Very Cool!!!

That was an excellent one.

Don't Believe the Hype

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

"LAS VEGAS – With her smooth skin and wavy, honeyed hair, Elena Caro was celebrated as a beauty by her husband and teenage daughter, who often told her that she didn't need cosmetic surgery. But at 42, Caro wanted firmer skin and a younger figure, so she secretly booked an appointment with a medical office recommended by a close friend." –AP 4/11/11Elena Caro is now dead after a second rate botched procedure that resulted in the arrest of the unlicensed staff. The question becomes "How far would you go to regain the beauty of your youth?". In Elizabeth Nodosheen's case she was willing to kill for it. I would think that instantly looking like Ingrid Pitt would make bathing in blood tempting for any girl. Ah vanity, it's my favorite of the deadly sins.Astringent, mud mask, exfoliant, emollient, lotions, pore strips, foundations, and powders are just a few things we ladies use to tighten skin, reduce fine lines, fade scars or spots, plump wrinkles, diminish pores, and to attempt to steal back lost years, because no matter how old she is, every woman wants to be twenty, or at least look it. Elizabeth Nodosheen gets the ultimate makeover in Hammer's Countess Dracula, and all it required was just a bit of virgin blood.Virgin after virgin dies in this well made seventies horror film. Despite Hammer's reputation there was very limited nudity showcased in Countess Dracula, disappointingly enough. There was one lovely Ingrid Pitt milky breast with nipple erect fondled in a brisk love scene, and the bare backsides of three dead virgins piled upon each other in a wagon covered with casks, and of course, the alluring image above.I began to consider it somewhat wasteful killing the virgins outright. Why not just keep one alive and drain a pint or so every other day? She only needed enough to wash up with after all. This seemed plausible to me and I even began to empathize with Elizabeth Nodosheen after each successful transformation. To be converted from a sagging wretch to a vibrant, youthful beauty, the requirement certainly seemed justified, despite my better judgment. I understood how the opportunity to regain youth could be too exquisite to deny oneself.The twist came when a love triangle formed between Nodosheen with her crusty previous lover and supple boy toy. Jealousies rage, there are levels of deceit throughout the castle, and ultimately a flawed plan to wed leads to the demise of Elizabeth Nodosheen. I love her story, and this film is certainly a morality lesson regarding the price of vanity, but if this tale can't teach us, maybe Elena Caro's will.

Peter Sasdy directed this (loosely) based on fact historical account of the Countess Elizabeth(played by Ingrid Pitt) an aging ruler who discovers the secret of youth by bathing in the blood of innocent young women, which restores her own youthful beauty, and inspires her take on younger men as lovers, much to the consternation of her loyal lover Captain Dobi(played by Nigel Green). The number of missing young women draws the wrath of the village, who begin a revolt, but Elizabeth only cares about herself, which will encourage Captain Dobi to abandon her, and leave her to face the consequences of her murderous actions. Good cast and direction, but film is lurid and unoriginal; ultimately a misfire, though Pitt certainly makes it semi-watchable at least.

Today's beauty experts claim that super-concentrated amino-peptides are the way to go for younger looking skin, but ask Countess Elisabeth Nodosheen (Ingrid Pitt) and she'll tell you that nothing beats bathing in the blood of virgins. With loyal steward Captain Dobi (Nigel Green) and faithful servant Julie Sentash (Patience Collier) at her side to lure a steady stream of pure young women to her castle, the elderly Countess is able to keep wrinkles at bay and continue her love affair with handsome young soldier Lt. Imre Toth (Sandor Elès).Hammer's Countess Dracula is based on the real-life figure of Countess Erzsebet Bathory (1560–1614), who was responsible for the torture and deaths of over 600 virgin girls and, as legend would have it, bathed in the blood of her victims in order to retain her youth; surprisingly, given it's gore-drenched historical background, the film turns out to be a relatively 'dry' affair, director Peter Sasdy focusing his attention not on the more grisly details of the Countess's drastic beauty regime, but rather on its central character's controlling, self-obsessive nature and abuse of power. The result would be one of Hammer's less memorable movies, if it wasn't for the plentiful female nudity (Pitt's impressive norks even help me to turn a blind eye to her 'child-catcher' nose) plus the added amusement of some particularly large hats.

In the early 1970s, Hammer Films was in trouble. The studio was having financial woes and the same old monster films they'd been producing for a decade and a half didn't seem to be the formula for solvency. So, in a nod to the times, Hammer 'sexed-up' their films--including quite a bit of blood and female nudity. However, this did not necessarily mean the films were that good--and most were rather poor despite the now ample 'boobage'.Despite the title, "Countess Dracula" has almost nothing to do with the famed monster. Instead, it's a retelling of the story of Elizabeth Bathery--a woman whose real-life exploits are rather hard to believe today. She supposedly killed hundreds of young women and bathed in their blood in order to somehow stay younger. In this film, the weird bathing practices worked--at least temporarily. It made the hag-like Countess beautiful but the results were only short-term--she needed a continuing supply of young virgins. So, again and again, you see bloody female corpses and lots of gratuitous nudity. Nothing really that special---just lots of R-rated content. In fact, the whole thing just gets a bit tedious after a while. Lots of pretty naked ladies and violence--a rather disturbing means to increase film attendance if you think about it.By the way, in a nod to Dracula, the real-life Vlad the Impaler's picture is on the wall and an offhanded comment is made that it's the Countess' father--but no mention of Vlad or his past is mentioned.