Countess Dracula Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Peter Sasdy
UK 1971

Countess Dracula has, of course, nothing whatsoever to do with Countess Dracula, but a great deal to do with the infamous Elisabeth Bathory, a sexual psychopath who tortured young girls for pleasure and bathed in their blood to restore her skin. Protected from possible repercussions by her powerful relatives, Bathory slaughtered literally hundreds of victims, moving from castle to castle every time the local supply of girls began to peter out.

Capturing the appalling social implications of this situation, with the aristocracy quite literally preying upon the peasant classes, is just one of the things that Peter Sasdy’s film does very well. The Countess’s attitude is encapsulated in the opening sequence when, returning from her husband’s funeral, her carriage runs over and kills a peasant. She doesn’t even blink, let alone stop and check the damage. Convinced of the restorative qualities of her servant’s blood, she wastes no time at all in murdering the girl to obtain it.

Excerpt from 'And You Call Yourself a Scientist! ' review located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: 31 January 1971 - UK

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Comparison:

MGM - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Carlton - Region 2 - PAL vs. Synapse - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Ole Kofoed for all the DVD Screen Caps!

1) MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Carlton - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Synapse - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	MGM Region 1 - NTSC	Carlton Region 2 - PAL	Synapse Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:33:12	1:29:18 (4% PAL speedup)	1:33:10.167
Video	1.63:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.47 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.77:1 Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.40 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,509,014,153 bytes Feature: 26,860,423,872 bytes Video Bitrate: 33.04 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: MGM
Bitrate: Carlton
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English Dolby digital 2.0 mono.	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono.	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1641 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1641 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1566 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1566 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish or none.	English for the hearing impaired or none.	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.63:1 Edition Details: • Commentary with Ingrid Pitt, Peter Sasdy and Jeremy Paul. • Trailer (3:08). DVD Release Date: August 26, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Carlton Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.77:1 Edition Details: • Trailer (2:57). DVD Release Date: October 14, 2002 Keep Case / Box Chapters 8	Release Information: Studio: Synapse Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,509,014,153 bytes Feature: 26,860,423,872 bytes Video Bitrate: 33.04 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio Commentary With Actress Ingrid Pitt, Director Peter Sasdy, Screenwriter Jeremy Paul And Author Jonathan Sothcott • Immortal Countess: The Cinematic Life Of Ingrid Pitt Featurette (10:47) • Audio Interview With Ingrid Pitt (8:30) • Still Gallery (7:10) • Reversible Cover Artwork • Theatrical Trailer (3:06) DVD enclosed Blu-ray Release Date: May 6th, 2014 Standard Blu-ray case Chapters 12

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Synapse Blu-ray (May 2014): Hammer Time! Sweet upgrade by Synapse. Every facet of the new 1080P video is superior to the old DVDs. It is in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, is cleaner (with a few speckles early on), crisper, more natural flesh tones, more information in the frame, layered contrast and black levels, a higher level of detail and support of the grain textures.

Audio gets the lossless treatment via a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1641 kbps. There are not an abundance of aggressive effects but the ones that are exported have depth. The score by Harry Robertson (The Vampire Lovers, Fright, Twins of Evil) probably benefits the most from the uncompressed track. There are optional English subtitles on the region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc.

Some good extras are included as well. We get the same audio commentary with actress Ingrid Pitt, Director Peter Sasdy, Screenwriter Jeremy Paul And Author Jonathan Sothcott as found on the 2003 MGM DVD. Immortal Countess: The Cinematic Life Of Ingrid Pitt is an 11-minute featurette focusing on the professional life of the Polish-born actress best known for her work in horror films of the 1960s and 1970s. There is also a 9-minute, audio-only, interview with her, a stills gallery and trailer. The case has a reversible Cover Artwork and there is a DVD of the feature 9and extras) enclosed.

A shade different from usual Hammer fare, but it has appeal none-the-less. Very subtle story - kinda sexy and enjoyable if not premium work from the UK Studio.

- Gary Tooze

***

ON THE DVD: The MGM screenshots are in original size and the Carlton are sized down from 1016x570.

Carlton has squeezed the original 1.66:1 AR to 1.77:1!

Both releases have good blacks, the flesh tones looks a bit strange at times on both, but generally I think the MGM looks more naturally.

Viewed on a large screen the Carlton benefits of the higher resolution with an more detailed picture while the MGM suffers from occasional digital artifacts - but none of them looks particular good. We prefer the image quality of the MGM DVD which also includes 'Vampire Lovers'.

- Ole Kofoed

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(MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Carlton - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)