Product Details

• Actors: Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr, Timothy Spall
• Directors: Ken Russell
• Writers: Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Stephen Volk
• Producers: Al Clark, Penny Corke, Robert Devereux, Robert Fox
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: February 26, 2002
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005V1WO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,114 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Gothic" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Lurid, kitschy, over the top--what more does one expect from Ken Russell, director of The Devils, Tommy, and Altered States? Gothic purports to tell the story of a night that Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and the future Mary Shelley spent at a country estate and decided to write ghost stories--a night that ultimately resulted in Mary writing the novel Frankenstein. These three and a couple of friends romp around the mansion, freaking out at shadows and the sounds of a storm, getting increasingly hysterical and hallucinatory as the night progresses. Thrown into the mix are a mechanical belly dancer, nudity, walking suits of armor, an orgy, séances, grotesque masks, leeches, a pig's head, stigmata, snakes, and God-awful dialogue like "We are the gods now--we have dared to call ourselves creators!" Gabriel Byrne (Byron), Julian Sands (Shelley), and Natasha Richardson (Mary) are all terrible; it's a miracle any of their careers survived. But good or bad isn't really the point with Ken Russell, who aspires to a kind of visual delirium. Gothic isn't the masterpiece of excess that The Lair of the White Worm is, but towards the last half-hour it does achieve a creepy state of disorientation entirely suited to its subject matter. Russell isn't afraid to be trashy in the pursuit of unfettered cinematic symbolism. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

GOTHIC - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars slapdash transfer, March 26, 2003

By 

Random McNasty - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gothic (DVD)

I won't go into the pros or cons of the movie, which many other reviewers have covered earlier. If you like Ken Russell, can tolerate some ambiguity, and enjoy the darkness of Romantic poetry, you probably like this movie; if you don't, you won't.

What I will mention is that Artisan has provided us with a DVD that defines "lackluster." There are no, repeat no, extras on the DVD. Not even an original trailer or still of an A sheet. The format is pan-and-scan, and I do not believe any attempt was made to restore the print. In fact, I would venture so far as to say this is simply the earlier VHS-formatted movie transferred directly onto DVD. If, like me, you no longer own or use a VCR, or your VHS version is worn out, this DVD is worthwhile. If not, then wait until someone who cares about movies, perhaps Anchor Bay, gets permission to produce this movie on DVD, and does it right.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Master Piece, May 2, 2004

By 

DrEDG "gynetix" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gothic (DVD)

Gothic is one of Ken Russell's best films. Of course his work isn't for everyone, and I know some people just hate his movies, and complain about their content and self indulgence. But for me, these are some of his strong points, being prepared to experiment with his subject matter, and produce his own unique vision. Gothic tells of a meeting, in Switzerland, between: Byron (Gabriel Byrne), Shelly, Mary Shelly (Natasha Richardson), and two lesser known figures: Clair Clairmont and Dr Polidori. The beginning and end of the film both look like period piece dramas. What comes in between is Ken Russell's unique vision. The characters, during a stormy knight, invent stories and create a monster of their own imaginations. These involve all of Ken Russell's favorite images for film (and hence the self indulgent criticism): Religion, vampirism, sumptuously films sets, a plot that verges on the fantastical, and nudity. Of interest though is the way the narrative deals with death, as there is an interesting sequence where Mary Shelly has visions of the demise of all the principles in the film. Of course it all ties in with the Birth of one of English literature's most memorable books: Frankenstein (by Mary Shelly). Gothic is a Master Piece from Ken Russell, one of his most interesting films that challenges the viewer immensely. Sadly, however, not all will get it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What movie would Lord Byron have done if he were still alive, February 23, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Lyon, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gothic [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Or if he were really a vampyre, as suggested in Tom Holland's THE VAMPYRE. During this terrible night in geneva, the most inspired gothic spirits of Europe will challenge themselves to the writing of an horror story. The winner will be the one who would create a story so frightening that it will become true in the others' minds. In essence, it will give birth to two major works of English litterature, Mary sheley's Frankenstein an Polidori's VAMPYRE (which seemed to be very much taken from Lord Byron's life). The atmosphere is heavy and the prestation of each of the actors remarkable. You would believe to be back in the old days, in the presence of Lord Byron and the Shelleys. I would like to make a point escpecially on Gabriel Byrne's play as a dandy and, perhaps, vampyre. There are lots of hints at Frankenstein (with shelley naked under the rain shouting "Lightning is the force of the universe"), at the vampyre myth, and at shelley's obsession about worms, and so on... All in all, for an experience in fear, but not horror, we are held in good compagny, not to say the best