Films

High Camp. Vegetarian Vampires. Copious Bloodshed. Awakening after centuries of slumber, Countess Elizabeth Báthory embarks on a quest to destroy an ancient book that could end immortality for vampires. Joined by her devoted maid, she cuts a vibrant, blood-soaked path across Europe in German legend Ulrike Ottinger’s long-gestating, 20-years-in-the-making spectacle, a maximalist pastiche with humor that’s as biting as its vampiric protagonist. 

Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher) dominates the screen, buoyed by decadent costume design and an uproarious script from Ottinger and Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek, in her most delightfully campy performance yet as the titular Blood Countess. For a film about the undead, it’s an irresistibly lively horror comedy that’s worth sinking your teeth into.