THE BLOOD COUNTESS

Countess Elizabeth Báthory awakens in the modern day with her devoted lover as the leader of an ancient organization of centuries-old vampires. When the group realizes that anti-vampire activists are on the hunt for a mystical book that could end their eternal lives, Elizabeth and her lover agree to find and destroy it first. With Elizabeth’s reluctant nephew, a committed vegetarian vampire, the three will travel across Austria meeting a whole cast of silly characters, exploring 21st-century life, and draining beautiful women of their blood.

Isabelle Huppert plays vampire Elizabeth Báthory in a gloriously camp comedy from the legendary director, Ulrike Ottinger. I’m not sure what else you need to know to be sold on this, but allow me to try and convince you further. The lesbian subtext of Báthory’s biography is made text, Huppert’s character is accompanied by an adorable pet bat, and there’s a surprise, third-act cameo that brought the house down in my screening.

Ottinger has made a name for herself as a writer/director with a deep love of arthouse cinema that she consistently and good-naturedly ribs. Her Isabelle Huppert vampire movie is no different, and the 84-year-old filmmaker brought her quirky sensibility to the lesbian vampire genre with appropriate flair: the costumes are over the top with ruffles and the blood sprays like geysers. There is, blessedly, no winking self-awareness to the jokes in this blood-soaked comedy as the ridiculous premise and characters are played ‘seriously.’ As such, this is high camp, so girls and gays to the front for the North American premiere of THE BLOOD COUNTESS. (AUSTIN KING)