Gothic is a 1986 film directed by Ken Russell. It starred Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron, Julian Sands as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley and Timothy Spall as Dr John William Polidori. It features a soundtrack composed by Thomas Dolby, and marks Richardson's film debut.
The film is a lurid and highly fictionalized tale based on the Shelleys' visit with Lord Byron in Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva, and the famous challenge to w...
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Gothic is a 1986 film directed by Ken Russell. It starred Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron, Julian Sands as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley and Timothy Spall as Dr John William Polidori. It features a soundtrack composed by Thomas Dolby, and marks Richardson's film debut.
The film is a lurid and highly fictionalized tale based on the Shelleys' visit with Lord Byron in Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva, and the famous challenge 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 Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Haunted Summer (1988), among others.
The film's poster motif is based on Henry Fuseli's painting The Nightmare, which is also referenced in the film.
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