The review that I just read was pretty accurate...I do not think they quite understood what I took as the meaning as the movie. The confusion in the movie was the entire point in my opinion. She was never tried and proved guilty...everything was confusing during that time whether she was guilty of anything at all. She lost her temper and killed a couple of people...when someone was sneaking mushrooms into her drinks. IF they were wanting to go about it in a actual historically accurate method...which they did...she was possibly the victim of a political/religious conspiracy with the church wanting her land and all. Look up Elizabeth Bathory on Wikipedia. It goes through a thorough synopsis of her entire life...the accusations and also the conspiracy theory. Nothing was ever confirmed...so unless the people who made the movie wanted to give their opinion, which I do not believe they intended to do...they would have to leave it just as confusing and surrounded by myth as the entire story was. I kind of thought it was a good little effect on how much myth there was when they had her burn the castle she was imprisoned in...when in all reality nobody knows how she died or when she died. There were several days of uneaten food when they found her. Speculation was the point and the "spies" were there because they were there in real life. I have not found any information regarding an affair with the artist so that might have just been to show that she was possibly a normal wanting love kind of woman....we all have a romantic side even us torturers in the world.
Review of Bathory: Countess of Blood
