Countess Dracula

source: Countess Dracula

Come on folks, who are we kidding? This is not a very good film. Like most of the Hammer Vampire movies from this period it creaks, the scripts are awful, and all the really good actors are over 50 and playing bit parts. So why do we watch this movie? Because it has Ingrid Pitt in it. Naked. That is reason enough.

An insane countess discover her own fountain of youth, while bathing in blood of virgin. The women and took an identity of her own daughter (who she kidnapping) to be with a young man. This based on the real Elisabeth Bathory. The movie has nothing do with vampire and the movie is unpleasant. I don't like the voice dubbed of the late Ingrid Pitt. The acting was mediocre; The Countess is a real cougar and she seems to be jealousy/hated by her own daughter (Lesley-Anne Down); The scene of the wedding when she turn back into old ugly woman and so desperately to be young again she tried to kill her own daughter in front everyone (she is crazy!!!). Instead of kill the young man she tried to marry. I hated this movies it down right terrible you should just watch another movie about Elisabeth Bathory.

This is a Hammer film production and the name Dracula is mentioned in the title, yet shouldn't raise any hopes to see Christoper Lee dressed up in women's clothing, as this is not another entry in the long-running Dracula-series! The screenplay of this movie is based on the life of Countess Elisabeth Bathory, who lived in Hungary during the 16th century, and became almost as (in)famous as Vlad Dracula because of her bizarre rituals to sustain a youthful appearance. The merciless countess bathed in the blood of slain virgins and supposedly was responsible for the death of more than 300 young girls. Naturally, this makes her an ideal villain and who other than the eminent Hammer Studios were more eligible to turn this legend into a compelling Gothic horror movie? Director Peter Sasdy and writer Alexander Paal added a lot of popular story lines, like a truckload of sexual intrigues and a neat display of corruption, but they also managed to sustain the morbidity of Bathory's persona. Ingrid Pitt, perhaps the most ravishing Hammer actress ever (see "The Vampire Lovers" for more evidence), is truly magnificent as the repellent countess who would even sacrifice her own daughter in order to maintain her virility. She has the loyal Captain Dobi and a bunch of household staff to obey her commands implicitly and a newly arrived stud to fall in love with. Regretfully, the film lacks balanced pacing and the set pieces too often look like discarded attributes from other Hammer films. There's a satisfying amount of bloodshed and sleaze and the abrupt ending comes as a genuine shock. "Countess Dracula" is perhaps not the most sensational horror movie of the early 70's, but it provides a welcome change in substance and it's definitely worth tracking down by all the fans of Gothic goodness.

First, I should straighten out a confusion that may have arisen from the title: this movie is not about Count Dracula's wife. It's about 16th century Hungarian Countess Erzsebet ("Elizabeth" in English) Bathory, who reputedly bathed in the blood of virgin girls, hoping to stay young. In "Countess Dracula", Countess Elisabeth (Ingrid Pitt) is an aging aristocrat who discovers that blood literally rejuvenates her. Naturally, the rejuvenation is only temporary, so she keeps demanding more and more blood. Maybe it's just me, but the whole movie reminded me of "The Nutty Professor", the way that the countess would suddenly age at inconvenient times.

An ageing countess discovers by accident that she can restore her youth by bathing in the blood of virgins, and murders a series of young women in order to seduce a young soldier she is in love with. On her wedding-day however, things go badly ... One of Hammer's last great movies, shot at Pinewood in glorious bloody Eastmancolour. Based on the legend of Elizabeth Bathory, a 16th-century Hungarian Countess said to have bathed in blood, its prime asset is an incredible performance from Pitt, who plays both versions of the Countess (old crone and young hussy) with incredible skill. This is a woman who redefines lusty as an adjective, and Pitt uses every inch of her body and every nuance of her characterisation to tremendous effect. The rest of the cast fill out the melodrama with aplomb, particularly Denham as a cagey old bookworm and Lawrence as a bit of village crumpet, and the movie is gorgeously shot by Ken Talbot, all candelight flickering on marble and sun-dappled forests. A classic British horror film.

The tale of Countess Bathory who, horrified by her own ageing, discovers taking a bath in a virgin's blood will restore her lost youth and get her noticed by dashing Sandor Eles. Fortunately for the countess, her estate positively heaves with buxom maidens. Director Peter Sasdy may have let the brilliant Ingrid Pitt run a little wilder amongst the drab sets with the roles of Bathory young and old, but her joy at hamming it up helps place this as one of the better later Hammer productions. Nigel Green and Maurice Denham give twitching support.

This Hammer horror made during the company's swansong years is based on the real life tale of the Hungarian Countess Bathory who bathed in the blood of young virgins in order to preserve her youth. Here the character has been renamed the Countess Nadasdy and is excellently portrayed by Ingrid Pitt. Director Peter Sasdy (who was Hungarian) manages to extract some period detail (not the pleasant kind) from the Jeremy Paul script such as the treatment of peasants by the aristocracy and he is aided by the rich lighting of Cinematographer Ken Talbot. Sasdy was without doubt one of the best Hammer or British horror film directors alongside Terence Fisher, Roy Ward Baker, Freddie Francis and John Gilling. Indeed Sasdy was the only other director than Terence Fisher who was able to relate the attitudes of society and the eerie atmospheric poetry to the vampire myth. While this is no criticism against Sasdy, it would of been interesting to see how Terence Fisher would have approached the film. The material would have given him many opportunities to place emphasis on character and setting, which was the main features of his style. Other delights include the able support from the always reliable Nigel Green who plays a faithful servant who supplies Pitt with suitable victims and Maurice Denham is fun as the ill-fated inquisitive librarian Master Fabio. The film has now been reissued on DVD with "Twins Of Evil" and "Vampire Circus" by Carlton as a box set entitled, "Hammer House Of Horror: The Vampire Collection".

Despite the title, "Countess Dracula" spends an inordinate amount of time on the romantic scenes between the title character - an old countess who finds the fountain of youth by washing herself in virgins' blood - and a young, unsuspecting soldier. Most of the scenes are quite silly and badly written. The scenes of actual horror are very few, so I can assume that the director, cast, and scriptwriter thought they had something more serious in mind with this costume drama. The result is not good. While it's fun to watch pros like Nigel Green, Maurice Denham, and Patience Collier play at court intrigue, the rest of the cast is variable. Ingrid Pitt has some scenes where she attempts to chew the scenery, but she's not good at it. Apparently her accent was too thick for the director's liking so her role was dubbed by another actress in post-production (see the IMDb trivia about this). I'll say this much, the dubbing job is good - if you hadn't seen Pitt in other films you'd never know it wasn't her voice. And if you had seen her elsewhere, you'd know it couldn't be her voice. As her hapless daughter, Lesley Anne-Downe made an inauspicious debut, though it's not much of a part. Sandor Eles overplays the young soldier who winds up with more than he bargained for. The sets are rather cheap looking for the most part. Don't waste your time with this one. If you like Pitt, you're better off with the more entertaining "Vampire Lovers."

A bit static and very inaccurate, but wonderfully atmospheric version of Erzsebet Bathory's story. Lasciviously sadistic young beauty from 16th century Hungary, Erzsebet of the legend is now old and almost tragic feudal despot (Ingrid Pitt in old age make-up), turning younger by bathing in the blood of stabbed women. Scenery, costumes and photography are gorgeous and classy in Hammer's romantic Gothic style, and pseudo-Hungarian score is equally wonderful. There is very little violence - story is wildly sanitized - but lot of Gothic elegance and atmosphere and deliciously melodramatic dialogue. Best of many movie versions.