A fictional telling of an event that happened in Switzerland in 1816. Five friends were on vacation--Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne), Shelley (Julian Sands), his wife Mary (Natasha Richardson), Mary's half-sister Claire (Miriam Cyr) and Dr. Polidori (Timothy Spall). Unfortunately it rained every day of their vacation. To entertain themselves they told horror stories and each decided they would write their own horror stories. Only two finished--Polidori wrote "The Vampyre" and Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein". According to this film they were all on drugs and spend a dark and stormy night in a HUGE house confronting their deepest darkest fears.
For Russell this is restrained. There's plenty of drug-induced imagery, female AND male nudity (courtesy of Sands) and lots of screaming and running around. It makes sense (sort of) but it's out there. There's one serious casting error--Byrne. He's terrible as Byron but the rest of the cast is good--especially Richardson and Sands. A pretty good Ken Russell film that has been forgotten. I give it a 7.
For Russell this is restrained. There's plenty of drug-induced imagery, female AND male nudity (courtesy of Sands) and lots of screaming and running around. It makes sense (sort of) but it's out there. There's one serious casting error--Byrne. He's terrible as Byron but the rest of the cast is good--especially Richardson and Sands. A pretty good Ken Russell film that has been forgotten. I give it a 7.