Countess Dracula
| Countess Dracula | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Peter Sasdy |
| Produced by | Alexander Paal |
| Written by | Jeremy Paul |
| Starring |
Ingrid Pitt Nigel Green Lesley-Anne Down |
| Music by | Harry Robertson |
| Cinematography | Kenneth Talbot |
| Edited by | Henry Richardson |
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Production
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| Distributed by | The Rank Organisation (UK) 20th Century Fox (USA) |
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Release date
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Running time
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93 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Countess Dracula is a 1971 horror film based on the legends surrounding the "Blood Countess" Elizabeth Báthory. It is in many ways atypical of Hammer's canon, an attempt to diversify the studio's output from Dracula and Frankenstein sequels.
The film was produced by Alexander Paal and directed by Peter Sasdy, both Hungarian émigrés working in England. The original music score was composed by Harry Robertson. Countess Dracula was also released on a double bill with Vampire Circus.
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 having another sexual affair with a young Lieutenant, Imre Toth. As a cover for her crimes while in her rejuvenated state, she takes the identity of her own daughter, Countess Ilona, whom she had Dobi held captive in the wood. However, castle historian Fabio grows suspicious. Eventually, she kills a prostitute called Ziza and it doesn't help, Dobi finds Fabio who has a chapter about blood sacrifices and tells Elisabeth the truth in return for being allowed to live, he says only a virgin sacrifice will work to help Elisabeth remain young and beautiful. She then kills more virgins, from peasant girls to the servant girls in the palace. Fabio tries to tell Toth the truth about his lover, but Dobi kills him before he can. He then shows Toth Elisabeth to jade him away from her. Elisabeth forces Toth into marrying her but her daughter Ilona arrives home, Elisabeth grows old again and tries to kill her daughter but kills Toth instead. Elisabeth, Dobi, and her maid are sentenced to death for their crimes and are last seen awaiting the hangman in their cell. In the last scene, the peasants curse her as "devil woman" and "Countess Dracula".
Countess Dracula was based on Hungarian Countess Erzsebet Báthory who lived from 1560 to 1614. Countess Báthory was allegedly responsible for the deaths of approximately six hundred girls and young women, all of which involved torture and gruesome methods of killing.
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