Crimson Peak is Guillermo del Toro’s imagining of the gothic horror movie genre, with unmistakable hat-tips to films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca resonating in the eerie mansion that serves as the setting for a large chunk of the narrative.
The 119-minute movie opens in the early 1900s in Buffalo, New York, where Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), an aspiring novelist with a fascination for ghosts, is swept off her feet by the charming Englishman Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). Sharpe is in America to raise funds for a digging machine that he wishes to use on his family estate.
Accompanying Thomas is his intense sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain), with whom he shares a murky secret. Edith’s suspicious father (Jim Beaver) disapproves of Sharpe’s overtures towards his daughter, but when he warns the Sharpes off, he turns up dead.
Edith accepts her father’s sudden death without a second glance, takes solace in Sharpe’s arms, and is quickly wed and whisked away to the Sharpe estate in Cumberland in England. This is when del Toro finds his true playground, painting every frame with intricate details and colour coding even the apparitions. With his core team of production designer Tom Sanders, cinematographer Dan Laustsen, costume designer Kate Hawley, editor Bernat Vilaplana and composer Fernando Velázquez, del Toro creates haunting and visually arresting images. Even when the ghosts appear, you find yourself unable to look away.
While this Gothic romance employs contemporary digital effects, it retains traditional tropes. Those familiar with the genre can predict the timing of the scares as the camera tracks into a close-up or a woman wanders alone through a crumbling, creaking and groaning old mansion. The sets and lighting use crimson and shades of red to paint all over del Toro’s frames – colours that represent evil, sensuality, danger and blood. The horrors and violence are shocking and hardcore, but artistically blend into del Toro’s meticulously and playfully dressed up homage.
Keeping up with the background are the actors. The performances are riveting, and draw your attention away from the ghostly forms. Chastain clearly relishes her role as Lucille, while Wasikowska is both strong and vulnerable in equal measure, her white flowing robes and blond hair all-too-obvious metaphors for her innocence and goodness. Hiddleston brings on the old-world English charm and demands empathy for his plight.
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The 119-minute movie opens in the early 1900s in Buffalo, New York, where Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), an aspiring novelist with a fascination for ghosts, is swept off her feet by the charming Englishman Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). Sharpe is in America to raise funds for a digging machine that he wishes to use on his family estate.
Accompanying Thomas is his intense sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain), with whom he shares a murky secret. Edith’s suspicious father (Jim Beaver) disapproves of Sharpe’s overtures towards his daughter, but when he warns the Sharpes off, he turns up dead.
Edith accepts her father’s sudden death without a second glance, takes solace in Sharpe’s arms, and is quickly wed and whisked away to the Sharpe estate in Cumberland in England. This is when del Toro finds his true playground, painting every frame with intricate details and colour coding even the apparitions. With his core team of production designer Tom Sanders, cinematographer Dan Laustsen, costume designer Kate Hawley, editor Bernat Vilaplana and composer Fernando Velázquez, del Toro creates haunting and visually arresting images. Even when the ghosts appear, you find yourself unable to look away.
While this Gothic romance employs contemporary digital effects, it retains traditional tropes. Those familiar with the genre can predict the timing of the scares as the camera tracks into a close-up or a woman wanders alone through a crumbling, creaking and groaning old mansion. The sets and lighting use crimson and shades of red to paint all over del Toro’s frames – colours that represent evil, sensuality, danger and blood. The horrors and violence are shocking and hardcore, but artistically blend into del Toro’s meticulously and playfully dressed up homage.
Keeping up with the background are the actors. The performances are riveting, and draw your attention away from the ghostly forms. Chastain clearly relishes her role as Lucille, while Wasikowska is both strong and vulnerable in equal measure, her white flowing robes and blond hair all-too-obvious metaphors for her innocence and goodness. Hiddleston brings on the old-world English charm and demands empathy for his plight.