Gothic

1986 Directed by Ken Russell

Horror Marathon Day 16 Film 24

Mary Shelley has a nightmare night at Lord Byron's Villa Diodati that birthed monsters- Here Russell sets the stage for a mythos of what went into the creation of Frankenstein. Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, and Claire Clairmont come to visit Lord Byron and Dr Polidori- galavanting and creating havoc on the well pruned grounds.

Apparently Lord Byron already has a reputation as an exile- so tourist come to visit and spy on the lodgings. Gabriel Byrne's portrayal of Byron is excellent as a male chauvinist hedonist dilettante- hosting whatever sensory experience guides his whims- extravagant food, drugs, sex, and the arts.

They play silly games together and eventually have a bet best spooky story and a seance. Percy talks about Agrippa and other occult activities- pondering to make life out of death. The men lampoon faith -a general theme for Russel). Lord Byron eventually has sex with each of the partygoers- except Mary. By the time the night descends into a large orgy with large phallic codpieces - they each have visions of their greatest horrors.

Mary keeps having visions of a lost child- The film supposes her focus on the idea of bringing the child back to life- even giving some stillborn visuals that are a bit hackneyed. The horrific night as inspiration works for a setup mostly though- but I dislike the bookended ending of modern day epilogue as such things feel a bit more meta and are not necessary to the story itself. Weird happenings and the descent into the internal fears and the damage of Lord Byron’s excessive desires really drives the narrative.