I tried not to watch this and 'Bathory' too close together as I didn't want one to hinder the other, but as it happens it didn't make any difference, for both of them were pretty bad. Maybe 'The Countess' was just a bit worse than the earlier one though. Julie Delphy is beautiful and a talented actress, and her actual portrayal of Erzebet Bathory was pretty darn good, but there just wasn't much going for the film. Everything just chugs along at a mediocre speed and only towards the end are we really introduced to the Countess's bizarre and sadistic streak. Having read quite a bit about the life of the Countess I found the whole approach to her crimes was taken ridiculously lightly. We are somehow supposed to believe that she doesn't have a bad streak in her and that she really is only thinking of her appearance in a sort of unselfish way. This is totally unrealistic as we know that she was a crazy, cold-hearted killer who didn't think twice about draining girls of their blood and so makes the film slightly off-kilter. Also, (not wanting to spoil the end) we are shown a completely fabricated and fake outcome to the last scene which really enraged me.
The cinematography and the beautiful scenery were the only plus points of the film and they each receive one star.
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