Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

hyped garbage

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The best of all Hammer movies I saw so far. Adaptation of legend of Countess Bathory, who bathed in the virgin's blood in order to preserve youth and beauty. There's no need to analyze particular elements of this movie cause it is great in every way. I have no objections at all.8/10

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

Countess Dracula is directed by Peter Sasdy and written by Jeremy Paul. It stars Ingrid Pitt, Nigel Green, Sandor Eles, Maurice Denham, Patience Collier and Lesley-Anne Down. Out of Hammer Film Productions, music is by Harry Robertson and Eastmancolor cinematography by Kenneth Talbot.Why didn't they just call it Countess Bathory? Or just Elizabeth Bathory? Film has nothing to do with Dracula or Vampires, and is basically an interpretation of Madame Bathory, who back in olde Hungary killed any number of girls for kicks and a vain belief that bathing in virginal blood would keep her young. It's this last aspect that Hammer focus on, unfurling a story where the Countess strikes on the secret of eternal youth, and who then promptly has her daughter kidnapped and proceeds to impersonate her. Thus with that she gets to romance a young man, but of course as the bodies start to pile up, and the Countess' suitor and confidant's begin to get their noses pushed out of joint, things quickly go downhill fast.As a technical production it's good Hammer fare. Costuming, colour photography, set design and acting performances are perfectly pleasing. Unfortunately it's all very predictable, and worse still considering the plot points of interest, it's pretty bloodless, playing out as some sort of period based drama with the odd bit of dastard behaviour thrown in for good measure. Nothing really happens to perk up the story, and sadly the finale is something of a damp squib. The red blooded amongst us can't help but enjoy the twin lovelies of Pitt and Down, and the wonderful Nigel Green can't believe his luck as he gets to canoodle with our Ingrid! But all told it's not very sexy, not very horror and only works as a good period drama if you set expectation at that level. 6/10

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.