Gothic film

Kavka quotes William Patrick Day's definition of the Gothic: "[it] tantalizes us with fear, both as its subject and its effect; it does so, however, not primarily through characters or plots or even language, but through spectacle".

Cinema suits the Gothic definition in creating images that establish the spectacle.

Gothic works that strongly influenced cinema were those from the 19th century: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, and Dracula by Bram Stoker.

[1] Like most early cinema, many silent Gothic films were lost or very short.

[8] In Australia, the first modern Gothic film is considered to be Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).