o begin with, a gothic film (or movie, if you're reading this from the other side of the Atlantic) was one that was about vampires. This was merely an extension of the link between a morbid obsession with death that characterised the gothic and the obvious . . . deadness . . . of vampires. Later this obsession with death also gave more horror movies the title of gothic, but as the genres and of film expanded (or, given the speed at which the movie industry has developed perhaps a better word would be "exploded") the idea of "gothic" could be applied to any film from any genre.
Despite the misleading title of the genre, this was not necessarily film noir either. Although films about vampires are still the main focus of the "gothic" tag, others fall into this category. As with literature, the key ingredients in a gothic movie are darkness, death or the immenence of death, and an atmosphere of underlying fear or paranoia. For example the film "The Matrix" is a classic form of Science Fiction. It is also very much a gothic movie. The danknes and squalor of Neo's apartment, the idea of two worlds occupying the same space, the frequent deaths, the conspiracy and the darkness and despair of the "real" world (the world outside The Matrix) all combine classic gothic factors. Not to mention that Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss do the whole dressing in black thing.
Perhaps the greatest modern gothic films are those directed by Tim Burton. His filmography includes the second Batman movie, Batman Returns, and demonstrates that he is capable of taking a slightly gothic cartoon character and placing him in a dark and terrible surrounding, creating a very gothic film. His other triumphs include Beetlejuice, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow (an adaptation of a fairly gothic tale by Irving Washington, involving a headless horseman), and the magnificent Edward Scissorhands, a modern fairy tale which succeeded in making suburbia look creepy and made audiences fall in love with a kind of Frankenstein's monster. He has also directed animations, the most famous of which being A Nightmare Before Christmas, in which the inhabitants of Halloween take over Christmas.
This page is not, however a shrine to the greatness of Tim Burton. Films on any subject can be considered gothic as long as they include the central ingredients of a gothic film and for extra points, do not have a happy ending. It is essential to the understanding of a gothic film to realise that the director very rarely intends them to be viewed as gothic, and therefore the judgement is in the hands of the viewer.
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