October 28th Gothic (1986)
Ken Russell's nightmarish film of the creation of a Gothic literary classic - Frankenstein. Set at Lord Byron's mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva, Gothic is a wildly imaginative, drug induced tale of wanton excess. Full of hallucinatory scenes of eroticism and horror many of which are taken from classic Gothic literature. The small cast of Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr and Timothy Spall have a riot as Russell thrusts them down the dark path of their nightmares. There's so much going on here and the film is such a visual treat it's hard to take it all in in one sitting and the film improves no end with subsequent viewings.
Seeing it once again but this time via the BFI's new Blu-ray disc really brought Russell's film to life.
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