Countess Dracula (1971)

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.

Director:

Peter Sasdy

Writers:

Jeremy Paul (screenplay), Alexander Paal (story)

Stars:

Ingrid Pitt, Nigel Green, Sandor Elès

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ingrid Pitt	...	Countess Elisabeth
Nigel Green	...	Captain Dobi
Sandor Elès	...	Imre Toth
Maurice Denham	...	Master Fabio
Patience Collier	...	Julie
Peter Jeffrey	...	Captain Balogh
Lesley-Anne Down	...	Ilona
Leon Lissek	...	Sergeant of Bailiffs
Jessie Evans	...	Rosa
Andrea Lawrence	...	Ziza
Susan Brodrick	...	Teri
Ian Trigger	...	Clown
Nike Arrighi	...	Gypsy Girl
Peter May	...	Janco
John Moore	...	Priest

Storyline

In medieval Europe aging Countess Elisabeth rules harshly with the help of lover Captain Dobi. Finding that washing in the blood of young girls makes her young again she gets Dobi to start abducting likely candidates. The Countess - pretending to be her own daughter - starts dallying with a younger man, much to Dobi's annoyance. The disappearances cause mounting terror locally, and when she finds out that only the blood of a virgin does the job, Dobi is sent out again with a more difficult task.

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Plot Keywords:

blood on breasts | female frontal nudity | buttocks | bare breasts | 16th century | 

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Taglines:

Her macabre and bloody quest for eternal youth

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cameo appearance by Elton John at around 45:14 wearing white shirt and headgear, seated with three others at the tavern when Nigel Green, Sandor Eles and Peter Jeffrey meet prostitute ZIza.

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Goofs

When 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.

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Quotes

Captain Dobi: And what will your daughter say? She arrives tomorrow and she'll find you as young as she is.

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Alternate Versions

Although 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.

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Connections

Referenced in Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood! (1987)

User Reviews

"Good latter day Hammer much in the Terence Fisher style."

This Hammer horror made during the company's swansong years is based on the real life tale of the Hungarian Countess Bathory who bathed in the blood of young virgins in order to preserve her youth. Here the character has been renamed the Countess Nadasdy and is excellently portrayed by Ingrid Pitt. Director Peter Sasdy (who was Hungarian) manages to extract some period detail (not the pleasant kind) from the Jeremy Paul script such as the treatment of peasants by the aristocracy and he is aided by the rich lighting of Cinematographer Ken Talbot. Sasdy was without doubt one of the best Hammer or British horror film directors alongside Terence Fisher, Roy Ward Baker, Freddie Francis and John Gilling. Indeed Sasdy was the only other director than Terence Fisher who was able to relate the attitudes of society and the eerie atmospheric poetry to the vampire myth. While this is no criticism against Sasdy, it would of been interesting to see how Terence Fisher would have approached the film. The material would have given him many opportunities to place emphasis on character and setting, which was the main features of his style. Other delights include the able support from the always reliable Nigel Green who plays a faithful servant who supplies Pitt with suitable victims and Maurice Denham is fun as the ill-fated inquisitive librarian Master Fabio. The film has now been reissued on DVD with "Twins Of Evil" and "Vampire Circus" by Carlton as a box set entitled, "Hammer House Of Horror: The Vampire Collection".

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

11 October 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Countess Dracula

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Rank Organisation, Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1