Countess Dracula (1972)

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

It's ironic that as Ingrid Pitt's Countess Elisabeth Bathory realizes that her true age is returning, she reaches for a rosary and begins to pray. That signals the obvious truth that she feels, via her birthright, that she has the right to not only be cruel to the poor (including her own servants) and commit murder if it benefits her. The film opens with the recently widowed countess planning to bring her daughter (Lesley Anne Downe) home to receive her inheritance. After a servant girl cuts herself and squirts blood on the countess, she finds that virgin blood gives her youthful skin. She schemes to have her own daughter abducted, posing as her daughter in order to land a young army officer she desires. But the virgin blood doesn't last, and that means more murders and a feeling of terror in the countryside, with great suspicions falling on the countryside, known as "the devil woman" by the superstitious villagers.It's not a role of vanity for the beautiful Pitt, made up plainly and getting uglier as her soul turns more evil. This doesn't feel fully set in its time period, with sets a bit more lavish than other films set during the time period. But, it's suitably sinister, never gross in its presentation of the sinister killings. Nigel Green is excellent as Pitt's accessory, not at all one dimensional yet guilty of allowing Pitt to continue her reign of terror. This gives no lame excuse for Bathory's actions, other than the fact that she was insanely vain and consumed with the hatred of any girl young and beautiful. Perhaps an influence for many vain wicked queens in the Grimm's fairy tales (particularly the queen in Snow White), the story of Elisabeth Bathory is an allegory to the evils of vanity, narcissism, and abuse of power. This is much better than more recent versions of this story, direct and without pretensions.

"LAS VEGAS – With her smooth skin and wavy, honeyed hair, Elena Caro was celebrated as a beauty by her husband and teenage daughter, who often told her that she didn't need cosmetic surgery. But at 42, Caro wanted firmer skin and a younger figure, so she secretly booked an appointment with a medical office recommended by a close friend." –AP 4/11/11Elena Caro is now dead after a second rate botched procedure that resulted in the arrest of the unlicensed staff. The question becomes "How far would you go to regain the beauty of your youth?". In Elizabeth Nodosheen's case she was willing to kill for it. I would think that instantly looking like Ingrid Pitt would make bathing in blood tempting for any girl. Ah vanity, it's my favorite of the deadly sins.Astringent, mud mask, exfoliant, emollient, lotions, pore strips, foundations, and powders are just a few things we ladies use to tighten skin, reduce fine lines, fade scars or spots, plump wrinkles, diminish pores, and to attempt to steal back lost years, because no matter how old she is, every woman wants to be twenty, or at least look it. Elizabeth Nodosheen gets the ultimate makeover in Hammer's Countess Dracula, and all it required was just a bit of virgin blood.Virgin after virgin dies in this well made seventies horror film. Despite Hammer's reputation there was very limited nudity showcased in Countess Dracula, disappointingly enough. There was one lovely Ingrid Pitt milky breast with nipple erect fondled in a brisk love scene, and the bare backsides of three dead virgins piled upon each other in a wagon covered with casks, and of course, the alluring image above.I began to consider it somewhat wasteful killing the virgins outright. Why not just keep one alive and drain a pint or so every other day? She only needed enough to wash up with after all. This seemed plausible to me and I even began to empathize with Elizabeth Nodosheen after each successful transformation. To be converted from a sagging wretch to a vibrant, youthful beauty, the requirement certainly seemed justified, despite my better judgment. I understood how the opportunity to regain youth could be too exquisite to deny oneself.The twist came when a love triangle formed between Nodosheen with her crusty previous lover and supple boy toy. Jealousies rage, there are levels of deceit throughout the castle, and ultimately a flawed plan to wed leads to the demise of Elizabeth Nodosheen. I love her story, and this film is certainly a morality lesson regarding the price of vanity, but if this tale can't teach us, maybe Elena Caro's will.

Countess Dracula is an excellent, erotic Gothic horror film starring 60's/70's megababe Ingrid Pitt, brought to life by the legendary Hammer Horror studios. Based on historical accounts of the tyrant Countess Elisabeth Bathory who slaughtered 600 girls and bathed in their blood to maintain her beauty. Hammer films had no shortage of gorgeous, big breasted babes, but in the late 60's/early 70's the movie industry was changing with a demand for more overt sexuality and nudity. Hammer filled that demand with erotic/Gothic horror crossover films such as this and The Vampire Lovers(also from Hammer and also starring Ingrid Pitt)thus creating a new genre of erotic horror and bringing forth a wave of lesbian vampire movies in the 70's. Make no mistake, this is a top quality film and is not pornographic. The film and acting performances are solid and serious. There is great ambiance, suspense and dread. Ingrid Pitt in addition to having an awesome body, had a great screen presence and was a talented actress in her own right had no problem carrying the film. While the film does show its share of skin, Countess Dracula is still a fairly classy production in a similar quality of previous classics from Hammer studios.

In medieval Europe aging Countess Elisabeth (Ingrid Pitt) 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 film was produced by Alexander Paal and directed by Peter Sasdy, Hungarian émigrés working in England. They wanted to bring something Hungarian to Hammer, but they wanted a British writer to make it accessible to wider audiences, hence the recruitment of Jeremy Paul, who had been writing for television since the early 1960s. Sasdy created this, his second feature, "Countess Dracula", to fulfill that desire.Ingrid Pitt, though not Hungarian, was Polish-born and maintained her accent throughout her life. This Eastern European origin made her well-suited to be Elisabeth Bathory (a figure she knew nothing about when she was cast).Peter Jeffrey appears as Captain Balogh the Chief Bailiff. Although not the household name Pitt is, he had a good (albeit short) run in horror, appearing in both "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" (1971) and "Dr. Phibes Rises Again" (1972) as Inspector TroutDonald Guarisco calls this "one of the more underrated films from the latter days of the Hammer Films dynasty." Is he right? Well, on the surface, he might be. It is currently getting 5.7 on the IMDb, which seems low for a Hammer film; one would think it could manage a 6.7. But yet, is it all that underrated? Ingrid Pitt and "Countess Dracula" have achieved a much wider audience than many of Hammer's works.The audio commentary on the MGM disc is incredible, with the director (Peter Sasdy), writer (Jeremy Paul) and actress (Ingrid Pitt) all sitting in.