Gothic Love

Crimson Peak

Way back in January, I constructed a list of movies that I was most excited for in 2015 (can read it here). There are a couple on there that have been released and have lived up to the hype I created for them like Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation, Mad Max: Fury Road, and to some extent Avengers: Age of Ultron. Then there are few that have let me down immensely like Jurassic World and Terminator Genisys. This Friday October 16^th another film on that list has been released and I find myself caught in between my love for the director and the lackluster story. Follow me on this review to Crimson Peak.

From a young age Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska Maps to the Stars) has been able to see ghosts. After her mother died of a despicable disease, Edith’s mother came to her with a vague warning of Edith’s future, “Beware of Crimson Peak”. Placing the warning in the back of her mind, Edith grew up in a privileged world and stayed very close to her father, Carter Cushing (Jim Beaver TV’s Supernatural). That relationship becomes strained however, when a gentleman is introduced into Edith’s life. Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston The Avengers) has come from England in hopes to garner funds for an invention that is used to mine. Not liking the Englishman, Cushing bribes Sharpe and his sister Lady Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain The Martian) to journey back to England, never to speak to his daughter again. However, things change when Cushing is mysteriously murdered giving Edith the free choice to marry Sharpe and move back to England with him. Soon after settling in her new home, strange things start to happen to Edith including ghostly sightings that seem to be warning her of something much more hideous. Edith must now place all of the clues together to figure out why she is being hunted, especially when she learns that the nickname for her new home is Crimson Peak.

Crimson Peak is a beautiful, yet gruesome film that tries to hide the tired story. Maybe it is because I have seen SO many movies that I kind of seen the climax coming or maybe it is a little too obvious, but in either account director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) could have done so much better with the story than this final product. As I said, the visuals in this film are so gothic and macabre and yet del Torro makes it so aesthetically pleasing. The colors showcased in this film are so vibrant that they pop right off the screen. The effects are also gorgeous that surpass all current horror films for best effects in a horror film. Del Torro does an amazing job setting scenes and tension throughout the film. However…this is a very weak story from a very competent storyteller. Del Torro tries to mix a gothic horror film with a Shakespearian-type love story, but they never seem to mesh well together.

Wasikowska seems too helpless and too fragile. I don’t know how else to explain it. I just never really felt for her throughout this movie. Maybe that is how del Torro wanted her, but to me I never felt too connected to her as a character. Just one step above Wasikowska is Hiddleston. For clarification purposes, I love Hiddleston. I think he is another British actor born to play villains in the greatest way. My problem with Hiddleston in this film is that he seems a little confused with what his grand role is. I never really felt like Hiddleston was in the moment or better described as maybe too distracted. My hats are off, however, to Chastain. She takes creepy to the level of Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. From the second that Chastain steps onto the screen, you can tell there is something a little off with her character and she does a great job of adding to her characters weirdness throughout the movie.

Crimson Peak isn’t particularly scary, but it is grisly. The film is amazing to look at with all of the mixture of colors and sets; it is the story that just doesn’t live up to the hype. Think The Others mixed with a love story. If that is something that intrigues you then please give the film a watch, but if you are looking for a good Halloween time horror film then stick with the classics (my fav is The Shining).

The Verdict: Watch on Blu-Ray