Haunted Summer (MGM MOD)
Directed by Ivan Passer
Studio: MGM/UA
Year: 1988
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 106 minutes
Rating: R
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo English
Subtitles: none
MSRP: $ 19.98
Release Date: June 2011
Review Date: July 7, 2011
The Film
2/5
The story of Mary Shelley’s inspiration for the creation of her book Frankenstein is once again presented in Ivan Passer’s Haunted Summer. Covering some of the same ground (but infinitely less hyperbolic or hypnotic as Ken Russell’s mad Gothic), Haunted Summer remains stubbornly undramatic and lacking focus and clear motivation. Despite four talented leading players and plenty of wanton excesses to go around, the film never engages one’s interests for more than a few moments, a crucial lapse when one is dealing with literary figures as fascinating and as unusual as the characters in this saga.
In 1816, the notorious libertine Lord Byron (Philip Anglim) invites celebrated poet Percy Shelley (Eric Stoltz), his lover Mary Godwin (Alice Krige), and her half-sister Claire Clairmont (Laura Dern) to join him and his companion Dr. John Polidori (Alex Winter) to spend some time with them at his Swiss chalet. Though Shelley is already addicted to laudanum, Byron introduces the group to opium, a drug which opens their imaginations to all types of unusual hallucinations. Byron, ever the seducer, is startled to learn he is to be the father of Claire’s child, but he is so taken with Mary’s goodness and purity that he sets about trying to woo her while she, disinterested initially with Byron, sees in his polymorphous nature the seed of an idea about a monster of equal parts cruelty and sensitivity.
Lewis John Carlino’s screenplay fits in some of the poetry each man was renowned for as well as some potentially fascinating discussions of poetry, philosophy, even drugs and their merits, but everything the least bit literate is curtailed to get to the seductions, the hallucinations (meekly visualized by director Passer), the mate swapping, none of which is handled with élan or kinetic bravado to bring some life into these moribund events (when Passer tries for some visual style with flowing curtains around two lovers late in the film, it's clumsy and gauzily flat). We’re treated to a fairly lengthy romp in a stream with Shelley completely in the buff (with no qualms about showing full frontal nudity) and Shelley and the two sisters engaging in a threesome with Shelley, but somehow, it’s filmed so blandly that it doesn’t titillate or even connect as something meaningful. When Byron rejects both Claire and John after having his way with them, their petulance is particularly irksome, and neither the screenwriter nor the director does anything with these events.
From portraits we have of the two men of romantic letters, neither Eric Stoltz nor Philip Anglim in the least resemble Percy Shelley or Lord Byron (indeed, Alex Winter, who plays well the jealous and miserable Polidori, is the actor here who has the right look for Byron), and Anglim in particular fails completely to summon up the kind of charisma or conquering sex appeal to begin to convince as the infamous bisexual seducer George Gordon, Lord Byron. Stoltz’s Shelley is also a curious creation; was the real Shelley a child-man who delighted in blowing soap bubbles or shooting spitballs at restaurant patrons? Alice Krige plays an enigmatic Mary Godwin, more serious in thought and judgment than any of the other guests and yet the motivation for her climactic change of heart remains puzzling. Laura Dern’s emotionally naked and psychologically vulnerable Claire Clairmont grows tiresome quickly though it’s no fault of the actress; the character is written as a love-starved, rather grasping woman eager for acceptance, and that’s how she’s played.
Video Quality
2.5/5
The film is presented open matte at 1.33:1 (the opening credits are windowboxed) in a disappointing video transfer. Though there are some details that can be ascertained in close-ups, too much of the film appears soft and ill-defined. Color is never very vibrant though flesh tones are acceptably realistic. The dust specks are heavier in some parts of the film than in others, and the black levels are mediocre at best. One can also glimpse interlaced artifacts on occasion. The film has been divided into chapters every ten minutes so there 11 chapters with this release.
Audio Quality
3.5/5
The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound mix is much more agreeable than the video transfer. Dialogue is firmly fixed to the center channel, and ambient sounds and music (the score is by Christopher Young and there are a few well known classical pieces also used on the soundtrack) have a nice spread through the soundstage. Occasional distortion in the upper reaches of the music can be heard, but this isn’t a common occurrence. There’s a fair amount of impressive bass in the mix, too.
Special Features
0/5
There are no bonus features with this made-on-demand disc.
In Conclusion
2/5 (not an average)
Haunted Summer is a disappointing look at some of the 19th century’s more famous literary libertines. This made-on-demand disc is also a disappointment with a full frame, soft and blandly colored picture that doesn’t do justice to what could have been some compelling visuals.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
