I’ll say this for Guillermo Del Toro, his movies always look super interesting. My most frustrating director artfully draws me into each of his movies with visual combinations of grotesquery and grandeur, with an air of mystery in the plot. Unfortunately, I think he takes one big swing too many and loses control by the end of the movie. But hey, at least Tom Hiddleston is here to flash those baby blues at ya.
In Buffalo in the 1880s, young Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) gets a warning from an apparition saying “beware Crimson Peak.” This event shapes her as she grows, wanting to become an author of ghost stories instead of working for her father’s business. Out of nowhere, Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) comes to offer a clay mining business opportunity to her father, and Edith is immediately smitten. Despite concerns from her family and close friend Dr. Alan McMichael (Charlie Hunnam), she betroths Mr. Sharpe. The two, as well as Thomas’s sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain), move to England to the Sharpe estate. While there, Edith starts to learn the Sharpes’ secrets, as well as the horrors of her new home.
Guillermo del Toro’s visuals are Tim Burton on steroids. The opening sequence of this film is chillingly simultaneously scary and beautiful at once. The Sharpe estate is a treasure trove of cool doors, hallways, and period décor that you could watch for a long time. What del Toro does better than most visual directors is give these images a personality. If an apparition looks scary, it also might be because in a past life it was sad or harmed, and looks like this to make warnings stick to whom it is haunting. That extra layer of mystery for the apparitions makes you cover your eyes, but peek out to see what it’s going to do or say.
I just wish there were a tad more effort put into the full script. 2/3 of a del Toro script builds great tension and apprehension, almost in his sleep. Watching Edith slowly realize the situation she’s put herself in is captivating. The key to his films are how he handles that third act. He’s been right before; Pan’s Labyrinth is probably is apex, with a perfect ending. Crimson Peak’s big reveals force the ending to resort to trite tropes that del Toro actively tries to avoid. And even when it does the tropes, it leaves some significantly juicy resolutions on the table, particularly with the soil excavating device. The payoff here is very anticlimactic, undercutting all the character and dread building del Toro so meticulously constructed.
The movie is mostly cast right. Mia Wasikowska is pale and stoic as Edith, exerting strength, either mental or physical, as a woman who tries to remove herself from a terrible set of circumstances. Tom Hiddleston is rivetingly pretty in period piece attire, but sadly falls apart by the third act. Part of that is the script, which pushes him out in favor of Jessica Chastain. Of all the creatures in that house, Chastain is the most fearsome because she is exceptionally cold and clearly hiding some dark, dark secrets. Charlie Hunnam is solid too as the Dr. Hero, but his part is obviously a lesser one in the story.
If you like colors and contorted door hinges, Crimson Peak will please you. Guillermo del Toro’s “gothic romance” is mostly lots of creepy fun that will leave you wanting as it nears its ending. Crimson Peak is Halloween after you’ve eaten far too much candy.