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Gothic: The Dark Heart of Film
Gothic horror and romance tales feed on our darkest fears and desires, and conjure the creatures of the night into being.
The sensational tales of 18th and 19th century writers like Horace Walpole, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and the Brontës, have defined popular culture, inspiring some of film and television’s most memorable characters, from Dracula and Frankenstein to Cathy and Heathcliff. The technology of film always did fulfil a deep-rooted Gothic fantasy, by capturing the spirits of the living, conjuring ghostly and disembodied forms, and re-animating the dead. Now the undead creatures of the Gothic imagination return to our screens again and again, shape-shifting and breeding new genres. In 2013 the BFI’s spellbinding season lifted the lid on this dark storehouse of the imagination, which found its heart in Britain, and came to life on film. Delve into a dark heart of film here.
The Elephant ManThe Elephant Man
Biopic 1980 124 minsDirector: David Lynch
David Lynch's moving true-life tale of the severely deformed Joseph Merrick and his rescue from the hell of a Victorian circus sideshow.
The BeyondThe Beyond
Horror 1981 84 minsDirector: Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci's Italian zombie-horror classic about a New Orleans hotel built upon one of the seven gateways to Hell.
The Reflecting SkinThe Reflecting Skin
Drama 1990 96 minsDirector: Philip Ridley
Stunningly photographed drama about a young American boy caught up in the nightmare of a sinister rural community.
Nosferatu the VampyreNosferatu the Vampyre
Horror 1979 107 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
English language version of Herzog’s stimulating take on the Dracula story starring Klaus Kinski, with echoes of Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu.
The Company of WolvesThe Company of Wolves
Fantasy 1984 95 minsDirector: Neil Jordan
Angela Carter and Neil Jordan's magical, radical take on Little Red Riding Hood.
The Devil Rides OutThe Devil Rides Out
Horror 1968 95 minsDirector: Terence Fisher
Dennis Wheatley's occult tale is given the Hammer treatment.
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Horror 1925 91 minsSilentDirector: Rupert Julian
'Man of a thousand faces' Lon Chaney stars in the first version of Gaston Leroux's oft-filmed novel.
Uncle SilasUncle Silas
Drama 1947 98 minsDirector: Charles Frank
Gothic chiller based on the novel by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Jean Simmons stars as an heiress pursued by her unbalanced uncle and his perverted son.
NosferatuNosferatu
Horror 1922 89 minsSilentDirector: F.W. Murnau
This influential Dracula adaptation contains some of the most famous images of expressionist film, and remains shocking and stylish after 100 years.
The Mask of SatanThe Mask of Satan
Horror 1960 86 minsDirector: Mario Bava
Italian horror classic from acclaimed Italian horror auteur Mario Bava, about a beautiful witch Asa (Barbara Steele) who rises from her grave to take revenge upon her enemies.
SuspiriaSuspiria
Horror 1977 101 minsDirector: Dario Argento
Dario Argento’s phantasmagoric gothic nightmare blends operatic violence, disorienting dream logic and hyper-real visuals to create a horror classic.
City of the Living DeadCity of the Living Dead
Horror 1980 93 minsDirector: Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci’s sensationally gory zombie horror finds undead hordes overtaking a sleepy New England town, with only a reporter and a local psychic to stop them.
Vampire CircusVampire Circus
Horror 1972 94 minsDirector: Robert Young
A dying vampire swears vengeance on the townsfolk who killed him. The promise seems to have been realized when, years later, plague arrives.
Countess DraculaCountess Dracula
Horror 1970 94 minsDirector: Peter Sasdy
An ageing countess finds that if she bathes in the blood of virgins her youth is restored.
Twins of EvilTwins of Evil
Horror 1971 87 minsDirector: John Hough
Chilling vampire horror from Hammer in which a pair of innocent twins come under the influence of the evil Count Karnstein.
Hands of the RipperHands of the Ripper
Horror 1971 85 minsDirector: Peter Sasdy
In Edwardian London, a series of gruesome murders match those of the Whitechapel Ripper, revealing an unlikely suspect.
The UncannyThe Uncanny
Horror 1977 85 minsDirector: Denis Héroux
An author becomes convinced he's unearthed a feline conspiracy to control mankind.
The GhoulThe Ghoul
Horror 1933 80 minsDirector: T. Hayes Hunter
The occupants of an old house are menaced by a dead - and very angry - Egyptologist.
Lips of BloodLips of Blood
Horror 1975 87 minsDirector: Jean Rollin
Jean Rollin’s hauntingly poetic horror about a man trying to solve the riddle of a tormenting childhood memory.
The Iron RoseThe Iron Rose
Drama 1973 80 minsDirector: Jean Rollin
A pair of lovers have a tryst in a vacant tomb, but then find themselves unable to escape from the graves and crypts of the massive cemetery.
The Living Dead GirlThe Living Dead Girl
Horror 1983 90 minsDirector: Jean Rollin
When toxic waste spill disturbs her grave, a deceased girl comes alive to walk the earth again in Jean Rollin's macabre tale of zombie carnage.
FascinationFascination
Horror 1979 82 minsDirector: Jean Rollin
Jean Rollin’s best-known film is the most full-blooded of his vampire tales, teeming with sex and lavishly filmed gore scenes
Shiver of the VampiresShiver of the Vampires
Horror 1970 95 minsDirector: Jean Rollin
Newlyweds visit their cousins at a remote rural chateau, finding them under the spell of two vampire girls.
Requiem for a VampireRequiem for a Vampire
Horror 1972 87 minsDirector: Jean Rollin
Two female fugitives hide out in a deserted castle, only to become embroiled in a plot to extend the bloodline of a horde of blood-crazed vampires.
SymptomsSymptoms
Drama 1976 91 minsDirector: José R. Larraz
The official British Palme d'Or entry at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, Symptoms is a sophisticated modern gothic horror film exploring the themes of sexual repression and psychosis.
Seance on a Wet AfternoonSeance on a Wet Afternoon
Crime 1964 111 minsDirector: Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes’ stylish psychological thriller about a medium who plans to kidnap a child and help the police solve the crime to bolster her reputation as a clairvoyant.
The Body BeneathThe Body Beneath
Horror 1970 82 minsDirector: Andy Milligan
Vampires rampage around Hampstead in a strange, bloody cult horror by low-budget sex-gore auteur Andy Milligan.
The Tell-Tale HeartThe Tell-Tale Heart
Drama 1953 21 minsDirector: J.B. Williams
Stanley Baker enacts the classic Edgar Allan Poe story in this chilling short film, only recently rediscovered after being lost for 50 years.
The Fall of the House of UsherThe Fall of the House of Usher
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1982 16 minsDirector: Jan Svankmajer
The first of Švankmajer's 'tactile experiments', chosen partly because the title was on an official list of 'approved' texts. In this version there are no humans, just a glimpse of a live raven as the camera roams around an eerie derelict house.
The Pendulum, The Pit and HopeThe Pendulum, The Pit and Hope
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1983 15 minsDirector: Jan Svankmajer
Švankmajer's second adaptation of the work of Edgar Allan Poe, in which a prisoner is forced to undergo trials of torture.
Out of the DarknessOut of the Darkness
Children's 1985 68 minsDirector: John Krish
A ghostly drama of the Derbyshire plague village of Eyam, as unquiet spirits of the long dead make contact with the living.
The Man from NowhereThe Man from Nowhere
Children's 1976 59 minsDirector: James Hill
Victorian orphan Alice Harvey - arriving to live at her great uncle's spooky house - is frightened by a mysterious, dark-clad intruder.
Haunters of the DeepHaunters of the Deep
Children's 1984 61 minsDirector: Andrew Bogle
A ghostly boy returns from the grave to warn against reopening 'The Devil's Mine' in this spooky drama.
La Belle et la BêteLa Belle et la Bête
Fantasy 1946 95 minsDirector: Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau’s ravishingly restored 1946 film is a cinematic classic. “Five stars. [This] magical exploration of the fairytale is a compelling and bizarre masterpiece” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
To Have and to HoldTo Have and to Hold
Drama 2000 13 minsDirector: John Hardwick
A woman finds that death will not part her from her deceased lover.
Hands of DestinyHands of Destiny
Drama 1954 52 minsDirector: Tony Young
The strange prophesies of Dr Josef Ranald, palm reader of choice to Nazi war leaders.
Dellamorte DellamoreDellamorte Dellamore
Horror 1993 103 minsDirector: Michele Soavi
Michele Soavi’s compelling concoction of anarchic Evil Dead-style horror-comedy, tragic romance and gore.
The Phantom LightThe Phantom Light
Comedy 1935 72 minsDirector: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s gothic mystery of a haunted lighthouse where insanity thrives.
One of the MissingOne of the Missing
War 1968 27 minsDirector: Tony Scott
A nightmarish, Gothic American tale directed by a 24-year-old Tony Scott.
More Gothic films in our Free collection.
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