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.

Vain and ruthless Marquise Eresebet Bathory (well played by Lucia Bose) bathes in the blood of young virgins in order to regain her youthful beauty. Her equally depraved husband Karl Ziemer (a deliciously wicked performance by Espartaco Santoni) and an evil old housekeeper (a superbly nasty portrayal by Ana Farra) help Bathory out. Director/co-writer Jorge Grau relates the compelling morbid story at a deliberate pace, maintains a grimly serious tone throughout, delivers a handy helping of grisly violence (the scenes with Bathory smearing blood on herself are truly gross and disgusting),and does an expert job of rendering a vivid and convincing evocation of a dismal period setting ruled by fear and superstition. The oppressively dark and bleak atmosphere and the spot-on stinging social commentary on the brutal excesses of the amoral and debauched upper class further add to this film's considerable unsettling impact. The credible acting by the capable cast rates as another significant asset. The lovely Ewa Aulin of "Candy" fame in particular makes for a fetching damsel in distress as feisty servant girl Marina Schneider. The polished cinematography by Fernando Arribas and Oberdan Troiani makes excellent use of smooth gliding pans and tracking shots. Carlo Savina's shivery score does the spine-tingling trick. The final image of this movie is truly chilling and memorable. Well worth seeing.

Jorge Grau's "Ceremonia sangrienta" (called "The Legend of Blood Castle" in English) is one of many movies telling the story of sixteenth century Hungarian countess Erzsebet Bathory, who reportedly bathed in the blood of young virgins so as to maintain her youth and beauty. This one has less nudity than I've come to expect in Euro-horror flicks; I think that they wanted to focus on the plot more than anything, and they did a worthwhile job. The nude scenes, so to speak, are the scenes where she lets the blood run all over her body.

The only other Erzsebet Bathory movie that I've seen is "Countess Dracula", which I thought was worth seeing (although it was more of an excuse to show off Ingrid Pitt). This one stars Lucia Bose, Espartaco Santoni and Ewa Aulin. Aulin is best known as the title character in Christian Marquand's 1968 psychedelia-fest "Candy". She starred in a cinematic acid trip and in a movie about a sicko countess. Whoa...

Anyway, worth seeing. You may find it under a different title, as often happens with Euro-horror flicks.