This eerie poster is for one of the better latter-day Hammer horrors.

Hammer’s output in the 1970s was patchy at best, as the company increasingly came to play up nudity in the mix to sell tickets for movies such as The Vampire Lovers and Vampire Circus. This film’s title is (deliberately) misleading however – there’s no vampirism here. This is actually a (heavily fictionalised) take on the real-life story of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who allegedly bathed in virgin’s blood to keep her youthful beauty. In the movie version, its probably not much of a spoiler to say that when the blood supply runs out, things don’t go so well for her!   

She is played by Hammer stalwart Ingrid Pitt, who curiously enough I ended up bumping into many years later. I was at a movie poster fair at the Electric Ballroom in Camden (a grotty venue at the best of times) and she was there in a corner badgering anyone who would listen in heavily accented English to buy signed copies of her autobiography. It is probably cruel to say it, but ironically given the theme of this film, age had not been kind to her at all – especially considering what a beauty she once had been. Very nice lady though.

This is another one of the posters I thought I had sold years ago then realised I still had it rolled up in a tube in a drawer at my mum’s house. I don’t ever see myself ever displaying it, however, so will be putting into auction later this year.