When I found out this was a Clive Barker story I expected a lot of sex and gore, so I was prepared. What I wasn't prepared for was a good story.
It takes place in the late 1700s or early 1800s in a non-specific place in early America. A grieving gentleman speaking old English very well comes to a house to see a woman who is rumored to be a necromancer. He begs her to bring back his wife from the dead, but she tells him to be sure that's what he really wants. After he says yes, she agrees if he would sit down and listen to her story about Ernst Haeckel.
Ernst is a physician who believes in science above all else. Not only does he want to save lives, he wants to bring people back from the dead. (There is a great Frankenstien reference here!). After hearing that his father is dying, he begins a journey to be by his side. He spends the night at an older gentleman's cottage only to find that he has a beautiful younger wife.
I'm skipping some broad strokes here because this because I feel this a very warm story about true love with a horror element.
As a movie it is very well acted, the costumes and sets give it that old world feel. And yes! There is sex in it but I myself don't feel it's trashy and done only for shock value. It has a point.
In the end, for me it's an old fashioned campfire story that that I enjoy. And coming from the mind of Clive Barker, I'm very surprised! There is a good story here.
It takes place in the late 1700s or early 1800s in a non-specific place in early America. A grieving gentleman speaking old English very well comes to a house to see a woman who is rumored to be a necromancer. He begs her to bring back his wife from the dead, but she tells him to be sure that's what he really wants. After he says yes, she agrees if he would sit down and listen to her story about Ernst Haeckel.
Ernst is a physician who believes in science above all else. Not only does he want to save lives, he wants to bring people back from the dead. (There is a great Frankenstien reference here!). After hearing that his father is dying, he begins a journey to be by his side. He spends the night at an older gentleman's cottage only to find that he has a beautiful younger wife.
I'm skipping some broad strokes here because this because I feel this a very warm story about true love with a horror element.
As a movie it is very well acted, the costumes and sets give it that old world feel. And yes! There is sex in it but I myself don't feel it's trashy and done only for shock value. It has a point.
In the end, for me it's an old fashioned campfire story that that I enjoy. And coming from the mind of Clive Barker, I'm very surprised! There is a good story here.