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That was an excellent one.

Just what I expected

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

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+

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.

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!).

One only has to take a look at Ingrid Pitt as she changes from Countess Elisabeth Nodosheen to a nineteen old version to immediately know why she is the Most Beautiful Ghoul in the World.A retelling of the Elizabeth Bathory tale with the gorgeous Pitt is certainly one worth watching if not for her, for the ample flesh that is displayed as girls are murdered to keep her beautiful.Nigel Green is the unfortunate Captain Dobi, the Countess' lover, who is charged with providing girls to die for her, only to see her go after a much younger man.Elizabeth has her own daughter Ilona (Lesley-Anne Down) imprisoned so she could pretend to be her.It gets more horrible when it is found that only virgins will do, and you can imagine Ilona's eventual fate.An exciting tale with a beautiful woman who we lost just this week.