Crimson Peak
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam
Directed By: Guillermo Del Toro
Reviewed by Brendan Dousi
[rating: 3.5/5]
The end of October proves an interesting time in cinemas. The ‘prestige’ dramas vying for awards recognition are just starting to roll out, and then you have the Halloween fair. The schlocky horror films hoping, even in Australia, to capitalise on the infamous holiday. The horror fair in this period is usually b-grade at best but this year may prove to be different. Visionary director Guillermo Del Toro has decided to throw his hat into the ring with haunted house period piece Crimson Peak. Will this new gothic horror be able to set a new precedent for our Halloween horrors or will it just be dragged down into mediocrity with the rest of them?
When not but a small girl Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) saw the horrifically disfigured ghost of her dead mother crawl into bed with her and utter the words, “Beware Crimson Peak”. As a clever, bookish young woman who doesn’t quite fit into high society, Edith is whisked away by the mysterious and charismatic Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), a Baronet desperately trying to rekindle his clay mining business, and his devoted sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain). It is at their new residence, Allerdale Hall, that Edith starts to be visited by more horrific spectres. With her childhood sweetheart Alan (Charlie Hunnam) on the way to rescue her, it may be too late that Edith learns Allerdale Hall’s alternative name; Crimson Peak.
Crimson Peak is grotesque, beautiful, eerie and atmospheric but I am still reluctant to refer to it as a ‘horror’ film. It definitely has horrific elements for sure, the ghosts alone are quite terrifying, but overall the film feels more like a romantic thriller than an actual horror film. Rarely does this film set out to scare its audience. It is more concerned with making them worried for Edith’s safety and interested in unravelling the mystery of Allerdale Hall. This is in no way a bad thing; if anything it elevates this film above your usual jump-scare tripe. Still, I would caution anyone who is going in expecting a good scare to lower their expectations on that front. As the film is very ‘meta’ in explaining, it isn’t a ghost story. It’s a story with ghosts in it.
The only problem with this, however, is that perhaps this story is a little too simple. The film certainly takes its time setting things up but the unravelling mystery never quite feels mysterious enough. There are not enough twists, turns and surprises here to actually warrant a full-fledged mystery. Towards the end of the film where certain ‘twists’ were being revealed I was not even remotely surprised. In fact, for half of the reveals I just thought that they were taken as fact for most of the film and that the filmmakers were just keeping it subtly in the background. Apparently not. Luckily, a truly tense final sequence mostly makes you forget the lacklustre reveals that came before it.
If anything, this film is worth being seen because it is a product of Guillermo Del Toro’s beautifully deranged, gothic mind. I will never fail to see any of his films because regardless of how simplistic or uninspired some stories of his have been, the artistry of the worlds he builds are unfailingly gorgeous. It’s also worth noting that at a few times in this film he revisits his ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’esque levels of realistic violence. It is brutal and amazing. Guillermo is not one to treat violence lightly, which is an extremely refreshing thing to see in a ‘horror’ film.
While its mystery might not be up to scratch, the grotesquely beautiful gothic world that Guillermo Del Toro has crafted here is definitely worth a visit, but perhaps not for the squeamish. If you are in dire need of your ghost fix this October, there is no better place to start than Crimson Peak.
