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

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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 ...
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Daruma review – disabled veteran is landed with a four-year-old in soft-hearted indie road movie

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A surly war vet takes in the daughter he never knew he had in a well-intentioned but overly sentimental film

This low-budget, US-made comedy-drama is full of sincerity and good intentions but that doesn’t quite get off the hook for its egregious sentimentality and copious cliches. But the well-directed (though somewhat artless) performances and competent assembly make it palatable enough to pass the time, especially if you have a particular interest in stories about living with a disability.

The protagonist is surly war veteran and wheelchair-user Patrick (Tobias Forrest, who uses a wheelchair in real life). When he’s not drunk, in a strip club or both, he’s down at the social security office bickering with the staff. (The fact that there’s still an office he can wheel into betrays the fact this was made well before the Trump administration and Doge started gutting the agency.) One day, a pair of social workers show up and inform Patrick that he’s the father of a four-year-old girl, Camilla (Victoria Scott, adorable), who he never knew existed. Her mother has just died from cancer, and Camilla’s options are limited to either staying with Patrick (her upkeep will be paid for by a life insurance policy that kicks out $4k a month), moving in with her grandparents on the other side of the country, or going into foster care.

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