The general consensus here seems to be that Jorge Grau's Ceremonia Sangrienta is one of the best cinematic tellings of the Countess Bathory legend, superior even to Hammer's Countess Dracula. I'm afraid I must disagree: Countess Dracula mightn't qualify as one of Hammer's finest vampire films, but at least it's not boring. And it's got Ingrid Pitt in the altogether. Grau's film, which stars Lucia Bosè as Erzebeth Bathory, moves at a snail's pace and doesn't offer enough nudity or gore by way of recompense.
When the Countess in this version of the tale discovers that bathing in the blood of young women restores her youth, she sends her husband Karl (Espartaco Santoni), presumed dead and now posing as a vampire, to abduct local girls for the slaughter. As well as finding victims for his wife, Karl is also busy romancing tasty innkeeper's daughter Marina (Swedish babe Ewa Aulin), but Karl's visits to the village don't go unnoticed, and the angry locals eventually grab pitchforks and torches looking for justice (as is de rigeur in stories like this).
Grau delivers a few stabbings, a couple of stakings, and the decapitation of a corpse (the head burnt and the ashes scattered), but it's simply not enough for a 102 minute long film that really drags its heels. The copy that I watched was dubbed in English, except for the final courtroom scene, so I was unable to understand the Countess's defence, but I really wasn't enjoying the film anyway, so no big loss there. The film ends with Erzebeth Bathory walled up in her castle, with her old crone of a housekeeper for company (although she's not going to be much of a conversationalist, having had her tongue cut out).
When the Countess in this version of the tale discovers that bathing in the blood of young women restores her youth, she sends her husband Karl (Espartaco Santoni), presumed dead and now posing as a vampire, to abduct local girls for the slaughter. As well as finding victims for his wife, Karl is also busy romancing tasty innkeeper's daughter Marina (Swedish babe Ewa Aulin), but Karl's visits to the village don't go unnoticed, and the angry locals eventually grab pitchforks and torches looking for justice (as is de rigeur in stories like this).
Grau delivers a few stabbings, a couple of stakings, and the decapitation of a corpse (the head burnt and the ashes scattered), but it's simply not enough for a 102 minute long film that really drags its heels. The copy that I watched was dubbed in English, except for the final courtroom scene, so I was unable to understand the Countess's defence, but I really wasn't enjoying the film anyway, so no big loss there. The film ends with Erzebeth Bathory walled up in her castle, with her old crone of a housekeeper for company (although she's not going to be much of a conversationalist, having had her tongue cut out).