Juraj Jakubisko for artistic achievement and received the Pribina Cross from the Slovak government, a special award given to those who have aided in the economic, social or cultural development of Slovakia. His next feature was "Post Coitum" (2004), a comedy about love starring Franco Nero. 2008 saw the release of "Bathory", starring Anna Friel as Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th-17th century Hungarian countess, often claimed to be one of history's most prolific mass murderers. She was reputed to have bathed in the blood of young Slovak women. Famke Janssen was originally cast in the title role. In addition to being Jakubisko's first
Countess Dracula scene, the peasants curse her as "devil woman" and "Countess Dracula". "Countess Dracula" was based on Hungarian Countess Erzsebet Báthory (1560-1614), who was responsible for the deaths of allegedly 600 girls and young women, all of which involved torture and gruesome methods of killing. Allmovie has retrospectively called the film "one of the more underrated films from the latter days of the Hammer Films dynasty." "The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films", on the other hand, wrote that the film's "distinctly anemic blood-lettings fail to lift a rather tiresome tale of court intrigue." "New York Times" film critic