Gothic (1986)

Director: Ken Russell

Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson

The Shelleys visit Lord Byron and compete to write a horror story.

If there was a genre for the weird and confusing, then ‘Gothic’ would have been listed in that category. Despite its all-star cast, the film had no entertainment value for me.

Except for the film’s final reference to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I have absolutely no idea what this movie was (actually) about. From the very odd beginning to the weird ending, ‘Gothic’ was just weird on every level and made little sense (for me, at least).

This film was so confusing, I honestly didn’t realize the characters were based on actual people. Stepsisters Claire and Mary, and Mary’s fiancée Percy visit Lord Byron at his mansion – apparently to help him write his story. Their they also meet Byron’s friend, Dr. Polidory. Although Byron was flirting and lusting with Claire (as well as scolding her on several occasions), he also seemed to have a ‘very close’ relationship with Polidory. Byron came across as selfish and manipulative.

The five occupants of the mansion were playful and erotic, but I never really understood any of them. Was this film about vampires, demons, gays, or their imagination running wild? The film is obviously meant to be poetry, but I’m definitely missing something (important) here. It’s almost too weird to call it a bad movie. This is one of those what the fu*k movies! I did not enjoy this, despite a few rather creepy moments.

On a positive note, I absolutely loved the setting in the stunning mansion. The set decoration was excellent, and the costumes were lovely.

On a budget of $4.5 million the film only earned $916,000 at the box office. Seems I’m not the only one who found this confusing… (Apparently the film did eventually manage to recuperate its budget with good DVD sales).

Would I watch it again? Needless to say, no.