Түнгі кошмар: Вилла Диодатидағы оқиғалар

The film's poster motif is based on Henry Fuseli's 1781 painting The Nightmare, which is also referenced in the film.

Through her stepsister Claire Clairmont, Mary Godwin and her future husband Percy Shelley come to know Lord Byron. During the summer of 1816, Lord Byron invites them to stay for a while at Villa Diodati in Switzerland. There they meet Byron's physician friend, Dr. John Polidori. On 16 June, while a storm rages outside, the five of them amuse themselves by engaging in a game of hide and seek. Later in a parlor, Percy proclaims his fascination with science; Polidori tells him of his interests in sleepwalking and nightmares. Lord Byron shows his guests Phantasmagoria, a book of horror stories he purchased from a shop in Geneva, and the three alternately read excerpts. This inspires them to hold a séance gathered around a human skull, during which Claire has an apparent seizure. Mary describes them as Claire's "horrors," and recalls instances during their childhood when unexplained phenomena would occur during them, such as Claire's bed inexplicably shaking, and doors slamming shut by themselves. Polidori brings Claire upstairs to rest. During the night, Mary witnesses a shadowy apparition outside the window she and Claire share. Believing Mary was startled by a slamming barn door outside, Percy goes to shut it. While investigating the barn, he is startled by a grotesque creature. Mary speaks with Lord Byron in the billiard room, confronting him about his intentions with Claire, and reveals to him that Claire is pregnant with his child. He suggests she have an abortion, and the two argue, resulting in a physical confrontation. Later, Lord Byron performs oral sex on Claire, during which she has a miscarriage. Meanwhile, Mary consoles Percy, who has grown increasingly paranoid and claims to smell an overpowering scent of decay. From the bottom of the staircase, Mary hears a noise, and feels liquid dripping on her. As she looks up, she sees Polidori leaning over the banister, clutching a bleeding wound on his neck. Once the bleeding is controlled, he claims to have been bitten by a vampire in his room. Byron accuses him of self inflicting the wounds, while Percy and Mary believe him. Percy raves that the group collectively gave birth to something during the séance, manifesting their worst fears, while Polidori is scared of damnation for his homosexuality. He attempts to poison himself to death with cyanide, but is stopped by Byron. Claire goes missing from her bedroom, and is discovered by Percy; he watches in horror as her breasts metamorphose into eyes; Mary attempts to flee the house, and inadvertently crashes through a glass door. Percy infers that the presence haunting them is feeding off of the group's fear. During a failed attempt to hang himself in the barn, Polidori witnesses a figure flee on horseback. Percy and Byron attempt to recreate the séance to banish their creation. Byron and Percy, both atheists, believe it must be returned to the recesses of their minds, while Mary questions the metaphysical and supernatural events plaguing them. In the basement, the three discover Claire nude and covered in mud. Byron attempts to hold the séance there, but Mary refuses. During the event, Mary crushes the skull, and attempts to stab Byron with a shard. Percy stops her, and begins kissing Byron passionately. As she flees through the home, Mary witnesses an apparition of her son, William, in a coffin, followed by a vision of her suffering a miscarriage. In the madness, she attempts to throw herself off a balcony, but is stopped by Percy. Mary awakens the following morning and joins Byron, Percy, and Claire in the garden. In the contemporary era, tourists visit the Villa. A voice over informs that Mary's son, William, died three years after that night in June 1816, followed by Percy's drowning in 1822; Byron would die two years after Percy, and Polidori committed suicide in London. From Mary's previous experience of miscarriage came the desire to raise her child from the dead, which led to her writing Frankenstein. From Polidori's homosexuality, suicidal thoughts, and fascination with vampires came the story "The Vampyre."

The film fictionalizes an actual meeting that took place between Mary Godwin, Percy Shelley, and Claire Clairemont at the Villa Diodati in Geneva, hosted by Lord Byron. It has been suggested by some historians and journalists that the events of their meeting which inspired Shelley's Frankenstein and Polidori's "The Vampyre" were triggered by the group's use of opium during their vacation together.

The film was based on a screenplay by Stephen Volk, who worked in advertising. He sent it to Al Clark, head of Virgin Films. Clark said "it was worlds removed from the scripts that one predominantly gets in this country, with their literary ambience and dependence on a sort of linguistic authenticity. I felt it offered a perfect springboard to a director." Russell worked on a further draft of the script with Volk which made relatively minor changes. "I felt pretty positive about the story when it was sent to me," said Russell. "It was extremely visual, which attracted me. And the use of laudanum gave me a springboard for my ideas." "I made the film because I was offered a script," said Russell later. "Everything's there (in the film). They (the main characters) were responsible for publicizing the gothic experience. It's a watershed: From that meeting, everything seemed to go against them." The film was announced in December 1985. Ken Russell had planned to make a version of Moll Flanders but that fell through. The film was a co production between America's Atlantic Entertainment Group and Britain's Virgin Films.

Filming started in June 1986 and wound up in August. It took place at Hertfordshire, mostly in and around the Palladian mansion Wrotham Park, with a week's shooting in the Lake's District. Natasha Richardson found shooting difficult. "I myself was sort of shattered by the end. It became difficult to turn off and turn on. We'd get to the umpteenth take, and I just couldn't stop crying between takes." The film's music score was written and recorded by the English new wave and synth pop musician Thomas Dolby. "It was my first attempt to write orchestral music," Dolby said. "Ken was great to work with he gave me lots of freedom. In fact, he just wanted everything louder!" Dolby's score was released as the soundtrack album Music from the film Gothic in 1987. The album's closing track, "The Devil is an Englishman", was released as a single; credited to "Screamin' Lord Byron," the song features Timothy Spall reciting lyrics over Dolby's music and also includes vocal samples from Gothic.

Gothic was nominated for three 1987 International Fantasy Film Awards and won two: Gabriel Byrne won as Best Actor, both for his role as Lord Byron in this film and for his role in Defence of the Realm, and the film won for Best Special Effects. Director Ken Russell was nominated for Best Film but did not win.