In medieval Europe aging Countess Elisabeth rules harshly with the help of lover Captain Dobi. Finding that washing in the blood of young girls makes her young again she gets Dobi to start abducting likely candidates. The Countess - pretending to be her own daughter - starts dallying with a younger man, much to Dobi's annoyance. The disappearances cause mounting terror locally, and when she finds out that only the blood of a virgin does the job, Dobi is sent out again with a more difficult task.
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Devil in a blue dress
"Countess Dracula" is a fictionalization--and ultimately, a trivialization--of one of history's true fiends, namely Elisabeth Bathory, the "Blood Countess" of Hungary. The Countess, who bathed in virgins' blood in an effort to maintain her youthful beauty, was responsible for the murders of some 650 young women and girls, many of whom were bitten to death. The premise of this movie is that the Countess's blood baths are successful, not simply in maintaining her beauty, but in restoring it.
This middling Hammer entry includes several good cast members, with lovely Polish actress Ingrid Pitt in the title role (even though that's not the character's name), and veteran character actor Nigel Green (who played a crusty Hercules in "Jason and the Argonauts") as her longtime lover and chief thug. Peter Jeffries, who played Inspector Trout in "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" and the Sultan in "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," is on hand as well, in a minor role. Regrettably, Sandor Eles as the youthful love interest is a total nebbish, complete with cheesy mustache. Since the whole arc of this story is a romance involving him and the Countess--who, her youth restored, is posing as her own daughter--his weakness is a liability indeed.
The historic ambience is well-researched: Hungary c. 1600, featuring correct clothing, architecture, music, etc. Gypsies, belly-dancers, and fortune-tellers are part of the picture, and there's frequent reference to the Turks, with whom Hungary and other countries of central and eastern Europe had been at nearly constant war for centuries. Even a passing reference to Hungarian "bull's blood," a red wine, is correct.
Unfortunately, the movie is underplotted. To serve the needs of a silly and unconvincing love story, the historic Countess's years-long spree of bloodshed and torture is shortened to a few days' duration, and the body count is reduced from hundreds to maybe a half dozen. The device of having the Countess's artificial youthfulness suddenly wear off at the most inconvenient times is a rather hoary gimmick; I would suggest that the real Countess's gradual descent into total madness was dramatic enough. Peter Sasdy's direction isn't bad overall, but at times is quite static. An attempt by the Countess's daughter, Ilona, to escape from a woodcutter's shed (where she's being held in order to cover up her mother's deception), is particularly clumsy.
Not a bad movie, given the strong leads and the good atmosphere. But not as good as it might have been. Still, worth a look, even though the definitive fictional movie about Countess Bathory has yet to be made.
- Ingrid Pitt is fine in this acceptable latter-day Hammer horror
This film pales in comparison to its original co-feature on the double bill, "Vampire Circus," but it's still an acceptably enjoyable Hammer film with good direction from Peter Sasdy and a commanding performance from the wonderfully sexy Ingrid Pitt.
- An old, evil countess (Ingrid Pitt, chewing the scenery) discovers she magically turns into a beautiful young woman by bathing in the blood of virgins. She poses as her daughter to get full control of her late husband's estate and romance a young, handsome man. But the youthfulness only lasts a day or two. So she must kill again, and again, and again. Pretty good Hammer horror film. The film looks great--beautiful settings; rich color and some nice directorial touches from Peter Sasdy. It also moves fairly quickly (about 90 minutes). But, with the sole exception of Pitt, the acting is pretty bad (especially Lesley Anne-Down) and Pitt has the all-time worst aging makeup I've ever seen. This detracts from the movie. Still, if you're a horror fan, it's worth seeing. Warning: I think the print circulating on cable TV is cut...it has a PG rating, there's very little violence and, while there is nudity, it's pretty quick.
- Ingrid Pitt is the stuff of dreams - and nightmares
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.
- A Literal Blood Bath
Shocking, poetic, well-done story loosely based on the legend of Countess Bathory of Hungary who, it is said, bathed in the blood of young virginal women for the purposes of rejuvenating her skin. Ingrid Pitt plays the countess in all her ugly old age and her fresh nubile new skin. Actually, Pitt does a very good job in a very difficult role of playing two women incredibly apart in age that are supposed to be the same woman. The direction is done by Peter Sasdy, probably the best of Hammer's latter directors, who did a very good job with Taste the Blood of Dracula and Hands of the Ripper. Sasdy knows how to use his camera and can be quite lyrical with it. Some of the scenes are very fresh and inventive. One that stands out is where Pitt returns to her ugliness and all the action of her inner turmoil is seen through some broken lattice. Quite good! Too bad that Hammer had by this time gone to that inferior film stock. This would have been simply gorgeous had it been done five years earlier. Also, by this time, Hammer had to rely on more blood and violence and more exposed bosoms. Countess Dracula is at times quite bloody, with the pinnacle I think being the scene where Pitt is actually caught unawares bathing in blood and massaging her nude bodice with a blood-soaked sponge. Nonetheless the violence really does not detract too much from a pretty good story and execution of it. Nor does the nudity, albeit it rather unnecessary(Andrea Lawrence is quite "charming" in her role as a serving girl...no pun intended). The rest of the cast is very good with Nigel Green really giving a nice performance as a jealous lover and Maurice Denham excelling as a dotty old man. The film stands as a testament to the extremes some people will go through to recapture what was past, and their self-centered, self-serving drive to remain beautiful and young. Is it topical today? You bet ya!
- Hammer strikes again!
Another gem from Hammer films, the studio that put Technicolor gore into horror movies to stay!
I saw this movie when I was about 14 years old (quite a while ago) and found it sick and disturbing. Just my kind of movie! Seriously, this movie may not be a "classic" (overused word here), but it is a very entertaining film. I wish it were available on video!
By the way, I've heard that the plot is based (loosely) on a true story. Imagine that!
Cast overview, first billed only:
Ingrid Pitt .... Countess Elisabeth Nodosheen
Nigel Green .... Capt. Dobi the Castle Steward
Sandor Elès .... Lt. Imre Toth
Maurice Denham .... Master Fabio, Castle Historian
Patience Collier .... Julie Sentash the Nurse
Peter Jeffrey .... Capt. Balogh, Chief Bailiff
Lesley-Anne Down .... Ilona Nodosheen, Elisabeth's Daughter
Leon Lissek .... Sergeant of Bailiffs
Jessie Evans .... Rosa, Teri's Mother
Andrea Lawrence .... Ziza, Shepherd's Inn Whore
Susan Brodrick .... Teri the Countess Chambermaid
Ian Trigger .... Clown at the Sheperd's Inn
Nike Arrighi .... Fortune Telling Gypsy Girl
Peter May .... Janco the Mute Gamekeeper
John Moore .... Priest
Runtime: 93 min
Country: UK
Language: English
Color: Color (Eastmancolor)
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