24 years ago, Isabelle Huppert starred in an erotic psychological drama called The Piano Teacher, which won the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival, where Huppert also earned a Best Actress award (and her co-star Benoît Magimel won Best Actor). The Piano Teacher was based on a novel by Elfriede Jelinek – and now, Huppert and Jelinek are set to reteam for a vampire movie called The Blood Countess, where Huppert will be taking on the role of the title character, Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th-century Hungarian serial killer!
Variety reports that German New Wave artist and filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger will be directing The Blood Countess and wrote the screenplay with Jelinek. Huppert will be playing Báthory as she awakens from her long beauty sleep and emerges from the underworld. She and her devoted maid (Birgit Minichmayr) embark on a baroque quest through Vienna to recover the red elixir of life. The book, if found and read by the vampire’s enemies, threatens their vampire realm. Hot on their heels are a vegetarian nephew (Thomas Schubert), his psychotherapist (Lars Eidinger), two vampirologists, a police inspector, and more lively characters in this twisted and humorous vampire tale.
Huppert is joined in the cast by Birgit Minichmayr (Daughters), Lars Eidinger (Dying), Thomas Schubert (Afire), and André Jung (The Forger).
The Magnify sales team will be presenting the project to potential buyers at the European Film Market. Magnify provided the following statement: “The Blood Countess is an immersive and delightfully eccentric vampire mystery with a vibrant cast of characters, led by the captivating Blood Countess herself. The story unfolds as a highly visual, narrative scavenger hunt — playing with history, modernity, humor, and style. It is the perfect reintroduction of Ottinger’s work to a global audience that has grown in appetite for visually striking, bold and smart genre cinema.“
Ottinger added, “This is the right time for the Blood Countess to wake up from her deep sleep and savor the present. The world is upside down and events are repeating themselves in an eerie way. Vienna, with its historic buildings and timeless flair, is the perfect crime scene. With her sophistication, beauty, and calculation, the Blood Countess casts a spell over all those who serve her, flee from her, or pursue her.” Ottinger’s filmmaking career stretches back to the 1970s. Her credits include The Enchantment of the Blue Soldiers, Madame X: An Absolute Ruler, Ticket of No Return, Freak Orlando, Joan of Arc of Mongolia, and more.
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