Lady of Csejte

I've seen a few movies filmed and produced in Russia recently, partly because they get more of an airing as Russia is hyped as an up and coming movie producing nation.

If this film is anything to go by, the hype is not to be believed: this film is at best boring as nothing ever happens. It takes an hour to get to the point which is that Lady Bathory is helping all those orphan kids for her own, cruel reasons, and even then, the movie still goes on without any major upsets.

Judging by the synchronized version, it might be well written and the settings seem to be accurate but it still leaves you feeling empty and that you have wasted your time watching this.

If you want to see a film about Lady Bathory, the 1971 Hammer film 'Countess Dracula' might hit the sweet spot a lot more than this.

I have seen a couple attempts at putting the so-called Blood Countess on films. For instance The Countess with Julie Delpy, has fine acting, but is very slow and wants me to over identify with the countess and empathize with her.

This movie at least offers better production values, non-terrible child actors that you can root for and at least a nod in the direction of historical accuracy. (The one thing I am unclear on historically is any evidence that she might have killed any significant numbers of young boys. Her treatment of young girls is reasonably well-documented.)

So while it is a bit cheesy and overdramatic at times, it has much more going for it, than many adaptations of this historical tale. The actress playing the countess is also quite good at projecting a certain mixture of menacing intensity overlaid with a nonthreatening approachable veneer. Also these resourceful gypsy kid protagonists are great. Some small bits of it are predictable enough, but there a few surprises to hold your interest.

I'm not saying this should top any horror movie lists, but it certainly shouldn't be tossed at the bottom of the horror barrel with Asylum films either.

It's a tale about two gypsy orphans who find themselves in the care of the Countess. This movie is much better than I expected.

No there isn't really a Drag Queen in this ... if you want to use those words against me, I mean the movie is dragging and there is a Queen in the center of it. Not just any ... but the infamous child killing one. At least that is what the rumors are saying.

Considering that story as background it is almost an achievement to make a movie as boring and full of cliches as this. Yes there may be worse horror movies or movies in general than this ... that does not make this better in any way shape or form. Especially the really ... I do not want to be mean actually. They are just kids, they may get better at the art of acting. But in this right here, they really add to the disaster and to the downfall.

I went into this with low expectations, however it wasn't half bad at all! The actress who played the girl did a fine job, and the plot was very interesting and deceptive.

The Countess is well acted and suitably creepy, the other actors were alright but didn't stand out to me, but the sets were pretty lavish and whilst not a masterpiece I think as a low budget film you can't get much better than this.

6/10: Original plot and good acting for a low budget film