Background and influence of Gothic movies
Gothic cinema is a genre that has deep roots that go back to the very beginning of cinema: “Nosferatu (1922) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925) laid the foundation for the gloomy aesthetic we recognize today. The harmony in the construction of a gothic movies horror story is created by unusual architecture, costumes, and sometimes even music, which gives the best effect due to the atmosphere. This emphasizes the tension and drama in every detail.
The genre really flourished in the 1930s, when Universal Studios released several films starring classic monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man. They not only made the gothic style popular, but also established the canons that the genre still uses today: mysterious castles, foggy landscapes, ambiguous characters flirting with light and dark fantasy.
In the 1960s, the British studio Hammer Films breathed additional life and color into the genre, combining gothic films with elements of melodrama and outright cruelty. For example, Christopher Lee’s Dracula is not only a story about vampires, but also an emotionally charged dark fantasy drama depicting the complexities of human nature.
Contemporary gothic movies does not lose its appeal. Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak (2015) pays tribute to the classics by adding surrealism and a sophisticated visual style that recalls the artistic side of the genre. The Gothic film continues to capture the attention of audiences, creating a constant revival of the genre without ever forgetting its roots.
In this review, we will look at both classic and modern gothic films that have significantly influenced the development of the genre and left a significant mark on cinema.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Sleepy Hollow is a gothic film with elements of dark romance, mysticism and detective.
During the war of the American colonists for their independence, a German cavalryman proved himself to be a ruthless and cruel warrior, beheading everyone indiscriminately and without delay. He was captured in the village of Sonna Loshchyna, where he was beheaded.
After 20 years, the peace of the locals was again disturbed: strange murders shackled the entire area with fear. Three victims – three severed heads that the villain took from the crime scene. Rumors spread that it was the work of the unseen cavalryman. To reassure the people, Constable Ichabod Crane was assigned to investigate.
Crane’s methods, a proponent of rationalism and logic who denies the existence of God, did not go over well in the city, and it was decided to send him to the outback.
The constable considers all the stories about the headless horseman to be nonsense, taking them more like folklore than facts. Crane has to mentally travel back in time and reconsider his critical view of the world and meet love. This is his path to establishing the truth.
Runtime: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Rating: 7.3/10
The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
The Devil’s Backbone is a haunting supernatural thriller set in a remote orphanage, blending elements of ghostly mystery, war-time suspense, and dark psychological horror.
The events unfold in 1939, when the Spanish Civil War, which claimed the lives of many people, has come to an end. Little Carlos, the son of a Republican killed in action, arrives at an isolated orphanage in a depressed and desolate area run by the principal Carmen and the elderly Professor Casares. Soon after his arrival Carlos begins to notice that something really strange is going on in the orphanage, and an encounter with the ghost of a boy finally convinces him to uncover the dark secrets that this place hides… This is a wonderful movie with dark fantasy elements that many will appreciate
Runtime: 1 hour and 46 minutes
Rating: 7.4/10
The Lighthouse (2019)
The Lighthouse is an intense psychological horror that explores isolation, madness, and myth, set in a storm-battered lighthouse where two men grapple with their inner demons and unravel into eerie hallucinations.
At the end of the nineteenth century, a young man named Ephraim travels to a remote island to take up the position of assistant lighthouse keeper. He will spend a whole month in the company of a lame and very suspicious old man, Thomas. The keeper considers the newly arrived assistant to be his subject and does not allow him to practice managing the lighthouse. Soon, Ephraim begins to realize that something is changing inside him, and gradually he stops recognizing himself.
RUNTIME: 1 HOUR AND 49 MINUTES
Rating: 7.4/10
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Sweeney Todd is a dark musical thriller filled with gothic horror, revenge, and tragic romance, following a vengeful barber whose chilling partnership leads to gruesome consequences on the foggy streets of Victorian London.
Benjamin Barker spent a decade and a half in hard labor because of Judge Turpin and Bailiff Bamford, who fabricated charges against him. After serving his sentence, he returned to London, obsessed with revenge.
Barker managed to remain unrecognized. Only the woman who bakes the worst pies in town, Mrs. Lovett, realized who he was. Taking a new name, Sweeney Todd, the hero opened a barber shop above Mrs. Lovett’s bakery. The woman said that during Barker’s absence, his wife was raped by Turpin, after which she took poison, and his daughter Joanna was given to the judge for upbringing from an early age. The girl grew up, and the guardian began to show interest in her, persistently seeking reciprocity.
Having enlisted the support of Mrs. Lovett, who uses Sweeney Todd’s victims as pie filling, the barber began his journey towards his goal. His obsession crossed all boundaries, and with each new corpse Sweeney Todd became more dangerous even to himself.
RUNTIME: 1 HOUR AND 56 MINUTES
Rating: 7.3/10
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a gothic romance movie and horror epic, weaving a tale of eternal love, dark seduction, and supernatural terror as the infamous Count Dracula pursues his obsession across centuries and continents.
The dark fantasy movie Dracula is based on the novel of the same name by Bram Stoker. Moreover, director Francis Ford Coppola created the most accurate version of it: an eerie, erotic picture with hidden subtexts will repeatedly give you goosebumps. The film has been nominated for various awards and has won many awards, including 3 Oscars: for Best Costumes, Best Sound Editing and Best Makeup. That’s probably why it’s impossible to tear yourself away from it – the film fascinates with its eerie and at the same time attractive atmosphere of vampire horror and subtle symbolism that you want to unravel. The film is set in London at the very end of the nineteenth century. The beginning of the film briefly immerses viewers in the melodrama genre: a young man Jonathan Harker, a lawyer by training, and his bride, the beautiful Mina, are happy, they love each other and want to be together. However, Jonathan has to visit Count Dracula, who lives in Transylvania. Jonathan’s client is planning to buy real estate in the capital of Foggy Albion, and wants to entrust this matter to his lawyer. The only pity is that Dracula’s true face is hidden from Jonathan, so he will face a terrible …
RUNTIME: 2 HOURS AND 8 MINUTES
Rating: 7.4/10
Crimson Peak (2015)
Crimson Peak is a gothic romance movie with elements of haunting mystery and dark fantasy, set in a decaying mansion where forbidden love, family secrets, and ghostly presences entwine in a chilling tale of betrayal and tragedy.
In contemporary Western cinema, where strict rules of the film business prevail, it is difficult for directors to remain true creators, making compromises with producers. Guillermo Del Torro is considered to be one of the filmmakers with a capital “T”. His films are more like paintings, with a measured narrative and colorful characters. ‘Crimson Peak’ is one of them. The plot centers on the young Baronet Thomas Sharp, who recently married an American woman, Edith Cushing.
The newlyweds arrive at an old estate owned by the Sharpe family. The family mansion looks terrible, with red clay flowing from its old walls, much like blood. Thomas’s sister Lucille lives with the couple. From the very first days, the passion feels that something bad is happening in the house. Mysterious sounds and the appearance of ghosts force her to start her own investigation into the family secret of the castle’s inhabitants. Risking her life, the brave girl learns the terrible truth, which seems to be buried in the thicknesses of the red liquid. Mysticism, detective story and a stunning ending made Crimson Peak one of the most interesting film projects of 2015, and one of the best in the author’s oeuvre.
RUNTIME: 1 HOUR AND 59 MINUTES
Rating: 6.5/10
The Others (2001)
The Others is a suspenseful supernatural thriller that blends eerie mystery with psychological horror movie, following a mother and her children in a secluded mansion where unsettling events and unseen presences blur the line between the living and the dead.
The Others tells the story of the thin lines that separate the world of the living and the dead, and what happens if these worlds ever cross.
Britain, mid-1940s. Grace Stuart takes her children to the island of Jersey, to an old Gothic mansion, where she intends to wait for her husband, who has not been heard from for a long time. Her children, Anne and Nicholas, suffer from an unusual form of allergy and cannot stand sunlight at all, so Grace dictates new rules to the servants in the house. She wants no daylight to enter the rooms, the curtains to be drawn and the doors to be tightly closed.
Due to a rare disease, the children do not go to school – the mother studies with them herself, relying on biblical texts to teach them. They are deprived of the company of their peers, so Grace is very surprised when her daughter tells her that she saw a strange boy named Victor in the mansion. He told Anne that he also lives in this house, and not alone, but with his whole family. Grace considers the girl’s stories to be a harmful fantasy, but soon she herself notices that something amazing is happening around her…
RUNTIME: 1 HOUR AND 41 MINUTES
Rating: 7.6/10
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Shadow of the Vampire is a darkly inventive horror movie that reimagines the making of the classic Nosferatu, with a chilling twist where the actor portraying the vampire may actually be one.
The classic film released in 1921, Nosferatu, Symphony of Terror, made a lot of noise in its time. The image of the protagonist was presented so realistically that the audience was sure that the movie Dracula was played by a real vampire, and in the mountain villages of the former Czechoslovakia, where the filming took place, there are still legends about all sorts of unexplained incidents with the film crew and the terrible nightmare of Nosferatu night. It is said that a hunched figure with an inhuman look was seen not far from the expedition camp.
The Shadow of the Vampire is a semi-documentary story about the making of the film about the hunchbacked werewolf Orlok, which became the ancestor of the genre and a vivid example for aspiring directors who want to work in the style of dark fantasy movies. The effect of “movie within a movie” is a brilliant discovery of the authors. By recreating old paintings, seasoning them with incredible legends, the authors have surpassed the original film. There are no scenes of torture of human flesh, which make your blood run cold, only horrible teeth and a maddened look.
The director shot the movie as if he believed in the existence of vampires, and this belief is transmitted to the viewer. We are watching a meticulously restored chronicle of experiments on our own consciousness – a worthy spectacle for fans of the genre.
RUNTIME: 1 HOUR AND 41 MINUTES
Rating: 6.9/10
The Crow (1994)
The Crow is a haunting revenge thriller about a man resurrected by a supernatural crow to avenge his murder and protect the city he once loved, blending gothic atmosphere with powerful vengeance.
The Raven is a film adaptation of the Gothic comic book of the same name by James O’Barra, the last work of actor Brandon Lee. According to legend, a wise raven takes the souls of the dead to a land of eternal peace, but sometimes a soul burdened with unspeakable sadness does not find rest. Then the great black bird brings it back to earth to restore justice.
On the eve of their wedding, on Halloween, a couple of lovers – guitarist Eric and his girlfriend Shelly – are killed by the crazy Top Dollar gang celebrating the Satanic night. The four murderers go unpunished, but a year later, in the stormy twilight, a black raven flies to the cemetery and “wakes” Eric, forcing him to rise from his grave.
The musician, who has been brought back to life and gained an invulnerable body, heads to the old attic where he was killed last Halloween. He intends to take revenge on Top Dollar and his bandits who took the lives of him and Shelly. To finish off Eric, the thugs kidnap Shelly’s close friend, young Sarah, and this becomes the last, fatal mistake of the crazy and cruel young men.
RUNTIME: 1 HOUR AND 42 MINUTES
Rating: 7.5/10
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Interview with the Vampire is a seductive gothic horror movie that chronicles the tormented lives of two immortal vampires through centuries of love, loss, and the relentless thirst for blood.
California, the end of the last century. The sensation-hungry radio journalist Daniel Malley interviews an eternally pale, sad and mysterious gentleman who calls himself Louis. The reporter’s intuition is right on the money – his interlocutor turns out to be a two-hundred-year-old vampire with an incredibly interesting story to tell.
In 1791, the wife of a wealthy Louisiana planter, Louis, dies during childbirth, leaving the inconsolable husband and father to suffer and suffer for five minutes. Life, mind, and estate are no longer dear to the young widower, who seeks death, but instead of death he meets the vampire Lestat, who came to Louisiana from the Old World. In one bite, he turns the poor man into his own kind, condemning him to an eternal but unattractive life in the twilight. Together with the eternally hungry Lestat, the newly converted vampire sets off for Europe, which is suffering from the plague. Here, the traveling friends meet twelve-year-old Claude, who has lost her mother, and save the sick child from death – making her a little vampire…
RUNTIME: 2 HOURS AND 3 MINUTES
Rating: 7.5/10
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