Review by Karolina Gruschka
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Fairest of Them All…
… Ingrid Pitt, that’s for sure!
Not only one of the most attractive film sirens of all times, Ingrid was beautiful on the inside too. She embraced her iconic position in the horror genre and appreciated her supporters and fans. Ingrid’s life reads like a movie script – she survived a Nazi concentration camp, an escape from Communist Germany, and in later years a battle with cancer. Despite multiple blows of fate, she kept fighting and came to be the First Lady of Horror with a great cult following. It may as well be her that Imre, in Countess Dracula (1971), is referring to as the “woman [who] embodies all the virtues”. Unfortunately, Ingrid passed away late 2010 at the age of 73 after collapsing on route to a fan club dinner.
In the Hammer Horror production Countess Dracula Ingrid Pitt plays the Hungarian Countess Elisabeth Nadasdy, a role comparable to that of the vain and ‘godless’ Queen in Grimm’s Snow White. Like in the fairy tale we witness the genesis of a demonical being. Starting off as fairly ruthless towards the common folk, Elisabeth develops to become a monster who is willing to murder the innocent, even her own daughter.
It seems that Elisabeth’s inner self is incongruous with her appearance. She still feels young and has a strong sexually predatory drive, but her demure looks stop her from enticing young men. When she discovers, by accident, a way to reverse the ageing process Elisabeth loses herself immediately in the cult of youth. Blood sacrifices are the only way to retain her youthful skin, therefore she needs to murder more and more girls. All the while, Ilona (Lesley-Anne Down), Elisabeth’s daughter is kept captive in a forest hut by a guy, who strikes a resemblance to the dwarf figures in Snow White. Elisabeth has a thing for her late husband’s young friend Imre (Sandor Eles) and does not wish for her daughter (returning to grieve for her father) to interfere in her game of seduction. Not to cause any suspicion, she pretends to be Ilona whenever she is transformed.
Each time Elisabeth changes into a goddess, the comedown becomes harder. Years ago, a mirror would have contributed to her great content, but now, all it does is drive her to madness. Every scene that sees her become uglier, Elisabeth is looking at a reflective surface, i.e. a mirror or window. According to some ancient beliefs mirrors can reflect one’s true nature; going by the reflection, Elisabeth’s soul must then be terribly tainted. The bigger the loss of beauty, the bigger her hunger for grandiosity. Ultimately, this narcissistic dysfunction leads Elisabeth to her downfall. (For more on the role of mirrors in horror and folklore, see Keri’s recent feature.) Ironically, while Hungary is at war with the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), it is ‘home’ that becomes the main site for destructive and aggressive tendencies. Despite its similarity to Grimm’s fairy tale Snow White, which is also played on in the original trailer, Countess Dracula is based on the historical figure Elisabeth Bathory.
In Hungary 1575, fifteen year young Elisabeth Bathory gets married to Ferenc Nadasdy, the son of a rich Baron. While she hardly gets to see her husband as he is either studying in Vienna or fighting as chief commander against the Ottomans (or dead eventually in 1604), Elisabeth is left to tend to their estates. During that time she tortures and murders supposedly over six hundred girls. Elisabeth Bathory dies in 1614 in a dungeon after four years of imprisonment, and goes down in history as the most prolific female serial killer. Myths soon start circulating around the countess, such as that she liked to bathe in virgin’s blood. Because of the cruel extent of her crimes she gets often compared to Vlad III from the house of Draculesti, hence her title ‘Countess Dracula’. In the film, too, after a few murders, villagers start spreading myths around the Nadasdys, claiming that “their ancestor was a seven headed dragon” and that they are all witches who “sold their souls to the Devil”, Elisabeth being “the worst of them all”.
Despite Countess Dracula being a film based on a serial killer and blood rites, there is not much violence and gore present, compared to other Hammer Horrors. Instead, much more focus is placed on the story and the dialogues, giving it almost the feel of a historical epic movie. The real Elisabeth Bathory had accomplices for her cruelties; in Countess Dracula it is the nanny Julie (Patience Collier) and Captain Dobi (Nigel Green as Elisabeth’s lover) who keep schtum and provide victims for Elisabeth’s blood baths. Dobi genuinely loves Elisabeth but grows increasingly disdainful towards the monster she is becoming. “At least there’s dignity in age” – with youth, Elisabeth starts flaunting herself and mocking Dobi in front of others. Julie is also very loyal towards Elisabeth at first, but the revelation that Ilona (as a nanny, she raised the girl) is supposed to become the next victim, leads to her betrayal. All the same, Julie meets her faith down in the dungeon with Elisabeth – “The Devil Woman”, “Countess Dracula”.
In my opinion, folk tales are fantastic material for horror films. Folklore is always based on truth (at times on famous figures such as Vlad the Impaler, Faust and Bathory; at others on the odd villager) but then, as the stories get passed on, they develop a life of their own. Trying to figure out yourself or hearing/reading/watching other people’s attempts at theorizing what the origins of each tale might be forms a great source of pleasure for me. For instance, there has been some conspiracy theories stating that Elisabeth Bathory might have been framed for crimes she had not committed, because of her wealth, whereas in Countess Dracula Elisabeth murders virgins since their blood has a supernatural healing power. As it has been a long long time ago, we will never know the truth.
The sets and costumes of Countess Dracula are absolutely stunning, adding to the whole historical epic film look. The performances are also brilliant – this is not some cheap sort of exploitation movie (btw nothing wrong with the latter). And of course, one gets to see Ingrid Pitt in all her full bloom!
NETWORK are releasing Countess Dracula on Blu-ray 8th September 2014 as part of ‘The British Film’ collection. The disc includes an audio commentary with Ingrid Pitt and horror aficionandos Kim Newman and Stephen Jones, the original theatrical trailer, an archive interview with Ingrid Pitt, a news feature about 50 years of Hammer, image galleries (production, behind the scenes, portrait, promotional) and an episode each of British TV series ‘Thriller’ (‘Where the Action is’, 1975, with Ingrid Pitt) and ‘Conceptions of Murder’ (‘Peter and Maria’, 1970, with Nigel Green).
(Editor’s note: no, we don’t know why Hammer’s official Youtube channel opted to use a picture from The House That Dripped Blood on the Countess Dracula trailer either.)