Director: Guillermo Del Toro
By Alex Watson
After some hit and miss efforts, Crimson Peak is the movie that finally makes the North American transition that Guillermo Del Toro fans have longed for. The Mexican maestro doesn't go for a conventional gothic horror tale and for some tastes this might not suit. However on design and creepiness alone, Del Toro scores big and gives his fans a very unusual Victorian romance.
Budding American novelist Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) finds herself quickly falling in love with British baronet Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). Moving to their residence Allerdale Hall, she finds his sister Lady Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain) less than welcoming. Soon it becomes clear that this house has more than three residence and some ghostly spirits are issuing a warning to her. But just what is the danger that Edith faces?
From the moment the Sharpe's enter Crimson Peak, it becomes apparent that all around them except Edith have an uneasy feeling about them. Del Toro gives us the typical set up, innocent young woman is swept off her feet by a dashing yet suspicious man and soon things go south. It isn't until we reach the dilapidated and sinking Allerdale Hall that we realize the true risk Edith faces. Sitting on top of a mountain of red clay, the stuff seeps through the floor boards like the spilled blood of the past. Throughout the spooky corridors there is a haunting and surreal atmosphere where blowing wind and creaking pipes make us squirm Lucille appears less than thrilled at the new addition and both have a hidden agenda.
The ghosts given to us are ones that are both very unique and truly unsettling. Del Toro gives a wonderful gothic feel to events and it feels like a nod to the old Hammer horror films. Watching a mangled red skeleton ghost emerge wailing from the floor boards is just one of the jumpy moments we have in store. Never once is there a malevolent feel to these spirits and they act more as a guides than vengeful beings seeking their eternal reward. These creatures enhance our suspicions that the Sharpe's aren't in this marriage for love alone and we wonder precisely how Sir Thomas' fancy digging machine fits into everything?
Crimson Peak's later act may descend into what is a rather campy and OTT finale, but not once does it feel ill-suited. Thanks to some marvelous production design, this old Victorian mansion captivates us each minute we spend between the walls. Stranded in the middle of a Cumberland moor, Edith has no escape and the hopelessness of this situation adds needed suspense that slowly builds like the rising red clay.
One of the principle strengths is having a cast that is on point and Mia Wasikowska again proves she can anchor a film well. Playing against the typical helpless heroine, the Australian actress gives her character a hard resolve and a brain that is forever ticking. Tom Hiddleston gives a performance that has become second nature to him. As Sir Thomas he is impossibly charming but underneath the façade Hiddleston shows us a scarred and ultimately complex being that is wrestling with the choice he has made. Jessica Chastain shows us a side of her we are unaccustomed to seeing. A forbidding and malicious presence, Chastain makes a room feel icy cold when she enters. There is also a sense of control that she has asserted over Sir Thomas, but how deep does it go?
While it may not match up to his superior early offering such as Pans Labyrinth or The Devil's Backbone, Crimson Peak is undoubtedly Del Toro's best North American picture so far. More unsettling that terrifying, GDT take us into a world where love is forgotten and cries of forgotten souls lurk on the air.
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