Director Ken Russell applies his trademark excess to this surreal, experimental examination of the creative dementia which shaped Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein. The story is embellished from events which allegedly took place at the Swiss villa of Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne) on the night of June 16, 1816. Byron's guests include poet Percy Shelley (Julian Sands) and his future wife Mary (Natasha Richardson); Mary's half-sister Claire (Myriam Cyr) and Byron's leech-happy personal physician Dr. John Polidori (Timothy Spall). Byron promises them a night of horror like only a mad poet can deliver -- after partaking of laudanum and other hallucinogens, the guests tell ghost stories while exploring the dark corridors of his home. From here, Russell dives headlong into madness, discarding plot structure in favor of fever-dream setpieces in which the guests confront living manifestations of their own fears and insecurities -- creative, mortal and sexual, among others. The raging Romantics are also given to lengthy discourse on the nature of fear and the fine line between creative genius and insanity; by the film's end, viewers may find themselves wondering the same thing about the director.
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STARS...........: Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson
DIRECTOR........: Ken Russell
WRITERS.........: Stephen Volk
GENRE...........: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
IMDB............: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091142
RUNTIME.........: 1h 27mn
SIZE............: 4.53 GB
VIDEO CODEC.....: HEVC (
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BITRATE.........: 7000 Kbps (2-pass)
RESOLUTION......: 1920x1040
ASPECT RATIO....: 1.85:1
FRAMERATE.......: 23.976 fps
AUDIO1..........: English AAC Stereo 300kbps
AUDIO2..........: Commentary with Lili Russell and Matthew Melia
AUDIO3..........: Interview with musician Thomas Dolby
SUBTITLES.......: ENG
SOURCE..........: Blu-ray
ENCODE DATE.....: 2020-02-22
Extras
• The Soul of Shelley with Actor Julian Sands is a fun interview with Sands, who talks about some of Russell's eccentricities.
• Fear Itself with Screenwriter Stephen Volk is another interesting interview, with Volk talking about things like the genesis of this story.
• One Rainy Night with Director of Photography Mike Southon is quite informative as well, with Southon talking about what was his sophomore effort as a cinematographer.
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery
• TV Spot
• Audio Commentary with Lili Russell, in conversation with film historian Matthew Melia.
• Isolated Score Selections and Audio Interview with Composer Thomas Dolby is another interesting piece for film score aficionados. Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Productions conducts the interview.
