Ingrid Pitt: Beyond The Forest
An animated short film by Perry Chen, Kevin Sean Michaels and Bill Plympton
Narrated by Ingrid Pitt
New! Now available on iTunes for download
About the short film
Memories from the Holocaust have been portrayed in almost every medium, but rarely animation -- and never before by a child animator. Animated short film "INGRID PITT: BEYOND THE FOREST" is a cross-generational collaboration between a world-class animation master, two-time Academy Award-nominated Bill Plympton, and a first-time animator, 11-year-old artist Perry Chen. It is narrated by Ingrid Pitt herself.
Starting with Ingrid Pitt's poignant narration and Bill Plympton's 23 traditional pencil sketches as storyboard, award-winning artist and film critic Perry Chen brings this moving story and its contemporary implications alive. Read more
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Ingrid Pitt in the News
Nov. 23, 2011
Today in History
via LIFE (Excerpts)
Today is Wednesday, Nov. 23, the 327th day of 2011. There are 38 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On this date:
One year ago: . . . Actress Ingrid Pitt, who'd survived a Nazi concentration camp and dodged Communist police to become one of Britain's best known horror stars, died in London at 73.
Nov. 5, 2011
Uncovering the Goth pilgrimage to the seaside
via Scotsman.com (Excerpts)
Each year, around Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night, in celebration of the town's connections with Dracula, the black-clad masses descend in their thousands on this pleasant nook on the North Yorkshire coast and promenade on the cobbles like a murder of preening crows. This is Whitby Goth Weekend. . . .
You can understand why, during a stay in Whitby in 1890, Bram Stoker was inspired to write Dracula.
That novel's provenance is the reason Goth Weekend was founded here. And indeed, vampires continue to exert a pull. Pete Williamson, 46, from Edinburgh, standing smoking outside the Little Angel pub, explains that he first became attracted to this particular aesthetic through the Hammer Horror movies, in particular thanks to the voluptuous Ingrid Pitt, star of Countess Dracula. "The dark side," he observes, "is so much prettier."
Nov. 17, 2011
Hammer's supernatural sirens heading to the Horror Channel
via FlickeringMyth.com (Excerpts)
The Horror Channel isn't exactly renowned for offering quality viewing entertainment, but among the mountains of pap they do present the occasional treat and this festive season they're serving up a menu of blood and barely restrained cleavage for a celebration of Hammer's glorious 70s supernatural sirens as they present a crop of Hammer favourites including Ingrid Pitt, Yutte Stensgaard, Martine Beswick and real-life twins and former Playboy Playmates Mary and Madeleine Collinson. Take a look at the line-up, which is gaurenteed [sic] to get you warmed up during the dark nights...
Saturday January 7th @ 23:10 - Countess Dracula - Polish-born Ingrid Pitt is perhaps the most iconic of the Hammer leading ladies and when the company was re-instated in 2007 it was Ingrid they chose to represent the old guard in Beyond The Rave. The Hammer Films' "Queen of Horror" had a successful acting career beyond playing insidious vampires, starring in The Wicker Man, Who Dares Wins and Smiley's People. She died in 2010, aged 73.
Nov. 5, 2011
Uncovering the Goth pilgrimage to the seaside
via Scotsman.com (Excerpts)
Each year, around Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night, in celebration of the town's connections with Dracula, the black-clad masses descend in their thousands on this pleasant nook on the North Yorkshire coast and promenade on the cobbles like a murder of preening crows. This is Whitby Goth Weekend. . . .
You can understand why, during a stay in Whitby in 1890, Bram Stoker was inspired to write Dracula.
That novel's provenance is the reason Goth Weekend was founded here. And indeed, vampires continue to exert a pull. Pete Williamson, 46, from Edinburgh, standing smoking outside the Little Angel pub, explains that he first became attracted to this particular aesthetic through the Hammer Horror movies, in particular thanks to the voluptuous Ingrid Pitt, star of Countess Dracula. "The dark side," he observes, "is so much prettier."
Oct. 9, 2011
Ingrid Pitt Website Updates
via CinemaRetro (Excerpts)
It has been decided to continue the OFFICIAL INGRID PITT FAN CLUB as a memorial to Ingrid. A Club President has been appointed, Bob Lee, and a Vice President, Edward Morley. Ingrid's niece, Simone Horsley, will return as Club Secretary and Administrator. . . .
The aim of the Fan Club is to encourage members to take part in social activities such as trips to locations like Wigtown in Scotland where THE WICKER MAN was shot or maybe go to Austria and visit the locations for WHERE EAGLES DARE. Or take part in organised visits to Film Studios such as Elstree and Bray, the home of many of the Hammer Horror films. If you are interested in any of these activities, please get in touch. If you have any suggestions for activities or outlets for the club, let us hear about them. The Ingrid Pitt Fan Club will be represented at the Tribute to Shane Briant on Sat. 15th Oct at The Round Chapel, Old Schools Rooms, Powercroft Road London E5 0PU. Meet us there!
October 5, 2011
WhatCulture! chooses its Top 10 Hammer Horror Films (Excerpts)
09. COUNTESS DRACULA (1971)
. . . the film focuses on a harsh, aging Medieval ruler (played by one of the studio's finest assets, Ingrid Pitt) who discovers that by bathing in the blood of young virgin girls, her youth is restored.
Countess Dracula is a brilliantly scathing comment upon vanity and the evil this generates within us. The true horror of the piece lies in this critical underlying social message, rather than in any particularly grotesque imagery or action within the narrative. True, the prospect of the young Imre (Sandor Eles) being betrothed to the haggard old Countess is grotesque, it is the atmosphere and suspense created by director Peter Sasdy that makes the film so foreboding. With every bath in virgin blood, Countess Elisabeth becomes even more hideous each time the effect wears off. This gives Hammer the chance to show off their effective special effects makeup, as Ingrid Pitt literally ages by about 100 years in the exciting climactic scenes!
02. THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970)
For all you (fellow . . .) perverts out there, this should probably be number one! The first of Hammer's 'Karnstein Trilogy', this film combines lesbianism and vampirism in a sexy tale of obsession and bloodsucking! Starring the voluptuous Ingrid Pitt -- one of Hammer's most popular female stars, despite the fact that she only starred in two features for the studio -- the film is rammed with innuendo and thinly veiled sexual imagery. Pitt's character, Carmella, is characterised as a predatory black panther as she seduces and preys on the blood of the unsuspecting Emma, and lesbianism is quickly defined as a plague like affliction that spreads rapidly. Full of gothic atmosphere and a crackling, sexually charged narrative that combines tension and action, The Vampire Lovers is a film that suggests that films about fanged villains don't have to focus on Count Dracula alone.
July 30, 2011
Review of Midnight Madness: The History of Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Films
by Tim Janson on Mania (Excerpts)
Nearly a hundred years of history are captured in this near four-hour documentary, Midnight Madness: The History of Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Films.
The interviews have been culled primarily from Fanex, an annual gathering for classic horror and sci-fi film fans that ran from 1987 through 2005. Some of those featured in interviews include Vincent Price, Roger Corman, Forry Ackerman, Bela Lugosi, Jr., Sara Karloff, Dee Wallace, Christopher Lee, Robert Wise, Ingrid Pitt, Val Guest, and many more.
Any fan of classic horror and Sci-Fi will simply be transfixed by this incredible documentary. It's not easy to condense over six decades of history into nearly four hours but the Svehla's pull it off remarkably well, hitting the high notes you'd expect, as well as some you wouldn't such as the early splatter films of the 1960s.
Read full review
Midnight Madness: The History of Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Films is available from Oldies.com, Amazon.com
July 27, 2011
Synapse Films to release Countess Dracula on Blu-ray/DVD
Don May Jr. of Synapse Films confirmed that Synapse has picked up Countess Dracula, the 1971 erotic vampire opus directed by Peter Sasdy and starring the late Ingrid Pitt. "We just got the HD master from MGM," May tells Fangoria, adding that the Countess release will follow Twins Of Evil, coming this November or December, and Hands Of The Ripper, out mid-next year.
July 11, 2011
Titan Merchandise to release collectible busts of Hammer Horror characters
The set is comprised of three offerings: Christopher Lee in his signature role as the bloodthirsty Count Dracula (as seen in 1958's Horror of Dracula), Peter Cushing as his adversary, the heroic Professor Van Helsing (from the same movie) and horror goddess Ingrid Pitt as the lovely, lethal Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy from the 1971 film, Countess Dracula.
June 28, 2011
Ingrid Pitt signs to Avalard
Avalard Publishing have signed a four book deal with the estate of Ingrid Pitt. This October sees the reprint of Ingrid's debut novel Cuckoo Run, an exciting thriller about mistaken identity featuring Nina Dalton - a character described by James Bond producer Cubbi Broccoli as "a female Bond".
This page last updated Dec. 4, 2011.
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