This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

From my favorite movies..

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

To many, this tale of literary legends spending time together for a decadent summer of lustful pleasure which results in a drug induced nightmare will seem a pretentious bore. That is until they see Ken Russell's very bizarre rendition of the same story, "Gothic". Yes, these five characters seem a bit odd, and considering the fact that one of them wrote Frankenstein and was a woman, they really are. The sexual games they play with each other are at first amusing and eventually cruel, particularly the bi-sexual Philip Anglim (Alex Winter ) who cruelly taunts his male lover while seducing the horny love starved Laura Dern.While the lovely Alice Krige is perfectly acceptable as the intelligent Mary Shelley, Eric Stoltz seems miscast as Lord Byron Shelley. His Michael Jackson like voice makes the character's romantic appeal very doubtful. The dour Anglim, hosting the summer party, is certainly not an ideal host, his anti-women theories eye-raising and his appeal to either sex iffy save the self-loathing twosome he manages to bed here. The horror sequences are certainly worth a few good nightmares. Physical production is certainly lovely, but truly ugly characters dominate the tale.

I would love to comment on this film. Alas , my search has always endeth in vain. If any good citizen could help a desperate inhabitant of this ailing planet and restore his confidence in humanity by offering the whereabouts of either a UK VHS or loan him a DVD copy of the VHS; he would, without reservation, be eternally grateful..... Blake wrote "The road to excess is the path to wisdom", one hopes my weary road of excess will offer the path to fruition .... If not, I will have to replay the excellent Mr Russel's Gothic in the knowledge that those who have seen Haunted Summer (for better or for worse) have enriched their viewing pleasure of the events of July 1816 whilst I, a fellow member of this melodious plot, rests his lonely case in solitude ...

I have no idea what the other reviewer is talking about- this was a wonderful movie, and created a sense of the era that feels like time travel. The characters are truly young, Mary is a strong match for Byron, Claire is juvenile and a tad annoying, Polidori is a convincing beaten-down sycophant... all are beautiful, curious, and decadent... not the frightening wrecks they are in Gothic.Gothic works as an independent piece of shock film, and I loved it for different reasons, but this works like a Merchant and Ivory film, and was from my readings the best capture of what the summer must have felt like. Romantic, yes, but completely rekindles my interest in the lives of Shelley and Byron every time I think about the film. One of my all-time favorites.

In this glorious telling of a weekend shared among literary greats. Mary and Percy Shelly,Lord Byron and others created a entrancing group. Showing their quests for sexual enlightenment. Personal freedoms from political to moral. Liberal drug use for both stimulations and as addiction. Their creative views of life and writing. Describing without boring the viewer how each writer seeks to find their muse. Along with the distractions and affections each share. With breathtaking scenery that does not detract but very much enhances the story. Well created characters from grim to loving then angry to peaceful. With some of the most lovely and scene enhancing costuming to be had.