Gothic film
Gothic film is a subgenre that draws heavily from gothic fiction, characterized by macabre narratives often set in isolated environments such as old houses or gloomy castles. These films typically feature archetypal characters, including heroes, villains, and fearful women, alongside supernatural elements that create an eerie atmosphere. While primarily associated with horror, gothic films can also explore themes of romance, sexual repression, and moral dilemmas. The genre has roots tracing back to the late nineteenth century, evolving significantly throughout the twentieth century, with notable milestones including German Expressionist classics like *Nosferatu* and Universal Studios' iconic monster movies such as *Dracula* and *Frankenstein*.
Gothic films frequently utilize dreamlike imagery and suspense to delve into humanity's anxieties regarding death and the unknown. Prominent examples from contemporary cinema include *Edward Scissorhands*, *The Others*, and adaptations of literary classics like *Bram Stoker's Dracula*. Despite a decline in popularity during the rise of slasher films in the late twentieth century, the gothic subgenre persists, often reinterpreting its storied past in new and innovative ways. Films such as *Corpse Bride* and *Coraline* illustrate how gothic themes have also found their way into animated narratives, broadening the appeal of the genre across different demographics.
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Gothic film
In film, the gothic film is a subgenre that has elements of gothic fiction. Gothic films typically tell macabre stories that take place in a secluded house or setting and involve archetypal characters and mysterious events. Gothic films usually are considered part of the horror genre, but they can have romantic overtures.
Gothic films stretch back to the beginning of the medium in the late nineteenth century. The subgenre evolved throughout the twentieth century, starting with the German Expressionist wave and the 1922 masterpiece Nosferatu. Although past their heyday, gothic films continue to be made, often in the shadow of their predecessors. Contemporary gothic films include Edward Scissorhands, The Others, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Background
Gothic films are tricky to classify. The earliest films in the subgenre were based on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century gothic novels. During the twentieth century, elements of gothic fiction appeared in films in different genres, from science fiction to noir to thrillers, further muddying the designation. Over time, the gothic subgenre has come to occupy a subset of horror that involves the supernatural, an eerie atmosphere, dreamlike imagery, nightmarish fears, and monsters.
Gothic films feature distinct characteristics. They can be set in historical periods or modern times. Like gothic novels, they often take place at isolated locations, such as old houses, brooding castles, or spooky graveyards. The traditionally safe atmosphere of the home is twisted into a gloomy, threatening environment where characters feel trapped. Fog and shadows loom over the action.
The characters in gothic films adhere to fictional archetypes. There are distinguished heroes, mad scientists, sinister villains, and fearful women. There are ghosts—both real and imagined—as well as vampires and the walking dead.
Gothic films construct an ambience of horror through suspense, shock, insanity, sex, and violence. They ramp up tension by pitting the real against the unreal. Gothic films can include love triangles and address sexual repression. The subgenre straddles the line between life and death. Gothic films tap into humanity's deepest fears surrounding death and its mysteries. They explore the gulf between good and evil, challenging the morality of their characters.
The first gothic films can be traced to French filmmaker Georges Melies. In his short film The House of the Devil in 1896, Melies experimented with double exposure to show flying bats and vaulted rooms where witches reappeared and disappeared. Most gothic films take their inspiration from the nineteenth-century works Dracula by Bram Stoker, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde became the first gothic novel to be adapted to film in 1908, the first of many versions. Two years later, Frankenstein was made into a sixteen-minute film, cementing the subgenre's place in film.
Overview
The gothic film persisted throughout the twentieth century, advancing through the decades and changing with the times. The horrors of World War I (1914–1918) were reflected in the work of directors Robert Wiene and F. W. Murnau. The German expressionist artistic movement sought to portray the human experience as subjective, often distorting reality to convey an individual's perspective. Wiene's 1919 silent masterpiece The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari utilizes stirring imagery and off-kilter settings to tell the story of Dr. Caligari, a demonic hypnotist who controls a sleepwalking killer, Cesar. The zombie-like Cesar represents the ghosts of the millions of soldiers who died in the devastating war. Murnau's influential atmospheric horror Nosferatu (1922) is an unauthorized retelling of Dracula. The film, which features a haunting performance by Max Schreck as the animal-like vampire Count Orlock, takes place in a diseased landscape and experiments with shadows.
In the 1930s, Universal Studios' black-and-white monster films firmly established the identity of the gothic film, with dark castles, desolate settings, and complex monsters. Director Tod Browning's Dracula (1931), the first film version of Stoker's classic, explored the seductive and menacing nature of the charismatic vampire, played by a smooth-talking Bela Lugosi. That same year, director James Whale's Frankenstein introduced Boris Karloff as the lumbering creature, a murderous amalgamation of reanimated body parts. With the success of the two films, Universal Studios churned out a succession of sequels and other monster movies into the next decade.
As the archetype of the woman in peril became popular in the 1940s, gothic films focusing on terrified or repressed females brought a new facet to the subgenre. Director Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940) features a nameless, paranoid protagonist, played by Joan Fontaine, who is haunted by the memory of her new husband's first wife. Producer Val Lewton's thriller Cat People (1942) explores the sexual repression of Irena (Simone Simon), a woman who transforms into a panther when aroused.
Gothic films' popularity dipped in the early 1950s as the anxiety of the Cold War gave way to science-fiction films. With advances in color film, however, British studio Hammer Film Productions reanimated the subgenre. First came 1957's The Curse of Frankenstein, which paired Peter Cushing as the obsessive Dr. Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as the grunting monster. The two reunited in the 1958 film Horror of Dracula, with Lee as the sensual vampire and Cushing as chaste vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing. Working within the vivid hues of Technicolor, Hammer films cast aside suspense and shadows for violence and blood. Their success spawned a gothic resurgence that lasted into the 1970s.
During the 1960s, Hammer's success inspired director Roger Corman's celebrated horror films based on the works of writer Edgar Allan Poe. Between 1960 and 1964, the eight films, focusing on Poe's preoccupation with death and premature burial, utilized striking color visuals and flowing camera movements. The most notable were 1961's unsettling The Pit and the Pendulum and 1964's surreal The Masque of the Red Death.
With the advent of slasher films in the 1970s and 1980s, gothic films declined in prominence. Modern entries seek to add their own spin on previous film versions. Director Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands (1990) recasts the Frankenstein story as a suburban fairy tale. Under the direction of Francis Ford Coppola, Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) offers a sympathetic interpretation of star Gary Oldman's count. Director and star Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) lets the creature, played by Robert De Niro, speak.
Gothic films ventured into the realm of animated films in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Director Tim Burton’s movie Corpse Bride (2005) is a horror fantasy film that showcases Burton’s unique style. Burton's other widely popular animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), is another children's gothic film featuring characters such as Jack Skeleton and rag doll Sally. Similarly, Coraline (2009), adapted from the popular Neil Gaiman novel by the same name, features a young girl who discovers a hidden door in her new home.
Bibliography
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