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1[[quoteright:265:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gothic_9.jpg]]
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3British director Creator/KenRussell's 1986 take on how Creator/MaryShelley was inspired to write Literature/{{Frankenstein}}.
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5It's been well documented that Mary Shelley (Creator/NatashaRichardson) visited Lord Byron (Creator/GabrielByrne) and his biographer Dr. Polidori (Creator/TimothySpall) in Geneva with her husband and stepsister during the stormy summer of 1816, was challenged to write a ghost story, got the idea of Frankenstein from a nightmare and began a short story which eventually became a novel.
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7Ken Russell takes that and runs with it, there's a seance and a reading of a pornographic ghost story. Creator/PercyByssheShelley (Creator/JulianSands) prances about naked on the roof during a thunderstorm, Byron has a robot stripper in his bedroom and there's stuff with leeches. If it's possible for an entire film to be a BigLippedAlligatorMoment, this is one.
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9Not to be confused with the video game series of the same name.
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12!!Tropes:
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14* AdaptationDyeJob: For the Shelleys. The real ones both had dark hair, these versions are both blonde.
15* BrotherSisterIncest: Byron and his (half) sister Augusta in the backstory. Now she's dead, he gets one of his maids to wear a mask of her during sex.
16* DomesticAbuse: Byron kicks Claire in the face and threatens to shove her head in the fire after she makes a joke about his club foot, no-one seems particulary troubled. He's pretty aggressive towards her throughout.
17* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Shelley has a nightmare featuring Claire with eyes on her nipples.
18* {{Gayngst}}: Polidori.
19* HeManWomanHater: Byron is portrayed as one, for some reason. The real Byron wasn't.
20* HistoricalDomainCharacter: All five leads.
21* OnlySaneMan: Mary, to begin with. Though even she starts to lose it later on.
22* TheOphelia: Claire.
23* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: Seems to be troubling Polidori.
24* SoundtrackDissonance: The electronic Dolby music is at odds with the period setting.
25* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich: There's a dinner scene, barely any of the dinner actually gets eaten.
26* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: With added supernatural elements and general Ken Russellness.
27* VomitIndiscretionShot: Mary throws up onscreen when she sees Claire crawling around in the mud with a rat in her mouth.

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