Yes, this is the truest version to the original novel but as entertainment it is far less satisfying than the previous miniseries adaptation by Christopher Isherwood. It is overlong and tediously embroiders and elaborates on family and courtship that have little to do with the story. Admittedly it is well acted, but Goss is less repulsive than Alice Cooper, Kiss and others of that ilk and so doesn't seem to justify the horror he inspires on sight. Would an entire village beat and chase a creepy looking lamed man just for filching a loaf of bread because he's hungry? Does outsize height, pallor, orange peel skin and Gothic make-up terrorize to that degree? And why are dead corpses constantly lying around in a cemetery unburied,uncovered and apparently ripe for the picking?
Some judicious cutting would improve this product immensely. Henry and Elizabeth, for example could be almost deleted for a major improvement alone. Much of Hurt's pedantic professor turns likewise. At least it's good to know that jumper cables were invented in the mid 1800's, even though there were no autos to use them on. Perhaps that's why they began to be used by doctors when hearts stopped?
Some judicious cutting would improve this product immensely. Henry and Elizabeth, for example could be almost deleted for a major improvement alone. Much of Hurt's pedantic professor turns likewise. At least it's good to know that jumper cables were invented in the mid 1800's, even though there were no autos to use them on. Perhaps that's why they began to be used by doctors when hearts stopped?