Gothic fiction has remained firmly embedded in our cultural imagination for decades.

Since the dawn of the genre in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, authors such as Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe have graced society with tales of monsters, dread and the darkest corners of the human mind.

Throughout the twentieth century, thanks to the creation of filmmaking, this genre has expanded and stamped its way across the world.

From the silent film Nosferatu (1922), to Laurence Olivier’s brooding performance as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (1939), Francis Ford Coppola’s retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1994), and the craze for Tim Burton’s whimsical creations throughout the 1990s and beyond, we seem to be so enthralled in these fictional worlds of the supernatural and gloomy landscapes. Gothic cinema has always been here and always will be.

Yet, in recent years, this genre has seemed to return in full force.

What makes a film Gothic?

When we hear this word, our brain conjures up images of medieval castles, thunderstorms, women clutching candelabras, coffins, ghosts and Victorian mansions. These elements play a huge role in the aesthetics of Gothic stories, but the term contains deeper meanings.

The Gothic often explores the human mind when it is corrupt. We see respectable citizens becoming insane – defiled by their own loneliness and despair, overtaken by anxieties of monsters and ghosts.

Is it really a monster these people see, or is it the mind colonising their every action and feeling?

It is often laced with sexuality and desire; we see this strongly with the women depicted in Dracula. Normality is turned on its head by violent, nasty characters such as Cathy and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.

Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessive and cruel with his own ambition, and Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre is a secretive, abusive man. In these tales, unbridled humanity unleashes. Controlled sexuality becomes debauchery and perversion.

The release of Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu (2025) is a Gothic cinematic dream.

Lily Rose-Depp challenges Victorian gender norms by playing the role of Ellen, a woman trapped within the confines of her own desire and immense fear. Her anxieties turn into madness, all the while she is pursued and manipulated by the vampire, Count Orlok.

Women of this time were expected to be angelic, polite little creatures, yet Ellen spins this stereotype upside down by screaming, crying and wailing in pleasure throughout the film.

Her sexuality and inner demons rise to the surface, whilst the people around her soon succumb to madness too.

All these elements are plunged into visually stunning surroundings of snowy mountains and deary cobblestoned streets. Eggers will not stop here with his Gothic explorations.

This year promises the release of his upcoming film Werwulf, a medieval horror story, complete with monsters and folklore.

Guillermo del Toro is a powerhouse when it comes to Gothic cinema. In 2025, his adaptation of Frankenstein was not entirely faithful to Mary Shelley’s novel; however, it contains his own interpretation of the tale and amps the Gothic elements up a notch.

In del Toro’s Frankenstein, Victor’s maddening ambition and obsession with creation are blown out of proportion. His desire curdles into cruelty, and the traumatic father-son relationship he once had becomes a dominant theme throughout.

The respectable and collected Victorian gentleman is nowhere to be seen.

This adaptation is so very alive, with explosive colour palettes throughout and a dreamlike Victorian wonderland of discovery, blood and natural extremes. Elizabeth Frankenstein holds a prominent role, becoming the whimsical heroine we so often see in Gothic cinema – think Christina Ricci in Sleepy Hollow (1999), Winona Ryder in Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Mia Wasikowska in Crimson Peak (2015). 

Indeed, spin-offs and adaptations of Frankenstein continue to prove popular, with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride!, set to be released in March this year.

This time, the Bride of Frankenstein takes centre stage and is thrown into a Gothic whirlwind of undead romance, crime and political unrest.

Similarly, the buzz for the release of Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights this Valentine’s Day has been nonstop since the first trailer came out. Emily Brontë’s Gothic novel, on which the film is based, is a dark and intense tale set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors.

There is much debate over the extent to which Cathy and Heathcliff’s relationship can be considered a love story; yet there remains a degree of romance, albeit an obsessive one.

In this depiction, their relationship broadens into the realm of erotica. This is an adaptation that remains true to the Gothic settings of the novel and its intense emotions; however, it seems to include a deeply perverse and submissive sense of sexuality.

Think “shock-factor” portrayals of desire, with horse rein whips, fingers in mouths and nails being dug into walls made of flesh. Rumours of perverse nuns have been floating about too.

In true Gothic fashion, nineteenth-century sexuality is shown completely out of control.

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025) captures the essence of the Southern Gothic: crime, sin, the supernatural and of course, plenty of sex. This is an atmospheric film, set in an unruly corner of the American South, with flawed and deeply layered characters.

What makes this film stand out so powerfully is its unique commentary on cultural erasure and Black identity, intertwined with its supernatural storyline.

The Gothic genre has never been explored in this way, incorporating all its familiar elements but foregrounding the story of the power of Black music and culture, alongside the historical context of the Jim Crow laws.

This film couldn’t be more relevant to the world we live in today.

As with many horror stories rooted in social commentary, the true horror lies in reality, not the monsters. Sinners drips with desire, rage and discomfort.

Why have we always been attracted to Gothic cinema?

It is no surprise that, with its host of suspenseful tales, unique characters and artistic cinematography, it completely captivates audiences.

For a few hours, we are lost in tales of horror, love and total darkness. Yet we can connect deeply, finding similarities between our world and the stories of Gothic cinema.

Greed, social unrest, misogyny, racism, a lack of care towards mental illness and the exploitation of natural resources: these are all issues affecting us today.

Perhaps by losing ourselves in these stories, they not only provide escapism, but also offer comfort within their meanings, allowing us to realise that we are not alone.

Image credit: Kali Hollands