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Freely based on real life about a Hungarian countess Elisabeth Bathory who bathed in the blood of young virgins to keep her youthful. It deals with the famous countess who once to be aware virgin's blood gives her youth, then she looks for girls to kill them and she subsequently bathes in the blood of virgins to preserve her youthful. As she attempts to get a new lease of life at whatever costs at an attempt to regain her lost beauty.

Eerie terror movie from Hammer Films delivering emotion enough , it contains stiff acting , thrills , chills , intrigue , nudism and grisly killings. The movie is decent -shoddy sets apart- and still mysterious and acceptable thanks to emphasis on decay and corruption more than bloodsucking and vampirism . Ingrid Pitt gives a powerful and fierce portrayal , she pulls it all together with her splendid interpretation of a bitter woman's determination to hang on to an unexpected youthful . Support cast is pretty good, such as : Sandor Eles, Nigel Green , Maurice Denham , Peter Jeffrey , Patience Collier and a very young Lesley Anne Down. This tale about Elisabeth Bathory has been adapted sometimes as ¨Legend of Blood castle¨ 1973 by Jorge Grau with Lucia Bose, Ewa Aulin , Espartaco Santoni and ¨Walerian Borozyx's Immoral tales¨ with Paloma Picasso as countess Barthory and ¨Devil's wedding night¨ with Rosalba Neri.

It contains a splendid and atmospheric musical score by Henry Richardson . As well as Kenneth Talbot's rich cinematography full of browns and golds and with varying shades of red. The motion picture was uneven but professionally directed by Peter Sasdy with some flaws and gaps , as it has some scenes that result to be of variable quality . Sasdy was a fine craftsman who directed a lot of fims with penchant for terror, Adventure and thriller , such as : ¨Taste the blood of Dracula, Hands of the Ripper, Nothing but the night, Doomwatch, Young warlord, King Arthur the young warlord, I don't want to be born, The devil' undead, 13 Reunion, Rude awakening, The two faces of evil, The lonely lady¨, among others. Rating 6/10. Acceptable and passable. The picture will appeal to Ingrid Pitt fans and Hammer Films aficionados.

This is a Hammer film production and the name Dracula is mentioned in the title, yet shouldn't raise any hopes to see Christoper Lee dressed up in women's clothing, as this is not another entry in the long-running Dracula-series! The screenplay of this movie is based on the life of Countess Elisabeth Bathory, who lived in Hungary during the 16th century, and became almost as (in)famous as Vlad Dracula because of her bizarre rituals to sustain a youthful appearance. The merciless countess bathed in the blood of slain virgins and supposedly was responsible for the death of more than 300 young girls. Naturally, this makes her an ideal villain and who other than the eminent Hammer Studios were more eligible to turn this legend into a compelling Gothic horror movie? Director Peter Sasdy and writer Alexander Paal added a lot of popular story lines, like a truckload of sexual intrigues and a neat display of corruption, but they also managed to sustain the morbidity of Bathory's persona. Ingrid Pitt, perhaps the most ravishing Hammer actress ever (see "The Vampire Lovers" for more evidence), is truly magnificent as the repellent countess who would even sacrifice her own daughter in order to maintain her virility. She has the loyal Captain Dobi and a bunch of household staff to obey her commands implicitly and a newly arrived stud to fall in love with. Regretfully, the film lacks balanced pacing and the set pieces too often look like discarded attributes from other Hammer films. There's a satisfying amount of bloodshed and sleaze and the abrupt ending comes as a genuine shock. "Countess Dracula" is perhaps not the most sensational horror movie of the early 70's, but it provides a welcome change in substance and it's definitely worth tracking down by all the fans of Gothic goodness.

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.

Based on true history of Hungary's early 17th Century, Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Hammer Film's, "Countess Dracula" was meant to be entertaining historic horror, with no aspirations towards anything more or higher. In this entertainment aspect, regardless of lovely actress Ingrid Pitt's considerable feminine endowments, "Countess Dracula" succeeded. If one could fault Hammer Films for anything, it would be its blatant inaccurate film title, which was a transparent marketing ploy to capitalize on the studio's heretofore financially successful vampire horror films.

Nonetheless by reading all the subsequent readers' comments herein, one consistently encounters complaints on "Countess Dracula's" purported shortcomings in plot, acting talent, budget, sets quality, etc., as if the critics were evaluating a multi-million dollar budgeted aspiring blockbuster. Hammer Films execs wanted its viewers to come away entertained by this film. If you watched, "Countess Dracula" and came away entertained, amused, or disturbed then everyone got someone and should be happy.

I won't rehash old observations expounded upon in previous viewers' comments as I have similar ones so I will offer new comments.

One or two viewers previously commented on the horrible aging makeup of Ingrid Pitt/Countess Nodosheen. My new observation beyond this is that in real life, the countess would not have actually looked like an aging grandmother.

Bear in mind that back in circa 1600 AD, young women married at the age of 15 or 16 and quickly bore children soon after. If my history is correct, the real Countess Bathory married at age 16. Assuming bearing a child at age 17, by the time the 18-year old Lesley Anne-Downe/Ilona Nodosheen appears on scene, the movie's Countess Nodosheen should have been only 34 or 35 years old. It would have been possible for the early-thirties Countess Nadosheen to still have appeared relatively attractive. Don't forget that as a wealthy aristocrat the countess would have had a superior diet and nutrition compared to the peasants, would not have had to work outdoors at hard labor, and had access to far better medical service, albeit primitive as it would have been back then. You can imagine an attractive 34 year old woman today being sexually attracted to a handsome, 22-24 year old man, which the young lieutenant Imre Toth was supposed to be.

Sandor Eles, the ill-fated lieutenant Imre Toth, deserves much better treatment in his thankless role than the critics of this viewers' board gave him. His character was not afforded that much dimension to begin with because that is how the film's director envisioned it. Toth is a tragic, innocent victim, and was not meant to be the film's hero requiring cunning, nerves of steel, fighting talent, so forth. I actually felt great sympathy for the Toth character. In the film LT Toth is a real nice guy, of above average intelligence, but no genius, a typical young man filled with visions of military achievement and glory. There is no man who in the same position would not be able to resist the attentions and sexual blandishments of a beautiful woman. We would all fall into the same trap. That is why the Toth character elicits sympathy. He could be any one of us normal guys.

Another observation is in line. The rejuvenated Countess Nodosheen is supposed to look 18-19 years old. But in the film Ingrid Pitt looks older than Sandor Eles/Imre Toth. She looks more like a woman in her late 20's possibly already 30. I attribute that slip-up to the director. It's no fault of Ingrid Pitt. That's how Pitt looked like back in 1970.

One more observation. Did anyone notice that when Countess Nodosheen regained her youth temporarily, her disposition and temperament dramatically improved as well? As an old crone, the countess is dour and mean-spirited. Rejuvenated to around 18 years of age, the now pretty countess smiles a lot, laughs, tells jokes, and is generally much better company to be around. Only twice does the connivance of the elder countess resurface and then in a sexy, bitchy, "Dallas/Dynasty" sort of a way. The elder/younger countess transformation, reminiscent of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, seems to be reaching towards an allegory of good and evil co-existing within the same person.

In my opinion, this is where the inexplicable sympathy for the Ingrid Pitt/Countess Nodosheen character originates. If you watch "Countess Dracula" several times as I have done, you begin to perceive something of a Greek tragedy in the character, maybe MacBeth-like. An elderly aristocrat falls in love with a youthful man she knows she can never have, nor should have. But she circumvents her destiny and age by invoking black magic and murder. The results only ultimately mock her true age and bring misery and death to everyone around her.

Oddly, no one in "Countess Dracula" starts off evil. True, elderly Countess Nodosheen is selfish, mean-spirited, discourteous, and short-tempered, but she doesn't embark upon her amoral path of self-gratification, fornication, and murder until she accidentally discovers the "secret" of youth.

The excellent Nigel Green/Captain Dobi character doesn't start off evil, either, despite being a true SOB. Captain Dobi actually tries his best to dissuade the countess from her path of self-deceit and murder. He appears to truly love the elderly countess at her present age and appearance because they shared a love affair years ago. Captain Dobi predicts with grim accuracy the madness and obsession the countess would descent into should she insist on achieving and maintaining a false appearance of youthful beauty. Captain Dobi's love for the countess is unrequited and in the end betrayed. He allows himself to be dragged down into the same web of deceit and heinous murder.

The countess' trusted nurse/servant, Julie, a very nice, dedicated, and even 'good' character, descends into being an accomplice and an 'enabler'. Hence, the countess' final self-destruction ensnares all, good and bad, around her. Tell me that this doesn't bear some passing resemblance to a character Greek tragedy.

Ingrid Pitt stars in her most iconic role as Countess Elisabeth Nadasdy, who is based on the real life "Blood Countess" Elizabeth Báthory. The title of this 1971 Hammer effort is misleading, it has nothing to do with Dracula or vampires, instead the countess discovers that if she bathes in the blood of virgins she will retain her youth, a pretence she has to keep up in order to make Sandor Elès' fall in love with her. Despite the interesting premise, this plays out more like a historical drama, with a fair amount of blood and boobs thrown in to try and hold the audiences attention during the boring bits, of which there are many. Polish born Pitt had her voice dubbed by by Olive Gregg, and the film was produced by Alexander Paal and directed by Peter Sasdy, both Hungarian émigrés working in England. The original music score was composed by Harry Robertson. Countess Dracula was also released on a double bill with Vampire Circus.

The story of Elizabeth Bathory is easily one of the most important for the horror genre, and there's no studio more qualified to tackle said story than the legendary Hammer studios...but unfortunately, the resulting film is not as great as it could have been. Hammer had their golden period from the late fifties until the end of the sixties, and I dare say that if this film was released during that period, it would have been one of their classics. By the seventies, the studio had began to take influence from the lurid Euro horror films that were gaining popularity, and this resulted in Hammer losing it's innocence; which if you ask me, was what made them great in the first place. However, Countess Dracula is still one of Hammer's most inspiring films and benefits from a typically ludicrous plot line. We follow the Countess who, by chance, discovers that the blood of virgins restores her youth. After becoming young again, she pretends to be her own daughter and begins courting the son of a soldier; much to the annoyance of her present lover. However, nothing lasts forever; and bathing in the blood of virgins is something the Countess must continue to do if she is to retain her vanity…

As mentioned, the way that the plot is handled isn't very good. The film plays out like a drama rather than a horror movie and there is barely any tension or suspense to found throughout the whole picture. It seems that director Peter Sasdy (who also made the very decent Taste the Blood of Dracula for Hammer) thought that the implications of the plot would be enough to carry it; and while this is true to an extent, the film does become a little too dreary at times. Another disappointing element of the film is that, despite the fact that it's about a woman who bathes in blood; we never actually get to see this taking place. I was really hoping to see the beautiful Ingrid Pitt relaxing in a bath of blood, but no! …I don't know, perhaps it would have been a little too graphic. The lead actress really does make the film her own, however and delivers a powerhouse performance that proves her worthy of the title of Hammer's best leading lady. The way that the film carries off the plot is really good, also, and we are allowed into the head of all three central figures. On the whole, I can't say that this is one of Hammer's best films, but despite its faults; I really enjoyed it.

I had actually never heard about this 1971 Hammer horror movie titled "Countess Dracula" before now in 2022, as I had the opportunity to sit down and watch it. And with it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to do so, given my interest and love of the horror genre.

The storyline in "Countess Dracula" is pretty straight forward, based on the story of Elizabeth Báthory. So it made for a pretty fair enough viewing experience, if you can look past the movie's somewhat stupid title. Writers Jeremy Paul, Alexander Paal and Peter Sasdy put together a watchable movie, which turned out to be good enough for a single viewing.

The acting performances in "Countess Dracula" were fairly good, and leading actress Ingrid Pitt carried the movie quite well. I have to admit that I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list here. But then again, I haven't been overly active in watching Hammer horror movies.

Watchable for what it was, "Countess Dracula" is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time though. It wasn't a particularly scary movie, and of the few Hammer horror movies that I have seen, then "Countess Dracula" wasn't overly outstanding.

My rating of "Countess Dracula" from director Peter Sasdy lands on a five out of ten stars.

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!

RELEASED IN 1971-1972 and directed by Peter Sasdy, "Countess Dracula" chronicles events in medieval Hungary where the aging Countess Elisabeth (Ingrid Pitt) cruelly reigns with her Steward, Captain Dobi (Nigel Green). She discovers that washing in the blood of maidens makes her youthful and orders her servants to apprehend victims. Pretending to be her daughter, Ilona, the Countess seeks the affections of a young Lieutenant, Imre Toth (Sandor Elès). Maurice Denham plays the wise old scribe of the castle, Master Fabio, while Lesley-Anne Down appears as the real Ilona, held captive by a mute peasant.

The real Elizabeth Báthory lived in Cachtice Castle, which was surrounded by a village and crop lands (and still is), bordered by bluffs of the Little Carpathians in Hungary. Her chief servant was into witchcraft and encouraged Bathory in her diabolic endeavors. Patience Collier plays this role in the movie, but she's not a witch.

More than 300 witnesses testified to Bathory's atrocities with Priests, noblemen and commoners being questioned. Her crimes included cruel beatings, burning of hands, mutilation, biting the flesh off of faces, as wells as limbs and other body parts, freezing to death or starving. Her early targets were serving girls 10-14 years old, the kin of local peasants, who were usually lured to the castle as well-paid servants. She later was said to have apprehended daughters of the lesser nobility, which was the beginning of the end.

In those times Hungarian nobles were allowed to reprove their servants by whatever means they saw fit, even death, and were not reprimanded for it, which obviously facilitated Bathory's offenses. Three of four of her closest servants were executed and she was under house arrest limited to one room the last four years of her life. She died at 54 in 1614. While some argue that she was politically set-up, and that's always a possibility, there's just too much documentation verifying her crimes to dismiss them. The incredible number of her victims (650) is probably exaggerated and the bathing-in-blood angle is likely just lore emerging well after her death.

The film's cheesy title is figurative because there's no vampirism; "Dracula" was a hot item at the time and producers simply hoped to capitalize on the name. Yet there is the supernatural element of becoming young & beautiful again. It's an engaging theme because most aging women (and men) long to restore the beauty of their prime. Have you ever seen a woman in her late 50s or whatever acting like she's a college girl on spring break? It's pathetic.

In any case, this is a quasi-historical drama with gothic horror. I love the castle & sets, the costumes and torch-lit hallways. It brings to life the late/post Medieval Age. Some parts are predictable (e.g. the outcome of the closing wedding), but the story is compelling and gives you a good taste of feudal life in central Europe back then.

On a side note, Lesley-Anne Down was one of the most beautiful women to walk the earth in the 70s-90s and she was only around 16.5 years-old during shooting. While her screen time is scant in the first two acts, she comes to the fore in the final act and is definitely a highlight.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 33 minutes and was shot in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England. WRITERS: Jeremy Paul (screenplay) and Alexander Paal (story) inspired by Valentine Penrose's book "The Bloody Countess: Atrocities of Erzsébet Báthory."

GRADE: B+

At the time of its release, Countess Dracula ticked every check box for what you might expect to find in a Hammer film of the period - a beautiful Gothic setting, death scenes that are actually shown on camera, several topless women and a cheesy 'boy meets girl' storyline that, really, takes second stage to the main storyline, which in this case is of a blood-obsessed countess. Oh, and not forgetting the obligatory European peasants who all speak with random accents from all over the British Isles!

The storyline is based very loosely around the historical character of Elizabeth Bathory and, as such, contains no vampires, no fangs, and certainly no Dracula. For those who wish to know more about Bathory, it would probably be easier to do a quick Wikipedia search on her, but, in short, she believed that she could make herself younger by bathing in the blood of virgins and, as a result, killed a lot of young girls in order to achieve this.

As long as you watch Countess Dracula in the context that it was intended, it is a thoroughly enjoyable film, featuring a career-defining performance from the great Ingrid Pitt (both for her acting, as well as her lack of clothing...), as well as a solid storyline and some great location work.

On the downside, not that I look for a lot of gore and bloodshed in my films (far from it!), I was surprised at the lack of deaths of in the film - as the historical character was supposed to have murdered hundreds of young girls, you can count all of Countess Dracula's victims on a single hand.

Overall: Highly recommended for fans of Hammer and vintage horror, but, for those looking for a traditional vampire film, look elsewhere - there are no blood-suckers here, just blood-bathers!

After discovering that she can regain youth and beauty by bathing in the blood of maidens, an aged Countess (Ingrid Pitt) courts a handsome young cavalry officer, but after she learns that the sanguineous youthifying is temporary, the body count begins to rise. The film is one of Hammer Films' more 'adult' horrors, with less emphasis on the 'monster' (in this case just a murderous old woman obsessed with regaining her youth) and more on the dread surrounding her. Much of the lurid film is about sexual relations, including the strange 'four-sided triangle', in which an older man (Nigel Green) desires the mature countess while the young officer (Sandor Elès) lusts after her youthful incarnation. There is some gratuitous nudity thrown in for good measure but not a lot of overt gruesomeness (despite the premise). The story is based on the legend of Elizabeth Báthory, a real-life 16th century Hungarian noblewoman rumoured to have depraved tastes for torture and who allegedly bathed in the blood of virgins to maintain her beauty (the 'Dracula' in the film's title is more about marketing than about history, legend, or plot). Most of the script and acting (especially by Pitt when she is portraying the 'young' countess) is rudimentary but the production values are pretty good and the 'aging/ugly' makeup is effective (if sometimes inconsistent). In the end, I found the film watchable (and seemingly more than the sum of its parts) and the final scenes are quite good (although they may be a letdown for viewers expecting some kind of bloody dénouement). Not among of the best of Hammer's extensive horror output but at least a bit different from the Lee/Cushing canon (despite the derivative and misleading title).

Made shortly after the Ingrid Pitt Hammer film, Vampire Lovers and falls somewhat short of the standards of that movie. Sasdy's direction is less sure than that of Roy Ward Baker and the film drifts now and again. Also amazingly the leading lady is almost another person. She seems to have lost the sexy throaty voice and even her looks seem to have faded. There is one absolutely stunning shot of her nude and dripping with blood as she is disturbed at her bath, but nothing else in the film to compare with her performance in the earlier film. The very theme of having to kill a girl every day or two for blood seems to prevent the very film from flowing free. I suppose if this had been an Italian movie and more of the killing had been on display, it would not have seemed so hesitant. As it is good situations are set up and then not played to the hilt. Enjoyable enough though.

Although certainly not one of Hammer's great films from the early 70s, "Countess Dracula" is another imaginative, atmospheric and also quite unusual movie from this great production company. The film is vaguely based on Countess Erzsébeth (Elisabeth) Bathory, who terrorized Hungary of the late 16th and early 17th century by brutally murdering countless young girls. This "Bloody Lady" is widely considered the worst serial murderess in history, and therefore, of course, a popular topic for macabre Gothic literature and Horror films. Aside Vlad 'The Impaler' Tepes, Bathory was the second historical personality to inspire Bram Stoker when he wrote his immortal novel "Dracula". The films and books based on Bathory's life are, of course, mostly anything but historically accurate. "Countess Dracula" is no exception, since the film has little to do with the true story. That doesn't bother me the slightest bit however, since historical accuracy is no compulsory element for a good horror film, and the movie is definitely creepy, atmospheric and in parts also nasty little film.

The movie is, of course, a one-woman show for the sexy Ingrid Pitt, who is great as the countess. Apart from Pitt, Nigel Green also delivers a great performance as her almost equally despicable lover. The rest of the performances are admittedly not too sensational, but the atmosphere is eerie, and the tension is constant.

Another film in which Countess Bathory was the villain was released in 1971, namely Belgian director Harry Kümmel's mesmerizing "Les Lèvres Rouges" aka. "Daughters Of Darkness", which is (although even further away from the true story) ten times better than "Countess Dracula". Although it can't compete with "Daughters of Darkness", however, "Countess Dracula" is definitely an atmospheric and suspenseful film with some moments of sheer greatness, that Hammer fans should not miss. Highly recommended to my fellow Hammer fans!

This isn't one of the best Hammers: unusual and atypically authentic but basically unremarkable. The Bathory legend is rendered silly, mainly because it was almost completely re-invented for the screen: the subject matter may have been controversial for its day but Hammer treat it like another Transylvanian vampire, which is a shame, complete with the ridiculous title!

Leads Ingrid Pitt and Nigel Green are quite good: their characters are well-rounded and their relationship is believable. Maurice Denham is amiable, though his comic sage is a bit overstated for the purpose, then suddenly turning conspirator which leads to his unlucky end. Lesley-Ann Down's role as the young Countess is hopelessly under-developed.

Apart from Pitt's few instances of exposed flesh, the film's nude content is entirely gratuitous, as was Hammer's style at this late vintage of their life-span; the violence is occasionally effective (for instance, Nike Arrighi's murder) but mostly rather tame. One other thing which annoyed the hell out of me was that servant woman who kept asking about her missing daughter!

The finale, while effective, is preposterous for a couple of reasons: having been suspected of mass murder, the Countess would certainly not have been allowed to celebrate her wedding on such a grand scale; even worse, her apparent decision not to 'bathe' on such a momentous occasion is incomprehensible, so that the pay-off is entirely predictable! Compared to other filmizations of the Bathory legend, and DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971) in particular, this take on the 'facts' emerges as both hokey and extremely old-fashioned!

The transfer is pretty good for a 30 plus-year film (it seems to have been quite well preserved); ditto for the audio. The theatrical trailer is quite unusual and, frankly, it's better and wittier than the film proper! The commentary is very interesting and well-paced (though lack of a mention of the other Bathory films or Pitt's obvious dubbing is sorely felt, also moderator Jonathan Sothcott and director Sasdy's discussion about a certain shot's presence, or not, in the final version of the film); it ends on a bit of a scuffle, however, between Sasdy and Pitt (who seems to bear some kind of a grudge against the script) which somewhat dampens the otherwise warm and nostalgia-filled talk!

"Countess Dracula" concerns itself with the mysterious events that slowly unfold around the time of the ascension of the witch-like Countess Elisabeth(Ingrid Pitt),a corrupt and mysterious woman who discovers that by bathing in the blood of virgins,she can restore some of her former beauty.Attempting to not only reap the more favorable parts of her husband's will,but also marry the young Lt. Toth(Sandor Eles),she manipulates the love-struck Captain Dobi(Nigel Green)into doing her dirty work."Countess Dracula" by Peter Sasdy deals with Erzebet Bathory who bathed in the blood of young virgins to maintain her vitality.The film is well-directed and superbly acted and offers a little bit of nudity.Ingrit Pitt is excellent and she brings a lot of mystery to the role of the near-dead,rotting Countess who discovers the sanguine curative powers of life liquid.Give this Hammer classic a look.8 out of 10.

In 1610 the widowed Countess Erzsebet (Elizabeth) Báthory, a member of one of Hungary's most illustrious noble families, was accused and convicted of the murder of several hundred young women. Because of her noble status she was not executed but was imprisoned in a room in her family home until her death four years later. After her death the legend grew up that she had killed the girls because she believed that bathing in their blood would restore her youth, although this was not an accusation made against her at her trial.

"Countess Dracula" is a fictionalised version of her story. Here she is known as "Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy"; Nádasdy was indeed the family name of Báthory's husband, but she never used it. (Because her family were Counts and her husband only a Baron, Hungarian custom required him to use his wife's surname after marriage). The film was made by Hammer, a British studio specialising in sensational horror movies, so in this version the legend surrounding the Countess is true; she does murder young virgins to bathe in their blood, and doing so does have the effect of restoring her youthful beauty, although only temporarily, so she is always in search of fresh victims. The girls have to be virgins; when the Countess kills the local prostitute, her blood has no effect.

The rejuvenated Countess passes herself off as her own daughter Ilona; the real Ilona has spent most of her life in Vienna, so nobody at the castle knows what she looks like. When Ilona returns to Hungary, her mother has her kidnapped and held prisoner in a cottage on the estate to ensure that her deception is not unmasked. Eventually, however, people, especially the castle librarian Fabio, who has a knowledge of occult lore, begin to grow suspicious. (Although the Countess is based on a real person, most of the other characters, including Ilona and Fabio, are fictitious).

One thing that nobody, not even Fabio, seems worried about is the fact that even in her younger form the Countess has the appearance of a woman in her thirties rather than the teenager Ilona is said to be. This is because she is played by Ingrid Pitt, who would have been 34 at the time, but in my opinion it was a wise move to cast a somewhat older woman in the part. Some Hammer films were spoilt by casting ravishingly beautiful but talentless young girls in key roles, such as Yutte Stensgaard in "Lust for a Vampire" or Mary and Madeleine Collinson in "Twins of Evil". Pitt, however, managed to combine her good looks with acting ability.

This is perhaps not Pitt's best performance for Hammer; that must be "The Vampire Lovers", which has always been my favourite Hammer film. Her performance here, however, is a decent one, and with the aid of the make-up department she manages to combine the two aspects of her character, the evil, half-demented old crone and the desirable, seductive younger woman. Her character in "The Vampire Lovers", however, is even more complex, being not only seductive but evil but also having something fey and doomed about her. (It is a misconception to believe that horror is a genre which can, and generally does, dispense with good acting. Peter Cushing's contribution in "Twins of Evil" is another example of a subtle and skilled performance in a Hammer movie).

"Countess Dracula" is not a great film, but Pitt and the supporting cast do enough to keep it watchable. I was going to call it "watchable nonsense", but that, I think, would be unfair. There is a difference between nonsense and fantasy, and this film, like most of Hammer's output, is essentially a fantasy, a dark fairy story. And like most fairy stories it has a moral, in this case that beauty is only skin deep. 6/10

The formula which had served Hammer so well for the previous dozen-or-so years had grown stale with the dawn of the 70s so they tried to revive their fortunes with the introduction of women's naked breasts. It was a ploy that, ahem, perked things up for a while, enabling the studio to limp along for a few more years before devoting more of its efforts to TV tie-ins and series like the Hammer House of Horrors. Boobs can do a lot, you see, but in the long term they're no substitute for good writing.

Although the film refers to Dracula it contains no vampires, merely an ageing countess who discovers she can temporarily resurrect her youthful beauty by having a quick sponge down in virgin's blood. Ingrid Pitt plays the youthful countess and she is rather comely. I saw her at a film fair once, sitting alone at a table littered with memorabilia, hands clenched in front of her, waiting for someone to come and talk to her.

The story is the usual late-Hammer rubbish. The countess grows increasingly reckless as she plunders the village's stock of nubile virgins in order to maintain her youthful looks. The problem is that each time she does so the effects wear off increasingly quickly and she grows increasingly older and uglier. She falls for a dashing young soldier, played with youthful ineptitude by a man called Sandor Eles who would later resurface as a head waiter at the Crossroads motel. I don't remember his acting on that show being as bad as it is here, but watching this it's easy to see why the Crossroads producers figured he'd fit right in.