{"id":35271,"date":"2015-11-10T13:00:21","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T20:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35271"},"modified":"2021-01-16T01:49:18","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T08:49:18","slug":"countess-dracula-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35271","title":{"rendered":"Countess Dracula (1971)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It states quite clearly: for the restoration of youth and beauty, only the blood of a virgin may be used!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Poster-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-35272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Poster-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Poster-676x1024.jpg 676w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Poster.jpg 1933w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nUpon the death of her husband, an aging countess  (Ingrid Pitt) accidentally discovers that young women&#8217;s blood makes her youthful again, and enlists the help of her loyal lover (Nigel Green) in securing victims. Meanwhile, she arranges for her visiting daughter Ilona (Lesley-Anne Down) to be held hostage by a mute gamekeeper (Peter May), and seduces a handsome lieutenant (Sandor Eles) while pretending to be her own daughter.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Horror Films<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Royalty and Nobility<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nDespite its title, there are no fangs to be seen in Hammer Studios&#8217; follow-up to Polish-born Ingrid Pitt&#8217;s memorable debut as the 200-year-old lesbian vampire Carmilla in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=139\"><em>The Vampire Lovers<\/em> (1970)<\/a>. Here, Pitt plays the infamous serial murderess Elizabeth Bathory, nicknamed &#8220;Countess Dracula&#8221; because of the blood she shed in the name of (vainly) attempting to preserve her own youth. The problem with <em>Countess Dracula<\/em> is that Pitt&#8217;s character &#8212; apparently <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Elizabeth_B%C3%A1thory\">one of the most cold-blooded female sociopaths in the annals of history<\/a> &#8212; is portrayed as both heinously villainous <u>and<\/u> petulantly pathetic. The two shouldn&#8217;t necessarily be in conflict (plenty of screen villains are pathetic), but there are enough semi-decent characters supporting Pitt in her endeavors &#8212; including her long-time lover (Green) and her loyal nursemaid (Patience Collier) &#8212; that we get a bit confused. Meanwhile, Pitt&#8217;s real-life daughter (Downs) &#8212; who we long to see striking back at her viciously narcissistic mother &#8212; is imprisoned for most of the film, and we primarily see her being humiliated. While this film has its share of cult fans, it&#8217;s ultimately a disappointment.      <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Bathory&#8217;s travails were even more gruesomely and realistically portrayed in Walerian Borowczyk&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=83\"><em>Immoral Tales<\/em> (1974)<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Cinematography2-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-35274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Cinematography2.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Cinematography2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Cinematography2-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Cinematography-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-35273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Cinematography.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Cinematography-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Countess-Dracula-Cinematography-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; this one is only must-see for Hammer horror aficianados. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0065580\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/moria.co.nz\/horror\/countess-dracula-1970.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s934vamp.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=1334&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1972\/10\/12\/archives\/double-bill-of-horror-arrives.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It states quite clearly: for the restoration of youth and beauty, only the blood of a virgin may be used!&#8221; Synopsis: Upon the death of her husband, an aging countess (Ingrid Pitt) accidentally discovers that young women&#8217;s blood makes her youthful again, and enlists the help of her loyal lover (Nigel Green) in securing victims. Meanwhile, she arranges for her visiting daughter Ilona (Lesley-Anne Down) to be held hostage by a mute gamekeeper (Peter May), and seduces a handsome lieutenant&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35271\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35271"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63689,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35271\/revisions\/63689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}