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Gothic

UK 1986
produced by
Penny Corke, Al Clark (executive), Robert Devereux (executive) for Virgin Vision
directed by Ken Russell
starring Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr, Timothy Spall, Alex Mango, Andreas Wisniewski, Dexter Fletcher, Pascal King, Tom Hickey, Linda Coggin
written by Stephen Volk, music by Thomas Dolby

Mary W. Shelley

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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A few facts first, for all those who are not already in the know: This film is (somehow) based on actual events: the meeting of Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne), Percy Shelley (Julian Sands), Mary Godwin (later Shelley) (Natasha Richardson), her stepsister Claire (Myriam Cyr) and Byron's physician Polidori (Timothy Spall) in Byron's estate at the lake Geneva in 1916 really took place, and they really passed the time by telling horror stories to each other (or at least that's how it's handed down through the centuries), which eventually inspired Mary Shelly to write Frankenstein and Polidori to write The Vampyre, which in turn was the main inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Since this is a Ken Russell-film though, it is safe to say that the actual factedness ends here.

 

The film has its opium-drenched quintet then do a seance, which pretty much drives everybody over the edge a bit: Claire totally freaks out, runs off and is later found in the cellar, totally nude and behaving like a beast, Shelley sees himself pursued by breasts that have eyes instead of nipples, Polidori repeatedly tries to commit suicide, with not even the slightest sussess, and Mary falls into a deep nightmare while awake that confronts her with events from her past, like when she lost her child, and has her grow immensely jealous of her stepsister whom she thinks is carrying Shelley's baby, while for her, Byron's mansion turns into a maze. Even the very cool Byron eventually gives in to the panic that has befallen the others, and they try to exorcise the demon they have set free ... and the very next day, everything is back to normal again - but that night has given birth to Frankenstein, as the last image (a baby with a head shaped like that of Frankenstein's monster - as played by Karloff - swimming in the lake) shows us ...

 

Of course, to make a horrorfilm based on the events that happened on this fateful night in 1816 seems to be the obvious thing to do, but it takes a director like Ken Russell to make something worthwhile out of it: In his hands, the film takes moe the direction of an opium dream than a horrorfilm per se, with logic and realism thrown out of the window soon enough, giving way to the surreal, the macabre and the horrific, influenced (as is usual with Ken Russell) by high culture and low culture alike. That way, Russell achieves a piece of shock cinema that's at once intelligent and weirdly entertaining, which is of course also helped by great performances by all of the involved and an excellent score by Thomas Dolby. As a whole, the film might not be for everyone, but if you are looking for something different from the usual formulaic horror fare, you might find yourself liking it.

 

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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Thanks for watching !!!

 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
Amazon!!!