Countess Dracula

Last updated

Countess Dracula
Comtesse des Grauens Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Sasdy
Written by Jeremy Paul
Produced by Alexander Paal
Starring Ingrid Pitt
Nigel Green
Lesley-Anne Down
CinematographyKenneth Talbot
Edited by Henry Richardson
Music by Harry Robertson
Production
company
Distributed by Rank Film Distributors
Release date
  • 31 January 1971 (1971-01-31)(London)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Countess Dracula is a 1971 British Hammer horror film directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Ingrid Pitt, Nigel Green and Lesley-Anne Down. [1] It was produced by Alexander Paal.

Contents

Countess Dracula was inspired by the infamous Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory (1560–1614), a landowner and noblewoman who was accused of murdering dozens of women and girls.[ citation needed ] Her husband was Ferenc Nádasdy, Nádasdy being the surname given to the Countess in the film.

Plot

In 17th-century Hungary, recently widowed Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy discovers that her youthful appearance and libido can be temporarily restored if she bathes in the blood of young women. She enlists her steward and lover Captain Dobi and her maid Julie to help with the kidnap and murder of several local girls, whilst beginning a romance with a young Lieutenant named Imre Toth.

As a cover for her crimes while in her rejuvenated state, she takes the identity of her own 17-year-old daughter, Countess Ilona, whom she has Dobi hold captive in the woods by the mute money gambler. However, castle historian Fabio grows suspicious. Eventually, she kills a prostitute called Ziza, but her blood does not restore her like the others. Dobi finds Fabio, who has a book-chapter about blood sacrifices and tells Elisabeth the truth in return for being allowed to live. He reveals that only virgin blood will restore Elisabeth's youth and beauty.

Elisabeth then kills a peasant girl bought in the marketplace. Fabio tries to tell Toth the truth about her, but Dobi kills Fabio before he can do so. Dobi then exposes Elisabeth to Toth to steer him away from her. Elisabeth forces Toth into marrying her, but her daughter Ilona arrives home, having been brought by Dobi as a sacrifice, then freed by a repentant Julie who loved her as a daughter. At the wedding, Elisabeth grows old again after the priest pronounces the blessing. She tries to kill her daughter in front of the wedding attendees, but accidentally kills Toth instead. Elisabeth, Dobi and Julie are sentenced to death for their crimes and are last seen awaiting the hangman in their cell. In the final scene, the peasants curse Elisabeth as a "devil woman" and "Countess Dracula".

Cast

Production

The original music score was composed by Harry Robertson.

Release

The film opened at the New Victoria cinema in London on 31 January 1971 before going on general release in the UK on 14 February. [2] [3] It opened October 1972 in the United States. [4] It was released[ where? ] on a double bill with Vampire Circus (1972).

Critical reception

Allmovie has retrospectively called the film "one of the more underrated films from the latter days of the Hammer Films dynasty." [5] The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films, on the other hand, wrote that the film's "distinctly anemic blood-lettings fail to lift a rather tiresome tale of court intrigue." [6]

New York Times film critic Howard Thompson considered it "better than most [horror movies] in a sea of trashy competition", and called Peter Sasdy's direction "smooth and pointed" with "crisp, cutting edge" dialogue, until the last act of the film where "it runs out of gas, along with the desperate old woman [Countess Elizabeth]." [7]

David Pirie of The Monthly Film Bulletin called the acting "extremely poor," but found that the film "frequently takes on a nightmare quality" and that Pitt "brings to the part a very potent aura of physical corruption that is especially effective in the transformation sequences." [8]

Home media

The film is available on DVD from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the US as a double-bill with The Vampire Lovers , and from Carlton in the UK in a box set with Twins of Evil and Vampire Circus .

Synapse released a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack in the U.S. in 2014, which featured a new high-definition transfer.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Báthory</span> Hungarian countess and alleged serial killer

Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the powerful House of Báthory, who owned land in the Kingdom of Hungary. Báthory and four of her servants were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls and women from 1590 to 1610. Her servants were put on trial and convicted whereas Báthory was imprisoned within the Castle of Csejte (Čachtice), where she died under mysterious circumstances.

Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classic horror characters such as Baron Victor Frankenstein, Count Dracula, and the Mummy, which Hammer reintroduced to audiences by filming them in vivid colour for the first time. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies, as well as, in later years, television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingrid Pitt</span> Polish-British actress (1937–2010)

Ingrid Pitt was a Polish-British actress and writer, best known for her work in British horror cinema of the 1970s.

<i>Scars of Dracula</i> 1970 British film by Roy Ward Baker

Scars of Dracula is a 1970 British horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker for Hammer Films. It stars Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, along with Dennis Waterman, Jenny Hanley, Patrick Troughton, and Michael Gwynn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Čachtice Castle</span> Castle ruin in Slovakia

Čachtice Castle is a castle ruin in Slovakia next to the village of Čachtice. It stands on a hill featuring rare plants, and has been declared a national nature reserve for this reason. The castle was a residence and later the prison of the Countess and alleged serial killer Elizabeth Báthory.

<i>The Vampire Lovers</i> 1970 horror film by Roy Ward Baker

The Vampire Lovers is a 1970 British Gothic horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, George Cole, Kate O'Mara, Madeline Smith, Dawn Addams, Douglas Wilmer and Jon Finch. It was produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is based on the 1872 Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla and is the first film in the Karnstein Trilogy, the other two films being Lust for a Vampire (1971) and Twins of Evil (1971). The three films were somewhat daring for the time in explicitly depicting lesbian themes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brides of Dracula</span> Characters in Bram Stokers 1897 novel Dracula

The Brides of Dracula are fictional characters in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. They are three seductive vampire "sisters" who reside with Count Dracula in his castle in Transylvania, where they entice men with their beauty and charm, and then proceed to feed upon them. Dracula provides them with victims to devour, mainly implied to be infants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesbian vampire</span> Literary trope

Lesbian vampirism is a trope in early gothic horror and 20th century exploitation film. The archetype of a lesbian vampire used the fantasy genre to circumvent the heavy censorship of lesbian characters in the realm of social realism.

<i>Taste the Blood of Dracula</i> 1970 film by Peter Sasdy

Taste the Blood of Dracula is a 1970 British supernatural horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Peter Sasdy from a script by Anthony Hinds, it is the fifth installment in Hammer's Dracula series, and the fourth to star Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, the titular vampire. The film also features Geoffrey Keen and Gwen Watford.

<i>Lust for a Vampire</i> 1971 British film by Jimmy Sangster

Lust for a Vampire, also known as Love for a Vampire or To Love a Vampire, is a 1971 British Hammer Horror film directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Ralph Bates, Barbara Jefford, Suzanna Leigh, Michael Johnson, and Yutte Stensgaard. It was given an R rating in the United States for some violence, gore, strong adult content and nudity. It is the second film in the Karnstein Trilogy, loosely based on the 1872 Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla. It was preceded by The Vampire Lovers (1970) and followed by Twins of Evil (1971). The three films do not form a chronological development, but use the Karnstein family as the source of the vampiric threat and were somewhat daring for the time in explicitly depicting lesbian themes.

<i>Hands of the Ripper</i> 1971 British film by Peter Sasdy

Hands of the Ripper is a 1971 British horror film directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Eric Porter, Angharad Rees and Jane Merrow. It was produced by Aida Young for Hammer Film Productions, and written by L. W. Davidson from a story by Edward Spencer Shew. The film was released in the U.S. as a double feature with Twins of Evil (1971).

<i>Vampire Circus</i> 1972 British film

Vampire Circus is a 1972 British horror film directed by Robert Young and starring Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters and Anthony Higgins. It was written by Judson Kinberg, and produced by Wilbur Stark and Michael Carreras (uncredited) for Hammer Film Productions. The story concerns a travelling circus, the vampiric artists of which prey on the children of a 19th century Serbian village.

<i>La Noche de Walpurgis</i> 1971 Spanish film

La Noche de Walpurgis /Walpurgis Night, is a 1970 Spanish/German horror film starring Paul Naschy, the fifth in his series about the werewolf Waldemar Daninsky. This film was directed by León Klimovsky and written by Paul Naschy, and is generally regarded to have kickstarted the Spanish horror film boom of the 1970s. This was Naschy's all-time most financially successful film. It was also the first of 8 films that he would make with director Leon Klimovsky at the helm.

The influence of Countess Elizabeth Báthory in popular culture has been notable from the 18th century to the present day. Since her death, various myths and legends surrounding her story have preserved her as a prominent figure in folklore, literature, music, film, games and toys.

<i>The Countess</i> (film) 2009 French-German historical film

The Countess is a 2009 French-German historical crime thriller drama written and directed by Julie Delpy, who also composed its score. It stars Delpy, Daniel Brühl and William Hurt. It is based on the life of the notorious Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory.

<i>Daughters of Darkness</i> 1971 film by Harry Kümel

Daughters of Darkness is a 1971 erotic horror film co-written and directed by Harry Kümel and starring Delphine Seyrig, John Karlen, Andrea Rau, and Danielle Ouimet.

<i>Beyond the Rave</i> 2008 British film

Beyond the Rave is a British horror film, initially published on MySpace, that marked the return of Hammer Films in 2008.

<i>Bram Stokers Draculas Curse</i> 2006 American film

Bram Stoker's Dracula's Curse is a 2006 horror film by The Asylum, written and directed by Leigh Scott. Despite featuring Bram Stoker's name in the title, the film is not directly based on any of his writings or a mockbuster to the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula, but shares similarities to films such as Blade: Trinity, Dracula 2000, Underworld: Evolution and Van Helsing. The film also shares some similarities with the 1971 Hammer horror film Countess Dracula, which also features a Dracula-esque femme fatale in the lead role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferenc Nádasdy</span> Hungarian noble, politician (1555–1604)

Count Ferenc II Nádasdy de Nádasd et Fogarasföld was a Hungarian nobleman and a distinguished soldier. His family, the Nádasdy family, was one of the wealthiest and most influential of the era in Hungary. In 1571, when Ferenc was 16, his mother, Orsolya Nádasdy (1521-1571), using her association with many noble families in Hungary, organized a marriage to the young Elizabeth Báthory, daughter of the Count György Báthory of Ecsed and his wife and cousin, Baroness Anna Báthory of Somlyó (1539–1570). The Báthory family were as rich and illustrious as the Nádasdy family, though older and more influential, since they had several relatives who had the charge of Nádor (palatine) of Hungary. Among them, included a cardinal, a King of Poland-Lithuania, and a Prince of Transylvania.

<i>The Devils Wedding Night</i> 1973 Italian film

The Devil's Wedding Night is a 1973 Italian horror film.

References

  1. ↑ "Countess Dracula". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  2. ↑ "Put heart into your box office (advertisement)". Kine Weekly . 30 January 1971.
  3. ↑ Meikle, Dennis (2009). A History of Horrors: The Rise and Fall of the House of Hammer (Revised ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc. p.  255. ISBN   9780810863811.
  4. ↑ Smith, Gary A. (2017). Vampire Films of the 1970s: Dracula to Blacula and Every Fang Between. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. pp. 64–65. ISBN   9781476625591.
  5. ↑ Donald Guarisco. "Countess Dracula - Review". Allmovie . Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Hearn, Marcus; Barnes, Alan (2007) [1997]. The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films (2nd ed.). Titan Books. p. 143. ISBN   978-1-8457-6185-1.
  7. ↑ "Double Bill of Horror Arrives". New York Times. 12 October 1972. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  8. ↑ Pirie, David (March 1971). "Countess Dracula". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 38 (446): 47.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.