Fresh and Exciting

Excellent but underrated film

A Masterpiece!

Blistering performances.

Copyright 1970 by Hammer Film Productions Ltd and The Rank Organisation Film Productions Ltd. U.K. release through Rank Film Distributors: 14 February 1971. U.S. release through 20th Century- Fox: October 1972. Banned in Australia. 8,356 feet. 93 minutes. SYNOPSIS: The aged Countess Elizabeth goes on a killing spree after discovering the rejuvenating power of blood.MY VIEW: Although not highly regarded by Hammer fans, "Countess Dracula" features a strong performance by Ingrid Pitt in the title role (aided by reasonably convincing make-up), but provides little else of interest, aside from a few glimpses of Andrea Lawrence. Fans of Nigel Green will feel especially aggrieved. Our hero is not only cast in a lackluster role, but he's given precious little footage. He doesn't even play second fiddle to Ingrid, but joins Patience Collier and the lovely Lesley-Anne Down on third. Maurice Denham, despite the handicap of a woeful costume, even steals a scene or two from him. No wonder Nigel looks pained and disgruntled and seems aimlessly to wander through the film as if fighting a severe attack of indigestion. Despite some attractive settings, the production looks scrappy and second-rate. The men's wardrobe has a hand-me-down air, the editing is slack and the sets are not sufficiently Gothic to be either frightening or atmospheric. Although colorful enough, the photography is often inappropriately over-lit. The script also presents a number of entertainment obstacles. Ill-constructed, it makes little or no attempt to paper over several gaping holes in the narrative, fails to add flesh to the characters, yet frequently employs marking-time dialogue to spin the scenario out to feature length. Worst of all, however, is Peter Sasdy's ruthlessly inadequate direction. Judging from his totally inept approach, I would estimate that he learned his trade (such as it is) in the bleakly undemanding world of British television with its slip-shod acting, its over-use of mechanical close-ups, and its total disregard for pace, suspense and atmospheric build-up.

The first thing to mention is this film does not pretend to be a biography of the real Countess Elizabeth Báthory. Nor is this film pretending to be a historical piece or historically accurate. The film has simply taken from the fantastical legends and myths surrounding the real life Elizabeth Báthory and created a horror drama film from them.The film starts dragging part of the way though it, it almost becomes a repeat of what we just saw earlier: Kill, regain youth, make love, kill regain, youth, make love... delete rinse and repeat.I like the film to a degree but it was draggy in many places so I have to consider it a middle of the road Hammer Horror. Not bad, not good.5/10

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.

Today's beauty experts claim that super-concentrated amino-peptides are the way to go for younger looking skin, but ask Countess Elisabeth Nodosheen (Ingrid Pitt) and she'll tell you that nothing beats bathing in the blood of virgins. With loyal steward Captain Dobi (Nigel Green) and faithful servant Julie Sentash (Patience Collier) at her side to lure a steady stream of pure young women to her castle, the elderly Countess is able to keep wrinkles at bay and continue her love affair with handsome young soldier Lt. Imre Toth (Sandor Elès).Hammer's Countess Dracula is based on the real-life figure of Countess Erzsebet Bathory (1560–1614), who was responsible for the torture and deaths of over 600 virgin girls and, as legend would have it, bathed in the blood of her victims in order to retain her youth; surprisingly, given it's gore-drenched historical background, the film turns out to be a relatively 'dry' affair, director Peter Sasdy focusing his attention not on the more grisly details of the Countess's drastic beauty regime, but rather on its central character's controlling, self-obsessive nature and abuse of power. The result would be one of Hammer's less memorable movies, if it wasn't for the plentiful female nudity (Pitt's impressive norks even help me to turn a blind eye to her 'child-catcher' nose) plus the added amusement of some particularly large hats.