Rent Countess Dracula (1971)

No horror, no fangs, lots of ham, poor script - yet I liked it. It has a curious 'period' charm :) - Countess Dracula review by RP

Hammer Films made many low budget pseudo-horror films from the 1950s - 1970s and this is yet another. The studio always seems to have made 'hammy' films and this is no exception, with dodgy acting, a dodgy story and a dodgy script.

The leading role is played by Ingrid Pitt, aka the 'Queen of British Horror', as a character nominally based on Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed. The film's title 'Countess Dracula' is a shameless attempt to cash in on Hammer's earlier successful vampire films - there isn't any vampirism here.

The main male lead is played by character actor Nigel Green as Captain Dobi, with Sandor Elès playing the unlucky young Lieutenant who is seduced by the rejuvenated Countess.

The story is about an elderly countess who regains her youth by bathing in virgin's blood, apparently a sort of magic anti-wrinkle cream, but is eventually (of course) found out. There's no horror (despite this still carrying an 18 certificate), very little blood, but there is the occasional bare chest.

So no horror, no fangs, no vampires, lots of ham, poor script etc etc - yet I liked it. It has a strange 'period' charm, harking back to the days when 'horror' wasn't either torture porn or gruesome gore. I'll give it 3/5 stars.

[Aside: Curiously, the DVD includes two extras entirely unrelated to the film, a couple of short plays, one with Nigel Green, the other with Ingrid Pitt in a Brian Clemens 'Thriller' episode]

Blood, Bath, and Beyond - Countess Dracula review by griggs

There’s something charmingly morbid about Hammer’s late-period habit of turning legend into horror, and Countess Dracula fits that mould — just not snugly. Ingrid Pitt gives it her all as the ageing noblewoman who draws on virgins’ blood to stay young, but even her commitment can’t quite lift the film out of its gothic stupor.

It looks the part: candlelight, corsets, and cobwebs aplenty, with a stately pace that’s more courtly than creepy. The story should be wild, but the execution feels oddly polite — as if everyone’s too busy admiring the drapes to notice the corpses piling up.

There’s a good idea here about vanity, power, and the rot beneath refinement, but it never quite sinks its teeth in. Countess Dracula has atmosphere to spare; passion, though, is in short supply — a film that wants to be immortal yet ends up merely preserved.

Ingrid at her finest. - Countess Dracula review by PD

Seen this gem many times on television and was pleasantly surprised to find it on Blu-ray WITH commentary with film critics alongside dear Ingrid Pitt. Lovely to learn the background to the film and the making of. Wonderful colour transfer and exquisite sound. Added splendour to see, one of my favourite actors, Nigel Green. Always a treat to see him.