IMDb RATING
5.9/10
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In 17th-century Hungary, elderly widow Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy maintains her misleading youthful appearance by bathing in the blood of virgins regularly supplied to her by faithful servan... Read allIn 17th-century Hungary, elderly widow Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy maintains her misleading youthful appearance by bathing in the blood of virgins regularly supplied to her by faithful servant Captain Dobi.In 17th-century Hungary, elderly widow Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy maintains her misleading youthful appearance by bathing in the blood of virgins regularly supplied to her by faithful servant Captain Dobi.
Andria Lawrence
- Ziza
- (as Andrea Lawrence)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe picture that appears behind the opening credits is an 1896 painting by Hungarian artist Istvan Csok. It shows the real Countess Bathory enjoying the torture of some young women by her servants. In an inner courtyard of one of her castles, the naked girls are being drenched with water and allowed to freeze to death in the snow.
- GoofsWhen the young boys in the forest discover the body of the girl, they run way and holler for help. In the next shot, the girl is breathing.
- Quotes
Captain Dobi: And what will your daughter say? She arrives tomorrow and she'll find you as young as she is.
- Alternate versionsAlthough cinema cuts were requested by the BBFC (and the film remains listed as cut on their website) the edits were never made following an appeal by Hammer to chief censor Stephen Murphy.
Featured review
A bloody tribute to vanity and the cult of youth
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).
- jamesrupert2014
- Nov 5, 2020
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Comtesse des Grauens
- Filming locations
- Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK(studio: made at)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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