A Nightmare Wakes

There was genuinely nothing about this that necessitated it being about historical figures. They took a few elements of Shelley's life, pasted names on some actors, and trotted them lifelessly around bland sets with a desaturated filter and some whispery dialogue, and you could have told the same story about a woman writing a book in any era for the exact same lackluster effect. Don't waste your time, especially if you're actually looking for horror.

Honestly I would give this a solid seven but I bumped A Nightmare Wakes up to eight because all of the low scores are ludicrous and ignorant. I had trepidation that this would be poorly acted or badly directed but in fact it is a beautiful, haunting film that speculates on the private lives of Mary Godwin and Percy Byshe Shelley.

Neither of these creative people were at all stable, and had it not been for the fame of Mary's father and the wealth of Percy's aristocratic family, they doubtlessly would have been lost to history as a couple of drug addicts. A Nightmare Wakes makes no apologies for beating down on this reality in a way that likely upset the twee literature majors who were offended seeing Mary as she often was - a depressed woman who died of a brain tumor, who drank alcohol and took opiates, and lost not one or two but three of her children in infancy.

This film suggests that Mary may have even killed one of her children accidentally in a fit of post-partum psychosis, since Percy was frequently absent, out partying and philandering with other women (and men).

I don't know what the director achieved by giving us this garbage. Saw it on Shudder and it was a cold winter afternoon, I almost feel asleep through this which is very difficult if you're watching a supposed horror movie. The main guys are particularly bad actor and really average lookers not worthy of becoming actors , the female lead is atleast better looking to help you pass this nonsense. Overall nothing interesting or worth, expected better from Shudder sorry

The actors don't fit the fact of the history . I find it distracting and unbelievable.when I watch a historical drama based on a true event I like to see actors representative of the culture , Ethnic group etc...

Like if they did a remake of Shaka Zulu I would expect someone that is not white to play Shaka Zulu .

But the actors are good none the less but woke film making is distracting and annoying .

Lost 3 stars because of it .

I've always thought Byron and Percy Shelly were assholes and if anything this film goes some way to confirming this.

The plot is constructed around the infamous time the Shelley's spent in Italy where Mary wrote Frankenstein.

Mary Shelly is buried about two miles from where I live so I was looking forward to this as an insight into the writing of one of the most important novels of the era.

Frankenstein and the birth of Victorian gothic writing laid the foundation for 20th century horror, it's importance can't be overstated. Films about books being written are always a bit tricky. Watching someone have ideas and write them down is not exactly riveting.

So A Nightmare Awakes attempts to weave the tragedy of the Shelley's private life into the creative process. The question this film asks is how much did Shelley's domestic instability, deaths of her children, sexual impropriety of her partner and husband affect her development of the novel?

It's difficult to imagine how anyone could have been psychologically affected by this level of personal tragedy, the film implies that Shelly was suffering from a deeper psychological issues which pure speculation. Shelley's world is certainly an unhealthy one.

The problem is the film takes too many liberties with Shelley's already troubled story and so feels a bit exploitive. Percy Shelley's death is the best example of this, trying to put a supernatural spin on his drowning Percy did die by drowning but it was a boating accident.

In the end this falls halfway between biopic and supernatural suspense. It doesn't really do with of those things well enough either.