"Gothic" is a fictional account of a June evening in 1816 which purportedly inspired Mary Shelley to write "Frankenstein." It was at the Villa Diodati, with her soon-to-be-husband Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, her stepsister Claire Clairmont, and Dr. William Polidori—all important historical figures. During a storm, the group decide to have an impromptu seance, after which they are tormented by apparitions, visions, and bumps in the night.Criticized by some for being one of Russell's more outlandish works, "Gothic" is certainly bonkers —like a fever dream crossed with the literary works of its subjects. Total cohesion is impossible given Russell's aims here, which are far more impressionistic than anything else. The film works itself into a frenzy that mirrors the state of mind of its characters, under the influence of the monsters of their own minds, or of God's, or the devil's, or perhaps (according to some historical accounts), opium use. The film never clues the audience in to any of these; we are simply handed the madness all its own.There are some nightmarish visuals throughout and several notably disturbing sequences. Others are utterly bizarre and borderline comical, a line that seems to be toed quite finely throughout. Intimations of the characters' own inner struggles and demons are transmitted subtly and overtly: Miscarriages, lost romances, homosexual desires, and religious paranoia. The performances match the content in terms of their histrionics; Julian Sands is especially over-the-top as Percy Shelley, and the same can be said for Miriam Cyr and Timothy Spall, while Natasha Richardson and Gabriel Byrne are a bit more understated in comparison.In the end, "Gothic" is really one of those love-it-or-hate-it types of films. It is thin on plot and thick on impressions and visuals. At times the film feels like a haunted funhouse where things go bump in the night, and at others is far more grave and dark than its more tongue-in-cheek moments. For what Russell seemed to be aiming to do, the film accomplishes it with the help of each creature, apparition, and hysteric. As a deluge of human repressions, fears, and existential dilemmas come to life, "Gothic" is an appropriately bloody, dripping pulp. 9/10.

This ranks as one of the worst films I've ever had the misfortune to watch.The subject matter is something I find fascinating, a period when the two greatest Gothic characters were conceived and this is the best they could come up with to bring this time to life?! I thought more of Natasha Richardson and Timothy Spall than to stoop as low as productions of such poor quality.If a subject interests you enough that you would make a film about it why would you do such a horrendous job of it?! The first thing you notice is how terrible the soundtrack is. Even by the standards of 1986 the music sounds like cheap, out-of-date electronics all of which fail to capture any mood in the film.It soon follows that you notice how terrible the performances of the 'actors' are with everyone but Richardson over-acting and 'hamming' up their parts, making them all seem overly eccentric.If you have the chance to watch this film don't bother! Read Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' in stead. It'll take a lot longer but will be a far less waste of your time than this film.

Should have been a comedy poking fun at the British class system, instead it's an all too earnest "film" about "important" historical personages. Tries to be dark and mysterious but the movie only achieves hokey and lame. Tries to invoke the heady words wrote by Byron and Shelley but the dialog comes off forced and overly fanciful. All the acting is so operatic, unnatural, rather than adding to character it makes everyone's performance appear hammy. The movie tries to display the free-love orgies Lord Byron and his pals supposedly engaged in, but tragically becomes the funniest part of the film. Just a lot of silly talk, uninspired nudity, and junior-high school haunted house quality horror.

Fierce and flamboyant film director Ken Russell takes the viewer for a weekend in the country with some literary notables in Gothic, a nightmarish orgy of blood and thunder based in fact. It is nothing new for Russell who unlike like any other director took factual historic accounts of lives of the famous (Mahler, Tchaicovsky, Isadora Duncan) and applied audacious compositions that some might say bordered on character assassination. Given Byron's temperament I'm sure he would have approved.Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne) has the poet Shelly (Julian Sands) , wife Mary (Natacha Richardson), and half sister sometime lover Claire down to the Villa for a weekend of sadistic parlor games challenging the status quo and their sanity with ungoverned imagination and confession. Accomodated by a violent storm the five scurry wildly from room to room to roof hallucinating and acting out monstrously. The weekend is framed between two eras fitted into brief prologue and epilogue, centuries apart with inquisitive tourists checking out the grounds and listening to the same gossipy chatter of the guide. Within this framework we are barraged with relentless scenes of shock and awe as each character confronts and is confronted with mean spiritedness and cruel reality. Russell in typical form offers up some incredibly potent imagery with copious amounts of blood and sexual depravity as well as appearances by living gargoyles and leeches. He allows no respite between opening and finale as the dark humor he skillfully applies in other films is so dark as to be invisible here. Byrne provides the character of Byron with a a perverse twinkle in his eye while half sis Claire played by Myriam Cyr remains semi demonic throughout. Sands idealistic Shelley counterpoints Byron nicely and Natascha Richardson brings a balance and touch of sanity to the group as Mary Shelly, even as she endures a night of terror and memory. Fifth wheel Dr. Polidori played by Timothy Sprall conveys a magnificent repugnance. With Byron's well documented esoteric lifestyle and the fact that Mary Shelley claims to have been inspired on this night to write the book Frankenstein Russell's wild style is a good fit to fill in blanks. Watching it for some may be an ordeal but I'm sure Lord Byron would have been impressed with Ken's kindred spirit.