It's difficult not to imagine the story of Elizabeth Bathory not being highly sensationalised. I suppose a lot has been written about it over the years, and I admit that most of what I know about it comes from movies like this, and, well, a bunch of metal songs. Still, I'm not convinced that many of the literary accounts of the Blood Countess are any less lurid. Write me if you know of any interesting ones.

Now, this film turns out to be sort of different from how I imagined it would be. Despite what I said above, it's not really lurid at all, and even may be considered "tame" by certain standards. nevertheless, if taken for what it is: a kind of grim gothic melodrama, this is a rather effective piece, full of atmosphere and cathartic moments. What surprised me a bit here is how Bathory is not portrayed so much as a monster here, and even can be seen as a victim of desperate circumstances. The portrayal is, dare I say it, rather sympathetic.

True, the story plays out about as predictably as one might expect, and there are some silly touches (the vampire trial scenes). I enjoyed this for what it was, though, and I even have to say I preferred this to the much-more-campy Countess Dracula from Hammer. in the British film, Bathory comes off as something of an evil cow (no sleight intended against Ingrid Pitt here though of course), and it's hard to really feel like anything happens to her by the end that isn't well dserved. maybe that was the intention, but I must say Jorge Grau's different approach brings an attractive sort of ambivalence to the legend. Plus, the atmosphere here is really strong, and I really like the musical score. The American accents in the english dub feel a little strange, but that's mostly because we are all so accustomed to historical period pieces done with mannered English diction, no matter where these things are meant to take place. So, in the end, this is a pretty good film; maybe not the most memorable thing you'll ever see but an oddly pleasing way to wile away an hour and change sometime after midnight. Fans of gothic melodrama should particularly take notice. With this and the awesome Let Sleeping Corpses Lie under his belt, it's really a shame that Jorge Grau did not do more horror/macabre films.

Also known as The Legend of Blood Castle, The Female Butcher, The Bloody Countess and Ceremonia Sangrienta, this Jorge Grau-directed (The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue) Eurohorror film is a real classic that's finally getting a great release thanks to Mondo Macabro.

The people of 19th century Europe aren't ready to let go of their fear of vampires just yet, so they head out into the night and conduct trials over the graves over those who have recently died and are rumored to the undead.

As for Countess Erzebeth Bathory (Lucia Bosè, Fellini's Satyricon), all she cares about is her quickly fading beauty and her husband's lack of attention. But there are methods to bring her looks back and him back to bed which involve the dark practices of the ancestor she shares a name with. Blood is the secret and shockingly, her husband is only too willing to get it for her.

Where you'd expect a film awash in blood and gore, this is a movie more about how women deal with aging and men that only see beauty in youth. And yes, there's still plenty of bloodbathing along the way.

Ewa Aulin (Candy, Death Laid an Egg) is also in this. Sadly, Aulin didn't enjoy acting and was done by the age of 23.

This is yet another must-have for your horror collection. I wish Grau had made more films in the genre, if only because his movies end up having so many alternate titles.