The Copenhagen Post has a post up on Neon Demon. According to the article, the film shoot is still slated to begin on Monday, March 30. They have also reported that Liv Corfixen, Nicolas Winding Refn’s wife, said that the film was inspired by the story of serial killer Countess Báthory in an interview with Dazed & Confused Magazine.
CNN has a piece on the countess. She believed that she would retain her youthful skin if she bathed in the blood of virgins. She and three of her servants are said to have tortured to death somewhere between 100 and 650 girls.
Update: Many thanks to Zrzu who has sent me an email with a link to a Czech criminology site that has information about the Countess. It was an interesting read even though the translation was rough. The bathing in blood appears to be a legend that was started more than 100years after her death. Her subjects disliked her and she was cruel but the account implies that the witnesses were not credible and there was a political agenda involved on the part of her accusers.
A historical drama was made in 2008. The filmmaker said the follow (via the google translator):
The extraordinary personality of Elizabeth Bathory employs historians for centuries. Even today, nearly four hundred years after her death, her views on life and blame diverge. Guinness World Records is cited as the greatest murderess in the history of mankind. After reading the published works and studying historical materials, I came to a different conclusion. To me, this renaissance, intelligent and educated woman victim of those who yearned after her property.
It sounds like Refn will be focusing on the legend aspect of the tale for the upcoming plot of Neon Demon.