Are there any good Gothic movies?

As early as 192 1, a Swede named Christensen made a film called Witchcraft in Past Dynasties. As we all know, the film at that time was just born and still in its infancy. There are few complete movies with storylines, and the movie stunts are simple and rough, so Christensen reproduces some images about witchcraft for us on the screen in the form of documentary. It is said to be a documentary, but the scenes inside are basically staged. In our view today, it is more like a feature film. However, this is the first time that Gothic culture has been integrated into the expression field of film art, and dark elements such as heresy, death and witchcraft have become the theme of the film for the first time. In this sense, this is an out-and-out Gothic film. Because the theme of the film was too advanced, Witchcraft of Past Dynasties was banned for decades, and it was not lifted until after World War II. It is worth pondering that the Goths in history may also come from Scandinavia, where Sweden is located. One thousand years later, it was in this land that the first Gothic film was born.

However, the first influential Gothic film came from Germany. One year after the birth of Witchcraft of Past Dynasties, German director Mona filmed The Vampire Nosferatu. Since then, the famous vampire has officially appeared on the big screen. In fact, the protagonist in the film is the infamous Dracula written by Irish writer Stoke. Maunau changed her name just to avoid copyright disputes, but it didn't have the expected effect. After the film was released, the copyright has been in constant trouble, and no dust has been settled until now. However, the film itself is really very successful, and it caused a sensation as soon as it was released. Mao nao also established his position as a master director with this film. The vampire Nosferatu has also become the first landmark Gothic film in the history of human film. It is worth mentioning that at that time, the German film industry was in the dominant stage of expressionist films. Besides the vampire Nosferatu, another expressionist film, Clay Fighter, was also an excellent Gothic film. It's just that the vampire Nosferatu's light is so dazzling that Clay Fighter Company is almost forgotten.

The great influence of vampire Nosferatu soon spread to the other side of the ocean. At this time, Hollywood, which is on the rise, is naturally open to all the themes that have box office appeal. 193 1 year, American director browning put the story of vampire Dracula on the big screen according to Stoke's original novel, that is, the movie Vampire. This film is the first Gothic film with sound in the world. After the release, it also received rave reviews and achieved unexpected great success. Especially bela lugosi, the star of this film, whose vampire image is so deeply rooted in people's hearts that many years after his death, some people still believe that he is a real vampire.

The rising wave of Gothic films was quickly broken by the arrival of World War II. The horror in the real world is obviously much more terrible than the horror on the screen. In wartime, what people need in movies is spiritual comfort and soul comfort, not Gothic movies that preach death and pain.

After World War II, with the economic and social recovery, the film industry gradually recovered, and Gothic films were once again brought into the track of film creation. 1958, in Britain where Dracula's novel was born, the famous vampire count appeared on the big screen again. This is the film Dracula's Nightmare shot by Tracy Fischer. The film created a brand-new vampire image. From the beginning of this movie, vampires began to have long, sharp fangs, and their mouths would be exposed. Christopher lee's outstanding performance is even more superb: in his fifties, he is tall and handsome, with gray temples, dignified manner and elegant and animal expression, which has become a model for future generations to imitate. It can be said that Dracula's nightmare has established the standard model of vampire image in Gothic movies so far.

From 65438 to 0959, The Eyes Without a Face, which was shot by French director George French, became the first classic Gothic film without a vampire image. This film with black and white images is unforgettable with exquisite photography, exquisite picture effect and bizarre plot. In particular, the poetic atmosphere of the film gives Gothic films another brand-new temperament, which greatly enriches the expression techniques of Gothic films. But generally speaking, from the post-war to the 1980s, Gothic films are still in the development stage, with weak momentum, fewer works with great influence. In addition to the above, Herzog's predecessor Mona, who was remake in 1979, is a masterpiece. Herzog is known as one of the "four German directors". With klaus kinski's outstanding interpretation, Herzog's version of Nosferatu was as successful as Maunau's after 50 years.

Throughout the 1980s, the gothic film worth mentioning was 1983 Hollywood's Desire. This film, directed by Tony Sugert and starring catherine deneuve and susan sarandon, is also about vampires, but in this film, the vampire role is no longer a male patent, but a female vampire is the protagonist. Of course, there have been female vampires in previous movies, but none of them have much influence. This film completely broke through the existing vampire image, created an elegant, charming and dangerous female vampire standard image for us, and became the standard for future generations to follow. Most of the female vampire characters in the follow-up movies can not be separated from the models created in Desire.

It was not until the 1990s that Gothic films really ushered in the golden age of development. During this period, Gothic films set off waves of upsurge, not only in Europe and America, but also all over the world. 1990, a director named tim burton found an actor named Johnny Depp and jointly contributed a film called Edward Scissorhands to us-since then, the curtain of the revival of Gothic films has been completely opened in Hollywood. As a contemporary landmark Gothic film, the significance of Edward Scissorhands cannot be overestimated. This film has no vampire, witchcraft or religious background, but it also weaves a wonderful black Gothic picture about loneliness, death and pain ... The talented tim burton seamlessly integrates the ancient Gothic culture with the current background, injecting new vitality into the Gothic theme, thus fundamentally expanding the scope of Gothic films. Tim burton has gradually become the greatest Gothic movie master of our time, and he and Johnny Depp, the golden partner, have also cooperated perfectly. Sleepless Valley (1999) is the crystallization of their cooperation again. This time, Burton unexpectedly began to paint a sad, bitter and unforgettable gothic elegy at the end of the century with witchcraft as the theme.

The success of Edward Scissorhands strengthened the determination of Hollywood producers to invest in Gothic films. 1992, the famous Dracula finally appeared in black and pink again. This time, Coppola, the godfather of Hollywood, took charge of the magic mirror. Coppola recruited a large number of Hollywood stars and told us a cross-century love story. This is the movie "Amazing 400 Years". Surprise for 400 Years completely reconstructs the story of Count Drakula in Hollywood way, thus giving the legend of Drakula, which has been circulating for hundreds of years, a brand-new meaning. The film's magnificent atmosphere and dazzling stunts, coupled with Hollywood's propaganda offensive, quickly swept the global film market.

The wave of Gothic films in the early 1990s did not stop there. More and more filmmakers are becoming interested in Gothic themes. 1994, Irish director neil jordan raised his arm, and three handsome Hollywood guys gathered together, presenting us with another great gothic film that can be called epic-Night Interview with Vampires. For ordinary fans, the biggest attraction of Interview with Vampires at Night is probably the joint performance of Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and antonio banderas, but the film itself is not inferior, and it can definitely be called a master of vampire themes. The film spans hundreds of years, and the region also spans Europe and America. It shows us a vampire world that coexists with human society in a panoramic way, and describes their own mental journey from the perspective of vampires. Interview with Vampires at Night is so successful that we can even assert that the story of vampires can come to an end, and there will be no more movies of the same type than them in the next 20, 30 or even longer years.

While the vampire movie was a great success, another movie called Crow broke into the vision of Gothic fans. Compared with the mainstream Hollywood movies, The Crow is more independent, different and admired. This is a Gothic story of Poe's style, which tells about the reincarnation and revenge of the soul. The strange witchcraft temperament runs through the whole film, and the film details such as photography and makeup are permeated with Gothic atmosphere, such as the dark scenes from beginning to end, such as the white paint painted on the actors' faces ... Crow's incisive interpretation of Gothic culture even won it the reputation of "Gothic Textbook". For a die-hard Goth fan, there are only crows. Of course, the success of Raven also put its sequel on the agenda soon, but only Raven 2: city of angels (1996) is a success. The last two films, Raven 3: Raven Warrior and Raven 4: Evil Prayer, can be said to be unsatisfactory, and one is not as good as the other.

1994 is indeed a memorable year for gothic films. In addition to Interview with Vampires at Night and Crow, the love between life and death in another Gothic film, Jinlu: Wolf Journey, also made its debut on the big screen this year. This film tells another classic image of Gothic theme-Jinlu: Wolf Brigade. As far as influence and artistic achievement are concerned, Golden Road: Love Between Life and Death of Wolves has surpassed all previous films with similar themes. It can be said that the success of "Golden Road: Wolf Brigade" makes the image of "Golden Road: Wolf Brigade" truly become a typical image in the human film art gallery-but obviously, compared with his other vampire "Goth Brothers", the success of "Golden Road: Wolf Brigade" in the film industry is indeed a little late.

In addition to Hollywood, 1994' s Italian film The Devil's Commandment Cemetery is also an outstanding representative of Gothic films. This film is refreshing, because it blends the Italian unique sense of humor into Gothic culture.

With the arrival of the end of the century, Gothic films are still fierce. At 1999, except sleepy hollow. Another Gothic costume movie, The Thirteen Warriors, is equally commendable. This film is based on ancient Scandinavian culture and is full of pagan colors. In addition, it is adapted from the local story about cannibal tribes, and it exudes a strong Gothic atmosphere from beginning to end. Then, in 2000, Johnny Depp, a famous Gothic movie star, collaborated with roman polanski, an old director, to create the film The Ninth Door. Based on religious content, the film directly tells a Gothic story related to God and Satan, and has a suspenseful and thrilling atmosphere. It has the essence of previous expressionist films, which can be said to be in the same strain as The Masons.

Time has entered 2 1 century, and Gothic films have blossomed all over the world. The French, who have always been famous for their strong artistic flavor, have never let go of the creation of Gothic films. In 200 1 year, a French film called Wolf Clan surprised Gothic fans all over the world. The film is based on the true legend of the cannibal beast in the French countryside, which combines suspense, witchcraft, horror and exotic colors, and exquisitely restores a fascinating and wonderful story with Gothic culture as the background for us on the screen. Two years later, in 2003, the French brought more surprises to Gothic fans. This year, the French produced an excellent 3D cartoon "Gai Na". Gai Na is the first widely influential Gothic animated feature film in the world. The whole film not only absorbs the sci-fi elements commonly used in Hollywood, but also retains the French understanding of Gothic culture. In particular, the evil alien life image in the film is enchanting, noble, dangerous and dark, which conforms to the characteristics of typical images in Gothic culture. In this movie, evil alien life feeds on plant juice, forcing people to risk their lives to collect it. In fact, the plant juice here is dealing with human blood in traditional Gothic culture. In addition, alien domination is achieved through the spiritual control of wizards and sacrifices, which can be understood as a brand-new interpretation of religious content by film creators based on sci-fi background, which reflects the unique reflection of religious traditions by creators, which is the inheritance of pagan traditions in Gothic culture.

Today, the epic wave of Gothic films has passed, but the themes of Gothic films are more and more extensive. At the same time, Gothic films began to move closer to traditional films, and gradually merged the characteristics of other traditional films, making them more acceptable to the audience. The American film The Vampire Queen in 2003 is a typical example. This is a classic vampire movie, but in this movie, the characteristics of street culture and black culture are combined, and vampires get rid of the identity setting of white male aristocrats in the past, but show themselves as black women. The whole movie has a lively rhythm and strong musicality. It can be said that this is a black street version of the vampire story. In addition, The Legend of the Night in 2003 and Van Helsing in 2004 reflect the latest development trend of Gothic films. These two films combine the characteristics of Hollywood action movies, and achieve the ultimate in action and fighting. If you remove the gothic background, they are nothing but action movies. Moreover, both films are based on vampires and Jinlu: Wolf Brigade, the two most classic traditional images in Gothic culture, and let them kill each other on the screen. The Legend of the Night tells the story of Romeo and Juliet falling in love with vampires in the Gothic version of Jinlu: Wolf Travel, and Van Helsing directly turned Dr. Van Helsing, the nemesis of vampires, into Jinlu: Wolf Travel with the traditional Dracula story as the motif, which is also very interesting.