- Actors: Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr, Timothy Spall
- Directors: Ken Russell
- Writers: Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Stephen Volk
- Producers: Al Clark, Penny Corke, Robert Devereux, Robert Fox
- Format: NTSC, Import
- Language: English
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Artisan (Universal)
- Release Date: Mar 5 2002
- Run Time: 87 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00005V1WO
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Lurid, kitschy, over the top--what more does one expect from Ken Russell, director of The Devils, Tommy, and Altered States? Gothic purports to tell the story of a night that Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and the future Mary Shelley spent at a country estate and decided to write ghost stories--a night that ultimately resulted in Mary writing the novel Frankenstein. These three and a couple of friends romp around the mansion, freaking out at shadows and the sounds of a storm, getting increasingly hysterical and hallucinatory as the night progresses. Thrown into the mix are a mechanical belly dancer, nudity, walking suits of armor, an orgy, séances, grotesque masks, leeches, a pig's head, stigmata, snakes, and God-awful dialogue like "We are the gods now--we have dared to call ourselves creators!" Gabriel Byrne (Byron), Julian Sands (Shelley), and Natasha Richardson (Mary) are all terrible; it's a miracle any of their careers survived. But good or bad isn't really the point with Ken Russell, who aspires to a kind of visual delirium. Gothic isn't the masterpiece of excess that The Lair of the White Worm is, but towards the last half-hour it does achieve a creepy state of disorientation entirely suited to its subject matter. Russell isn't afraid to be trashy in the pursuit of unfettered cinematic symbolism. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. --Bret Fetzer
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
slapdash transfer,
This review is from: Gothic (Full Screen) (DVD)
I won't go into the pros or cons of the movie, which many other reviewers have covered earlier. If you like Ken Russell, can tolerate some ambiguity, and enjoy the darkness of Romantic poetry, you probably like this movie; if you don't, you won't.What I will mention is that Artisan has provided us with a DVD that defines "lackluster." There are no, repeat no, extras on the DVD. Not even an original trailer or still of an A sheet. The format is pan-and-scan, and I do not believe any attempt was made to restore the print. In fact, I would venture so far as to say this is simply the earlier VHS-formatted movie transferred directly onto DVD. If, like me, you no longer own or use a VCR, or your VHS version is worn out, this DVD is worthwhile. If not, then wait until someone who cares about movies, perhaps Anchor Bay, gets permission to produce this movie on DVD, and does it right.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Romantics Unbound,
By Edward N Drake (Newark, DE USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Gothic (Full Screen) (DVD)
I haven't seen any of Ken Russell's other works, but this one is the only one I need to see. This interesting thing about this movie is how similar all of the characters look to their real-life counterparts, or at least their portraits, with the sole exception being Shelley. Even without the fictional aspects being mixed in, the historical accounts of Percy and Mary, Claire, Polidori, and Byron are quite fascinating as well as entertaining in the movies, as evidenced by Haunted Summer. But it was Coleridge who once coined the term "suspension of disbelief", and taking a compelling real-life account of how Mary Shelley came to write Frankenstein and mixing in generous elements of the fictitious in order to turn reality into a horror story can be fun indeed, especially when the story is capable of allowing you to suspend your disbelief. And that's what this story does so wonderfully. I remember loaning a copy of this movie to a friend many years ago, and then several days later she called me to express her disbelief that Polidori had drank a beeker filled with water and leeches. But that's part of the lure of this film. Fans of the account concerning the origins of the story Frankenstein might, if their imagination allows, truly enjoy this work of art.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ecxellent movie,
By A Customer
This review is from: Gothic (VHS Tape)
Not a gore fest movie. It is supensefull and thoughtfull. It's a wild drug trip with the characters all strung out on laudanum. Surreal imagery mixed with drugged out viewing from the character's perspective.
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