Better Late Then Never

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Blistering performances.

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.

Hammer Studios look like they blew more than a wad on "Taste the Blood of Dracula" director Peter Sasdy's "Countess Dracula," with beautiful Ingrid Pitt as the titular protagonist. Mind you, this blood-soaked and sex-drenched saga has nothing to do with the infamous Count Dracula, Hammer's most profitable franchise. Instead, at the end of the movie, as Countess Elisabeth and her minions Captain Dobi and Julie are being taken to a place of execution, we hear some of the spectators scream "Countess Dracula." This elegantly produced, atmospheric, horror movie concerns the notorious Hungarian noblewoman Countess Báthory de Ecsed who restored her beauty by bathing in the blood of virgins. Hollywood and the European film industry have made at least forty movies about this wicked wench. Gothic as all get-out, the story is set during the 17th century, and Hammer has gone out of its way to make this eerie but far from horrific tale look dignified. This isn't a Jesús Franco sex orgy, but Sasdy does indulge in frontal nudity, with Ingrid Pitt baring her breasts. Leslie-Ann Downe had gotten to that point in her career, but she delivers an entirely sympathetic performance as the leading lady's daughter Ilona. The crisis begins when our protagonist discovers that she can bathe in the blood of a virgin and her beauty is restored despite the ravages of time. Meantime, the young and beautiful Countess Elisabeth has her guardian, Captain Dobi (Nigel Green of "Play Dirty"), see to it that her daughter is waylaid and turned over to the care of a grimy farmer to keep her confined and away from the castle. The Countess has taken an amorous interest in Imre Toth's recent arrival. Toth (Sandor Elès of "Love and Death") has come to not only attend the funeral of the Countess' late husband but also remain for the reading of the will. Gorgeous and hot-bloodied as she is, the Countess decides to masquerade as her daughter and say that her mother is locked up in her room. Eventually, the Countess realizes to her horror that the blood of one dead dame isn't enough to insure her immortal beautiful. She arranges it so that Captain Dobi and her trusted servant Julie (Patience Collier of "Fiddler on the Roof") to procure her some fresh flesh and blood. Naturally, in the castle as well as the village, fear runs rampant and everybody is paranoia. Pitt is perfect for the starring role, but she is forced to wear some awful old lady make-up to look ancient. Again, she does flaunt her breasts. The conspiracy goes on for a while until she is at the wedding altar when her face shrivels up and appalls Toth. There is some violence, primarily a butcher cutting up meat. At 93 minutes, "Countess Dracula" won't traumatize anybody, but this film looks genuinely respectable, with a first-class cast and exceptional production values.

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.

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

Hammer Films kept me going to the cinema regularly in the late 60s and early 70s, particularly when they started spicing up their horror out put with nudity, just at the time when my adolescent sap was rising - this was, in my view, a Good Thing.There was some nudity in Countess Dracula - not much, but it lingers even now: Ingrid Pitt was a startlingly attractive woman.Having said that, Countess Dracula (notwithstanding its misleading, but highly marketable, title - this isn't about vampires) was actually a decent film in its own right, telling the true(ish) story of Countess Elisabeth Bathory, who had the habit of bathing in the blood of virgins, believing that this kept her young (no Oil of Olay in those days, presumably), albeit with a typical Hammer spin.I enjoyed, and made several visits to the cinema (and Ingrid Pitt was definitely a factor!).