6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
To prolong her youth, medieval countess Elisabeth Bathory sends out her lover to find likely young female donors of blood for her to bathe in.
Starring: Ingrid Pitt, Nigel Green, Lesley-Anne Down, Peter Jeffrey, Patience CollierHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (A, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of Hammer Horror: Four Gothic Horror Films.
Chances are if you mention the phrase "classic Hammer horror" to the casual film fan, and perhaps especially to the genre aficionado, the
immediate
response might be focused on some of Hammer's now legendary output beginning in 1957 with The Curse of Frankenstein, and continuing at least through both some of the subsequent
Frankenstein
offerings, as well as 1958's Horror of Dracula,
and
its follow-ups, not to mention other properties Hammer either "updated" (The Mummy) or invented (Maniac
). Those follow-ups by themselves of course continued apace for several years, and that fact, when combined with the general perception
among some that Hammer's overall quality not necessarily confined to so-called "franchises" declined as the sixties wore on, is where things may
start to differ among respondents in terms
of when Hammer's "classic" period ended, if in fact it ended at all. In that regard, it can be interesting to watch this collection of productions from
the
seventies when, as one of the supplements included in this set overtly mentions, "Hammer wasn't Hammer anymore", at least in terms of some of
the erstwhile
resident
talent who had moved on to other places. It's also interesting to note that at the same time the back cover of the slip box housing the discs in this
set itself overtly
mentions a perceived "classic early '70s period", which may be a bit of PR hyperbole, but which may also invite approval from those who don't feel
Hammer's output in the seventies is automatically dismissable, even if the studio had become manifestly different from what it had been in prior
decades. Within
that
overall context, then, the four films offered in this collection are often quite interesting in their own regard, and
Imprint has supplied each of them with a really bounteous collection of bonus features.
Countess Dracula is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint and Via Vision Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. Based solely on screenshots (which can be a risky strategy), this looks similar but not always identical to the presentation that Synapse Films offered on Region A Blu-ray several years ago. While color timing can appear more or less the same at times, there also seem to be isolated differences, as can be spotted by comparing screenshot 7 in this review with screenshot 2 in Brian's review. There are some moments of noticeable damage, notably in the will reading scene where there's some fading at the edges of the frame and what almost looks like print through floating through the center part of the image. Occasional random briefly distressed moments can be spotted, as in screenshot 9. Other damage tends to be a bit less noticeable, but shows up fairly regularly in the form of scratches, nicks and other blemishes.
Countess Dracula features a nice sounding LPCM 2.0 Mono track that I suspect is very like the audio Brian assessed on the Synapse release. While there are some thick accents to decipher here (something that also shows up in some of the commentary tracks), dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, and the film's bombastic score by Harry Robertson is also rendered without any issues. There's some slight background noise in some quieter moments, though that said, this film doesn't exactly wallow in quiet moments. Optional English subtitles are available.
As Kat Ellinger gets into in her interesting visual essay about the real life Countess Bartholdy and the many films that have purported to tell her story, we may still be waiting for the definitive cinematic account of her life, and there's little doubt that Countess Dracula doesn't exactly offer "the facts, and just the facts, ma'am". Still, it offers a chance for an energetic Ingrid Pitt to strut her stuff, and the film has a generally appealing production design that doesn't betray too much about any substandard budgeting issues. Technical merits are generally solid, and Imprint has provided a very nice array of supplementary features. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
1971
Hammer
1970
1971
1972
Cinema Cult
1960
Hammer
1960
Daughters of Dracula / Cinema Cult
1974
1970
Cinema Cult
1963
Uncut
2013
Hammer
1974
Collector's Edition
1971
1963
1966
1968
Hammer
1959
Hammer
1974
Imprint #87
1971
1967
Hammer | Special Edition
1967