‘Crimson Peak’ is gorgeous, but vacant
‘Crimson Peak’ is an ambitious miscalculation that should have waited for the script to catch up with the visuals.
Gothic Horror
31 Days of Horror: Hammer’s influential ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ remains a striking work
The Curse of Frankenstein Written by Jimmy Sangster Directed by Terence Fisher UK, 1957 Having enjoyed success with the sci-fi horror film The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), the Hammer studio was keen to further exploit the apparent appeal of darker content – Quatermass had notably been one of the early recipients of the ‘X’ certificate – …
31 Days of Horror: ‘The Fearless Vampire Killers’ is one of the most aesthetically sumptuous horror comedies around
The Fearless Vampire Killers Written by Gérard Brach and Roman Polanski Directed by Roman Polanski USA/UK, 1967 Roman Polanski’s comedy was his first foray into both Hollywood and colour filmmaking, and, whether intentional or not, feels like a deliberate parody of the Hammer studio’s brand of gothic horror. Polanski’s film has similarly striking castle locales, …
31 Days of Horror: Ken Russell imagines classics’ inception in ‘Gothic’
Gothic Written by Stephen Volk Directed by Ken Russell UK, 1986 Natasha Richardson (in her leading role debut) plays Mary Godwin, later Mary Shelley, in Ken Russell’s fictionalised take on the inception of both her classic novel Frankenstein and John Polidori’s The Vampyre. It is based on the Shelleys’ visit with Lord Byron at Villa …