Gothic (film)
Gothic is a 1986 British psychological horror film directed by Ken Russell, starring Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron, Julian Sands as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley, Myriam Cyr as Claire Clairmont (Mary Shelley's stepsister) and Timothy Spall as Dr. John William Polidori. It features a soundtrack by Thomas Dolby, and marks Richardson's and Cyr's film debut.
| Gothic | |
|---|---|
1986 Virgin Vision poster | |
| Directed by | Ken Russell |
| Screenplay by | Stephen Volk |
| Story by | Lord Byron Percy Bysshe Shelley |
| Produced by | Penny Corke |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Mike Southon |
| Edited by | Michael Bradsell |
| Music by | Thomas Dolby |
Production company | Virgin Films |
| Distributed by | Vestron Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | GBP$4.5 million or £2 million |
| Box office | USD$916,172 (United States) |
The film is a fictionalized retelling of the Shelleys' visit to Lord Byron in Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva, shot in Gaddesden Place. It concerns their competition to write a horror story, which ultimately led to Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein and John Polidori writing "The Vampyre." The same event has also been portrayed in the films Mary Shelley (with Elle Fanning as Mary Shelley), Haunted Summer (1988) (with Alice Krige as Mary Shelley) among others, and alluded to in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) (with Elsa Lanchester as Mary Shelley and the Bride of the Monster).
The film's poster motif is based on Henry Fuseli's 1781 painting The Nightmare, which is also referenced in the film.