| Director | Julie Delpy |
|---|---|
| Genre | biographical film, drama film, horror film |
| Runtime | 98 min |
| Country | France, Germany |
| Budget | $8.5 million |
| Box office | $784,522 |
In 1560, Elizabeth Báthory is born into the Hungarian noble Báthory family, the daughter of general George Báthory of Ecsed. From an early age, Elizabeth's parents raise her to accept hardness and cruelty. As a teenager, Elizabeth is impregnated by a young peasant lover and is forced to watch as he is brutally tortured and executed before her eyes; Elizabeth's mother takes the child away from her directly after its birth, ensuring that she never sees him again. Elizabeth is later married to Count Ferenc Nádasdy, with whom she has three children. After Nádasdy's return from the Ottoman-Hungarian Wars, he succumbs to a disease he contracted abroad and dies.
Elizabeth, now the sole heir of her husband's vast estate, seeks recognition from the Hungarian Habsburg Emperor Matthias. Matthias consents reluctantly due to his considerable debt to the Countess. At a ball, she meets Count György Thurzó's 21-year-old son, István, and falls in love with him. After a night together, István is forced by his father to end the relationship and marry the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Denmark. Elizabeth, 39, believes that their age difference is to blame for the failure of the relationship. After an incident in which she is splashed with blood after striking a female servant, Elizabeth starts to believe that bathing in the blood of virgin girls can help her to reach eternal youth and beauty, a belief reinforced by her sycophantic servants who insist her skin is suddenly much smoother. To this end, her staff capture and brutally kill peasant girls to obtain their blood.
It is only when Elizabeth starts to kidnap aristocratic girls that the authorities begin an investigation. Count Thurzó is asked to investigate the incidents, and he thus sends István, now a count himself, to visit Elizabeth. István reluctantly goes to visit her, and they spend a passionate night together. István, despite his affections for the countess, still suspects the countess and when he and one of his companions discover evidence of her crime, they arrest her. During the trial, Elizabeth is found guilty, and, due to her noble origin, she is sentenced to spend the rest of her life walled into her room in Čachtice Castle in total isolation. Elizabeth's staff are also found guilty, but unlike her they are put to death. All of her estate is awarded to the Count Thurzó with the exception of Čachtice, which is given to her children.
Driven by desperation after being walled in, Elizabeth Báthory commits suicide. She is then buried without a coffin in a humble grave, with no funeral ceremony. The film casts doubt on the sentence, suggesting that much of the happenings have been manipulated by Count Thurzó.