Gothic (film)
Gothic is a 1986 horror film directed by Ken Russell, starring Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron, Julian Sands as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley, Myriam Cyr as Claire Clairmont – Mary Shelley's half-sister – and Timothy Spall as Dr John William Polidori. It features a soundtrack by Thomas Dolby, and marks Richardson's film debut.
The film is a 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's writing Frankenstein and John Polidori's 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.
Read more about Gothic (film): Cast, Reception, Awards and Honors