The Blood Countess review – Isabelle Huppert reigns supreme in a surreal vampire fantasia

Vienna turns into a playground of camp, cruelty and aristocratic disdain in a blackly comic take on the Báthory legend – with Huppert gloriously suited to the title role From the dark heart of central Europe comes a midnight-movie romp through the moonlit urban glades of Euro-goth and camp from German director Ulrike Ottinger. As for the star … well, it’s the part she was born to play. Isabelle Huppert is Countess Elizabeth Báthory, 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman and serial killer, legendary for having the blood of hundreds of young girls on her hands and indeed her body, in an attempt to attain eternal youth. The “blood countess” has been variously played in the past by Ingrid Pitt, Delphine Seyrig, Paloma Picasso, Julie Delpy and many more, but surely none were as qualified as Huppert who importantly does not modify her habitual hauteur one iota for the role. Her natural aristocratic mien and cool hint of elegant contempt were never so well matched with a part. She gives us the ...

From Blitz to Gladiator II: the Oscar-aiming films that missed this season

This year’s nominations were led by smaller, less expected films like The Brutalist, Anora and Emilia Pérez, which left bigger bets in the cold

While films such as Wicked and Dune: Part Two amassed multiple Oscar nominations this year, the Academy’s ongoing embrace of the smaller, less conventional movie pushed a number of more traditional contenders out. From the long-awaited sequel to a best picture winner to an inspirational boxing drama to a music biopic starring an Oscar favourite, here are some of the more primed picks that failed to register:

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