JohnHowardReid Copyright 1970 by Hammer Film Productions Ltd and The Rank Organisation Film Productions Ltd. U.K. release through Rank Film Distributors: 14 February 1971. U.S. release through 20th Century- Fox: October 1972. Banned in Australia. 8,356 feet. 93 minutes. SYNOPSIS: The aged Countess Elizabeth goes on a killing spree after discovering the rejuvenating power of blood.MY VIEW: Although not highly regarded by Hammer fans, "Countess Dracula" features a strong performance by Ingrid Pitt in the title role (aided by reasonably convincing make-up), but provides little else of interest, aside from a few glimpses of Andrea Lawrence. Fans of Nigel Green will feel especially aggrieved. Our hero is not only cast in a lackluster role, but he's given precious little footage. He doesn't even play second fiddle to Ingrid, but joins Patience Collier and the lovely Lesley-Anne Down on third. Maurice Denham, despite the handicap of a woeful costume, even steals a scene or two from him. No wonder Nigel looks pained and disgruntled and seems aimlessly to wander through the film as if fighting a severe attack of indigestion. Despite some attractive settings, the production looks scrappy and second-rate. The men's wardrobe has a hand-me-down air, the editing is slack and the sets are not sufficiently Gothic to be either frightening or atmospheric. Although colorful enough, the photography is often inappropriately over-lit. The script also presents a number of entertainment obstacles. Ill-constructed, it makes little or no attempt to paper over several gaping holes in the narrative, fails to add flesh to the characters, yet frequently employs marking-time dialogue to spin the scenario out to feature length. Worst of all, however, is Peter Sasdy's ruthlessly inadequate direction. Judging from his totally inept approach, I would estimate that he learned his trade (such as it is) in the bleakly undemanding world of British television with its slip-shod acting, its over-use of mechanical close-ups, and its total disregard for pace, suspense and atmospheric build-up.

qmtv Pure Crap. Story sucked, the acting is amateur. Garbage all the way. Boring, Slow Crap.Ingrid Pitt sucks like crap in this movie. Her acting is horrible. The worst actor is the Lieutenant, this guy cannot act.The cinematography was OK, just point and shoot. The directing was garbage. It takes more than aiming a camera and being satisfied with the first takes. This guy cannot get any emotions out of the actors, or any atmosphere. The castle was fine, and some of the costumes were good, then again some of the costumes were disgusting.The best Hammer productions had great set designs, colors, cinematography, and music. They never had great stories. And their actors were decent, not great. Christopher Lee was a decent actor, not great. Peter Cushing was much better, but still not great. What we have with this movie is a complete lack of anything that makes an even passable movie.No explanation is given for why virgin women blood gave her youth. A book was found to explain the virgin blood, but that came later and no spell or anything, just virgin blood on old skin and it induces youth. The story itself is crap. The old guy is in love with the even older woman, great. Then after she gains youth she falls in love with the lieutenant. Ingrid Pitt was around 33 at the time. She looks more like in her 40s and acts like a feakin teenager in love. Real nonsense. The horrible acting. The horrible story. We see a few kills, but most off screen. The makeup was garbage. The acting? I've seen some terrible movies, but these movies had no budget, but much better stories, and the actors tried. This movie had a budget, but wasted it. If you're a fan of Ingrid Pitt then see it. If not study it for the elements: Story/Plot/Dialogue, Acting, Music, Set Design, Costumes, Directing – all below par. I suggest intoxication, and laugh tracks would help. Best external review I've read so far is from: British Horror Films (Chris Wood). He sees this (film) for what it is, utter crap. I find more entertainment out of reading real honest and intelligent reviews like this than watching this crap. Here's another honest and intelligent external review: Taliesin Meets the VampiresMy rating is an F, 1 star. No entertainment value what so ever.

Leofwine_draca This unusual and stylish entry from Hammer studios is well worth a watch for those looking for a different kind of vampirism. This take on the legend of the infamous countess Elizabeth Bathory, who enjoyed torturing and mutilating hundreds of young virgins throughout her life, is actually rather muted when it comes to the violence. You would imagine lots of blood and guts on display here, but no, instead all we see are a few slashed wrists and a jumpy moment where an unsuspecting woman gets a hairpin jammed into her neck.For exploitational value, though, the film offers up ample naked flesh to satisfy any red-blooded male; indeed just about all of the female cast are required to lose their clothes at various intervals (Countess Dracula was one of the films to usher in the "new wave" of Hammer horror, along with THE VAMPIRE LOVERS: films which followed in their wake were made more appealing to the general public by the liberal inclusion of gore and nudity wherever possible). However, the main strength of this movie is its visual power; director Peter Sasdy gives it a unique style all of his own which effectively conveys moods of decay, regret and sadness.Physically, the movie is very colourful in places (when involving the young lovers), grey and gloomy in others; the photography is sharp and really helps to bring out the atmosphere of the castle in which this film is set. Incidentally, the sets were left over from a bigger production (of which the name escapes me) which accounts for the whole expensive look to this film. Add to this the authentic-looking costumes and village scenes, and you have a great-looking film.Sadly, however, this isn't a great movie. There are some great actors and scenes in it, yes, but as a whole it is flawed by the inclusion of some laughably cheesy love scenes between the wooden Eles and Pitt. At each of these moments, loud soapy music plays on the soundtrack. I was lucky enough to see this film on the big screen and the audience found these scenes very amusing indeed. Countess Dracula is also slightly too arty for its own good in places, and personally speaking I would have preferred to see some more traditional elements in the film (like more of the superstitious villagers, perhaps). There are some fine moments, like the opening where Pitt's cart rides over a peasant, crushing him to death, it's just a shame that there aren't more of these moments throughout the film.Ingrid Pitt is fine in the title role, although it's difficult to judge her entire performance as her voice is dubbed by another actress. However, she convincingly plays two versions of the same woman - the young and the old - and positively glows when appearing as the younger. The anguish that Elisabeth feels when she reverts to her proper age again is well done, only resorting to histrionics in one rather embarrassing scene where Pitt bangs her fists against the carpet. Pitt is ably supported by a distinguished cast. Leading this is Nigel Green (THE FACE OF FU MANCHU) who is very good indeed as the complex, lovelorn servant who worships Pitt but is snubbed by her every day. Maurice Denham is also on hand as an amusing librarian and makes a very atypical and interesting character out of his role.Sadly the younger performers are less convincing. Lesley-Anne Down is pretty but vapid as Pitt's daughter, while Sandor Eles is nothing more than a male pin-up, all looks but no brain; his dumb attitude threatens to have the whole film crashing down in places, and it's a good thing that the cunning Green is there to sort him out. One other actor I have to mention is the guy playing the moustachioed gamekeeper; he's one of the funniest bit-actors I've ever seen! Just check the moment where he attempts to lick a woman's shoe or the various amusing expressions on his face - classic!It seems to me that sometimes this film works at a purely soap-opera level, what with all the love triangles, lust, and passion on display. But underneath all this are subtle undercurrents about the price people are willing to pay to stay young and the dangers of hiding your true self from those you care about. Countess Dracula also has a superb ending, a simple freeze-frame on the horrible face of a decayed Pitt, which is both chilling and fascinating in equal measure. This marks the end of what has been an intelligent and highly interesting movie; although it lacks the pacing and excitement of a routine Hammer film, it more than makes up for this in terms of visual brilliance and an offbeat tone. Worth tracking down.

AaronCapenBanner Peter Sasdy directed this (loosely) based on fact historical account of the Countess Elizabeth(played by Ingrid Pitt) an aging ruler who discovers the secret of youth by bathing in the blood of innocent young women, which restores her own youthful beauty, and inspires her take on younger men as lovers, much to the consternation of her loyal lover Captain Dobi(played by Nigel Green). The number of missing young women draws the wrath of the village, who begin a revolt, but Elizabeth only cares about herself, which will encourage Captain Dobi to abandon her, and leave her to face the consequences of her murderous actions. Good cast and direction, but film is lurid and unoriginal; ultimately a misfire, though Pitt certainly makes it semi-watchable at least.