"Gabriel Byrne as Byron, Julian Sands as PBS, Natasha Richardson [no relation] as MWGS" —A. Richardson. ". . . filmed in the Lake District" —W. Jewett.

"I've occasionally used a very small clip from this film (about 5 minutes or so) to introduce the topic of the ghost-writing contest. . . . In Russell's hands, the events become a nightmare of drugs, sex, horror . . . . It is probably the note of excessiveness to which I most object . . . . The dramatization of Mary's waking dream--and her vision of Fuseli's 1781 painting 'The Nightmare' lit by flashes of lightning, (I don't know if the painting was there or not, but it's a nice touch) do provide an interesting atmosphere, and this is the portion of the film I've used a few times in my classes." —R. Albright [excerpt; here's all of Rick Albright's review].

"Rick Albright's discussion of Gothic shows how, in the hands of skilled critic-teacher, even a godawful film like this one can be used to open up important points. I remember getting the video when it first came out, to show to a party of friends, and shutting it off in embarrassment after 5-10 minutes. On the other hand, in a class, its very excessiveness opens up issues about Frankenstein and romanticism and the Gothic that more "faithful" adaptations of the novel may not." —K. Johnston