of the whole thing. But these elements are also part of the movie’s charm as an early-’70s curio.
The film also features a rookie Tom Selleck, who isn’t always capable of commanding the screen in the way he would as his career developed. But that’s an interesting thing to watch in light of his later work. What’s more, it’s arguably less cheesy than the Michael Crichton-penned ’80s sci-fi movie that also starred Selleck. Parts of the film were also shot on location in Manila, so there’s a certain immersiveness to much of the movie.
Interestingly enough, according to AFI, the film was shot back-to-back with another low-budget horror, “Superbeast,” with the same crew working on both features. “Daughters of Satan” and “Superbeast” were then released as a double feature Stateside, which you recreate in your living room as both films are available to watch for free on Tubi.
Meanwhile, as you might expect, Selleck himself hasn’t exactly made a big thing of his role as James Robertson. In a 2015 interview with The AV Club, he was asked briefly about the film, and seemed to give a sarcastic answer when he said, “What a role. You know, that really should be re-released.” When told that the film is available to stream, he’s quoted as saying, “[Sighs.] Yes, I expect it is. Well, look, at least I had fun!”
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