Pitt Stops

One hopes that Heaven will be letting in Ingrid Pitt - surely the right one - who has sadly died today, the Queen of Hammer Horror, and the Countess Dracula.  Pitt, whose buxom figure emphasised the diabolic sensuality on offer to her victims, was synonymous visually with the tantalising transgressions of a certain tendency in semi-erotic horror films - a far cry from today's dismal and dehumanised "torture porn".  Pitt, who was Polish, appeared in several of the classic films of all time - such as The Wicker Man, and Where Eagles Dare,   and also acted in television, appearing in Dr Who, and Smiley's People.  Her three most famous roles are likely in The Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula, and The House That Dripped Blood, at the start of the 1970s.  Indeed, her major period is brief, 1968-1973.  She had earlier taken small or uncredited roles in Welles' Chimes at Midnight, and Lean's Dr. Zhivago.  She will be missed.