Countess Dracula (1971) - film review

The setting is a small European principality in the early 1600s.  The aged Countess Elisabeth Nodosheen is amused when her husband bequeaths the bulk of his estate to her and a young soldier named Imre Toth, whilst leaving nothing to his loyal steward, Captain Dobi.  The Countess concludes that her husband must have known of Dobi’s intentions to marry his wife after his death.  Accidentally wiping her face with a cloth stained with the blood of her maid, the Countess is surprised when she suddenly rejuvenates.  She is transformed into a young woman of twenty and becomes instantly aware of the hot blood running through her veins and of the exquisite appetites she has long forgotten.  Posing as her own daughter, the Countess beguiles Toth and the two embark on a passionate love affair.   But then, to her horror, the Countess discovers that her rejuvenation is not permanent and she returns to her former decrepit self.  The only way to restore and keep her former beauty is for her to wash regularly in the blood of virgins.  It seems a small price to pay to keep an old woman happy...

One of Hammer’s raunchier and more visceral efforts is this risqué horror fest inspired by the real-life exploits of Elizabeth Báthory, a 17th Century Hungarian countess who is reputed to have bathed in the blood of 600 young women in an attempt to stay young and beautiful.  (The cosmetics industry was pretty basic in those days.)  Fresh from her success in The Vampire Lovers (1970), Ingrid Pitt continues to live up to her reputation as the queen of horror and is ideally suited to play the part of the seductive countess, although she resented being dubbed by another actress and would never work for Hammer again.

Some stunning production values (including the magnificent sets that had previously featured in Anne of a Thousand Days) and creditable performances make up for the abundant deficiencies in the screenplay (a common failing of Hammer’s films).  Ingrid Pitt has never looked more devilishly beautiful than in this film and it is to be lamented that we do not get to hear her velvety accented voice.  Of course the film’s title is an obvious marketing ploy by Hammer to capitalise on the success of their earlier Dracula films, but who cares?  Vampirism comes in many guises, as anyone who has had to deal with tax inspectors, estate agents and cowboy builders will testify.

The notion of the older generation preying on the young is a theme that was quite prevalent in popular culture of the early 1970s – another example being Alain Jessua’s disturbing horror flick Traitement de choc (1973).  In the wake of the student uprisings of the late 1960s came an anti-authoritarian youth movement that regarded their parents’ generation as the instigators of all of society’s ills.  Today, this idea probably has an even greater resonance, as a dwindling pool of young people take on the burden of keeping an ever-increasing population of oldsters in the life to which they have grown accustomed.  Yesterday’s rebels are the vampires of today...

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