Review of Countess Dracula (1971) by Jean-Francois V — 17 Aug 2009

I watched the first half-hour of this film and then finished it on x4 fast forward just to make sure it was going where I thought it was. It is said to be "based on an idea by Gabriel Ronap", which idea probably consisted in doing a remake of "The Leech Woman" that recycled the legends that grew around the life of Countess Nadasdy (1560-1614), better know as Elisabeth Bathory, a Hungarian aristocrat rumoured to have killed and tortured several hundred people (though reliable historical works on her life seem to be few and far between.).

The film contains more nudity than gore and suffers mostly from an uninspired script, mediocre (and apparently sometimes dubbed) actors, non-existent cinematography and corny make-up. What I particularly liked about it was the opportunity to see what Lesley Anne-Down actually looked like at 17 without the heavy make-up she always wore later on. She was quite pretty, but the film doesn't give her much of a role (she gets abducted, and her idea of an escape is throwing a plate of rice at her gaoler's face and then banging on the locked door.).

Compared to the "Leech Woman", it mostly suffers from the lack a MST3K commentary, which is why I couldn't finish it.