Such a frustrating disappointment

An unexpected masterpiece

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

No wonder that a lot of reviewers didn't like the movie. This Ken Russell's interpretation of that famous summer nights in 1816 is quite unusual...but it has sense to me.We have to keep in mind the turbulent times in which these people lived (Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, John William Polidori and Claire Clairmont), full of war conflicts, loss of family members (Mary Shelly lost 3 of her children), important economics debts...It is therefore not surprising that this issues leads them to visit Lord Byron in Villa Diodati (Lake Geneva, Switzerland) and release their worrying state of mind reading and writing horror stories.The movie is an hallucinatory trip through fantasy, mystery, literature, eroticism, visions...all spiced with psychedelic moods. Music, camera and photography are set in terms to increase this perception.Not for everyone.Just for open-minded movie goers8/10

Gothic is the earlier of the two films on the subject of the 1816 meeting of Shelley, Byron, Polidori and the half-sisters Mary and Claire. Gothic simply seems to lose all its substance underneath overly exaggerated style. I found no reason to like nor to care about the characters, even though the cast is certainly an illustrious and capable one.Haunted Summer gives a much more nuanced look at the lives, loves, and tragedies of these pivotal persons. Gothic has far too much running about in madcap antics with very little focus on what actually drove these people to become who they were -- or to end the way they did. I only own this DVD to use as comparative filmography. As such it is a fine example of how even the most competent actors can not save a film.

I have read some, quite of lot, of the viewers' critiques before watching this movie again, from start to end, and form a final opinion. I did see the movie, which I have seen whole or in fragments previous times and some things became clearer to me.You have to know enough about the background of the story and the heroes to understand the plot. Otherwise you will think that they are a bunch of raving maniacs. I happened to be interested in the Romantics, thus I knew a lot about the stories generated from the time spent in the famous villa. There the most famous novel of Mary Shelley, Frankenstein was conceived. I had read the novel in the English language with a dense introduction that was describing the preoccupations of Shelley's circle, the infatuation of the age with the newly discovered electricity and the belief that it could generate life. Also I knew about the intricate relationships of the characters involved.If someone without this background tries to understand what the movie is about, he will be disappointed unless he has such a fine artistic sensibility and general education that can fill the gaps of the ignorance of the facts and emotions surrounding this coterie of quite exceptional people.All the information relevant is contained in the dialogues and images but unless you knew that before you would be unable to make the relevant connections or understand why the characters behave in such a manner, why and what they speak about and the whole purpose of it all.The actors are good I think for their roles. Gabriel Byrne has the latent evil touch and subdued lasciviousness that we attribute to Byron, Julian Sands is truly, the "Mad Shelley", as he was called by his fellow schoolboys when at Eton, Timothy Spall gives a grotesque image of Dr. Polidori, which is perhaps unavoidable given the fact that tradition has so much focused to the personalities of the two great literary men that his reputation has been eclipsed, therefore a normal appraisal is perhaps impossible. Myriam Cyr as Claire Clermont follows the conventional interpretation of her character as a sensuous girl attracted by the fame of the poets and lacking herself the depth and gravitas of Mary Shelley. Natasha Richardson is the most normal character among the protagonists and has a fine sequence of scenes, near the end, where she sees as if a prophetess the ensuing fate of many of the characters, which latter developments validate. The other point I wanted to make about Claire Clairmont is that when she is not portrayed as a slut with cultural pretensions, she is shown in a condition of animalistic primitivism or as possessed by demons. Dr. Polidori is also a buffoonish homosexual who eyes both the great poets. It is clear that because Claire Clairmont and Dr. Polidori were the ones of the company that did not achieve literary fame, because the were not the "literary monuments" the other two and to a lesser extent Mary Shelley later became, they have to suffer in the hands of posterity when a director has to cast their roles so as to fill the required quorum along with the "great ones". Not only life but also posthumous reputation is unfair....Sound and visual effects are adequate and achieve surprise and fear, especially the first time the movie is watched. A lot of demons and related creatures occupy the screen. One though must not blame the director for overdoing it because those elements formed the staple iconography of the so called "Gothic" atmosphere and the diaries of the heroes contain references to hallucinations and the like, perhaps because of drug taking, or just because the symbiosis of some of the most active and strong imaginations alive during that particular time.The best word that I can use to describe this movie is "uneven". It has good actors, it is supported by sound and scenic effects, it has costumes that look authentic but at times it becomes disgusting, chaotic, devoid of a real plot and radiates hysteria. There are attempts towards sexual explicitness, though by today's standards not so offensive; it must have been for the eighties though...I was interested in the movie because I am very interested in the Romantics. Otherwise it can be seen as a story of rich people indulging to their decadent appetites for sex, drugs, aimless philosophising and self-absorption, reminding one of a company of people devoted to Marquis de Sade's idea of pleasure(graphic illustrations of his books are page-turned by Mary). Mind you, if tabloids had existed during that time the story would have been a scoop. It might even hit YouTube. When famous people follow their fancies or get their kicks, it is always different from simple plebeians.... Apart from the literary fame of the characters, which in their lifetime was actually secured only by Byron, Shelley and even more Mary Shelley were to be vindicated by posterity; and Shelley was actually more famous-that is- notorious for his unconventional sexual mores, his atheism and his political radicalism, rather than for his verse, is this a story actually worthy to be made to a movie? I can not give a definite answer. Would such a story of drugs, free love (actually sex), hallucinations and sheer self-absorption be of interest to anyone? But of course it produced Frankenstein the most famous of Gothic novels …. I do not think that all this creativity was portrayed in the film. It focused more on the "bad, mad and dangerous to know" aspects of the characters. In that sense I do not think it does justice to what happened in the villa of Geneva and mainly to what was produced. Not all hedonists produce novels of enduring value. Stressing on the eccentric aspects of the lives of the characters the film has betrayed their literary significance and succumbed to sensationalism and cheap thrills.

Gothic is a wonderful mess of a movie, combining period costumes and detail with hallucinogenic, drug induced sequences. Focusing on the famous night when Mary Shelley first conceived of Frankenstein, Ken Russell's film builds on this foundation to create an in many respects psychedelic examination of its main characters, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and Claire Clarmont. Through the bizarre visions of that night, we come to understand the personalities and lives of these figures.These character studies are furthered by excellent performances. Gabriel Byrne is excellent as usual, while Natasha Richardson is good in her debut role of Mary Shelley. However, the true stand out of the piece is Miriam Cyr as the troubled Claire Claremont, stealing many scenes from her better known co-stars.In many respects, the film is incoherent, and will be difficult to follow if you do not pay attention. (Some familiarity with the historical figures discussed also helps.) However, Ken Russell specializes in cinema as experience and spectacle, and carries the whole project off to great effect.