Crimson Peak

Audience Reviews

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Mar 22, 2019 Absolutely Stunning!! Its dark, macabre, tragic and so beautiful. I just loved it!!! 10/10 for me.

Ron L Jan 2, 2019 I greatly enjoyed the first two-thirds of the movie. The "romance" between Tom and Edith was highly captivating, although I knew there were terrible secrets behind it. It descended into crazy territory near the end, though, which was honestly to be expected but still rather jarring and lacked a certain taste, as if it was rigged to shock rather than tie together the narrative. See more

Finn R Jan 2, 2019 Great movie, i love the way the story unfolds. Also, i love the architecture gothic theme of the house. Great movie!!

Finn R Dec 25, 2018 not bad, not good...

Albus R Dec 19, 2018 The man at the publishing house looks quite amused when he finishes reading Edith's manuscript. She's just written a most unromantic ghost story that she hopes to have published. "Ghosts are a metaphor for the past," she says, and to us this seems like a simple throwaway statement until we reach the finish line of Crimson Peak and come to the realization that this statement means more than she could ever know. The ghosts Crimson Peak make their appearance as specters, mournful souls trapped by a sudden and frightful unfinished chapter to their lives that is preventing them from moving on. Yet, this is not their story. The manifestation of ghosts have more than one meaning, not just for the dead trapped between worlds, but for a few of the living whose soul and humanity have been drained by the unspeakable acts they've committed - acts that have an unfortunate habit of repeating themselves. We're introduced to bookish Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) an unmarried woman in turn of the century New York whose focus in life is not on landing a rich husband but on following in the footsteps of the great Mary Shelley. She wants to be the author of a book that is just as polarizing as Frankenstein, and while the men suggest that she write something a bit more romantic while the women sneer "Jane Austin died a spinster." Edith retorts "I'd rather be Mary Shelley and die a widow." In spite of this, she has no real interest in a husband, and it is only then that she meets the courtly Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) whose smoldering eyes touch her reluctant heart. Thomas declares his intentions, but of course there's a complication. Edith's father (Jim Beaver) disapproves of Thomas, and goes so far as to engineer a permanent separation. He sees something in Thomas and his spinster sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) that seems unsavory. We sense it too. There's something in these two that gives us a bad vibe. Edith doesn't see it and pursues the romance anyway. From here I can reveal no more without digging into spoiler territory. Without giving too much away, it can be said that Thomas eventually takes Edith back to Allerdale Hall, his family's English estate, an ungodly looking manor that seems to have risen from the depths of Hell itself. Thomas is not shy about telling her that the place is falling apart. A gaping hole in the roof lets in the snow and the leaves, while moist red clay under the foundation bubbles up like blood. Allerdale (which is nicknamed Crimson Peak for that reason) is a festering manifestation of all the evil that has happened there. Like a den of the underworld, Allerdale's halls seem to have no floor plan. Worse, it's in the middle of nowhere - we're told with dread that the manor is a four-hour drive from the nearest town. Something's afoot here that del Toro is slow to reveal, and that's the greatness of Crimson Peak. Guillermo del Toro is in no hurry to tell this story. He has the patience and the intelligence to tell this story as it is revealed (and there is a LOT to reveal), he doesn't give us a point to follow as a through-line, rather we follow Edith's adventure step-by-step. Del Toro has no interest in throwing ghosts at us, he's smarter than that. This is a ghost story that happens to have ghosts in it. He restrains his visual effects to a few key scenes so that we don't feel overloaded - he's more interested in the story than in the effect. His productions design is breathtaking, creating a domicile that is manifest to the cruelty of the human heart. We sense that Allderdale Hall was once a glorious place, but has weakened into a hulking shadow of its former self. The place is a spectral apparition all its own. Del Toro's production crew have don't a brilliant job creating Allerdale as a living, breathing monstrosity, a house of creaking doors, banging pipes, and rotten wood, it becomes a character by itself. Its bubbling red clay is a symbol of the evil here, as if Satan were determined to pull the house back into the Earth. But what is best is that Del Toro doesn't lean on these visual treats. His story is front and center, and he suggests that the haunting is not separate from the evil deeds of the living. Crimson Peak may not be for everyone. It is slow and deliberate on the delivery (the first half feels like a Merchant-Ivory confection) and often there is more effect than conclusion. It's the kind of movie that is difficult to describe without spoiling too much. You're reminded of the kinds of movies that Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee and Vincent Price use to make, and that's a good trek to follow. When most horror movies want to manufacture terror, here is the rare modern movie that wants to creep under your skin. See more

Luke W Nov 29, 2018 A film that is more beautiful than it has any right to, mildly losing its balance when it takes a plunge into the ghost and horror element near the end; a far more interesting Gothic parable than expected. As far as Guillermo Del Toro is concerned, I will see anything he makes. Even if I find one of his films, uneven or lacking big ideas, which a lot do, there's usually enough interesting things sandwiched in to like. He's one of the most versatile filmmakers working, making passion projects that are small and character-driven, and then follow it up by making something gaudy and big like Pacific Rim---an excuse, I expect, to gather enough money to produce a smaller, more personal film the year after. And being late to the party on this film, most of my friends saying it is "fine," I had low expectations. A local art-house theater highlighting Del Toro films was screening the film for a final day this week, and even though the reputation of Crimson Peak is less than stellar, I decided to give it a shot on a bigger screen, expecting to get more out of it there than the confines of my home. And I was pleasantly surprised by how much there is to love. Mia Wasikowska plays Edith Cushing, a 19th century aspiring writer in Buffalo, New York. Her father is a wealthy industrialist, but she wants make a name for herself with a story she's writing that people dismiss as a "ghost story" despite her struggle to explain there's more to find if they took the time to read on. A man from across the Atlantic, Thomas Sharpe (Thomas Hiddleston) who is showcasing a machine to Edith's father, is immediately disliked and rejected by him. Edith, however, finds Sharpe charming, falls in love with him and follows him to his family estate Alderdale Hall, a creaky and crumbling home referred to by locals as Crimson Peak due to the red clay foundation it sits upon. Sharpe's more unbalanced sister Lady Lucille (Jessica Chastain) is cold and unwelcoming to Edith, seeing her as an intruder, and as the days pass ghosts begin to surface, clawing above the red clay from beneath the home, and screaming of a sinister past. Suspicious intentions by both Sharpe and his sister are unearthed as Edith investigates and wades deeper into the buried secrets within the walls of Crimson Peak. While the argument could be made that Crimson Peak definitely loses its narrative footing when it crosses into horror full-stop, there is so much to enjoy from this film in its Gothic architecture and story that it is very difficult for me to dismiss it as a lesser work, as there is such a clear effort from the production and costume designers that far bigger films have little inklings. The Gothic atmosphere, the clear influence in color palette reminiscent of Italian horror films (Dario Argento's Suspiria came to mind throughout) was so gorgeous and expertly crafted, invoking moody, wonderful set-pieces. Visuals alone, the film is worth a watch; but it has a lot more going for it beneath the surface, and isn't as icy or wooden as viewers say it is. Admittedly, the story is shelved behind the cinematography; and the dialogue can be overbearing at times to where I could see why some viewers may cringe or roll their eyes. But the film's period setting allowed that to be ignored and kept me engaged, never throwing my interest overboard. The clear effort in every frame overshadows these minor problems, plucking the film out of a sloppy amalgamation beyond repair. Edith is a strong female character that has things to do, never feeling like a victim swept up by circumstances that other films in the genre tread heavily. Wasikowska gives a strong performance that is believable and sympathetic in the face of the internal and external demons. Hiddleston is a charming, sinister con man that has a complexity beneath the surface that is compelling and Chastain hams it up without being overwrought as his mentally inept sister, chewing the scenery in fun ways. The ending may be the weakest portion, perhaps because of Charlie Hunnam who is giving the weakest performance in the film, but the step into interesting territory far more than the recent The Shape of Water kept me immersed into this gorgeous, terrifying world. Perhaps Crimson Peak suffers being chained to the audience's expectations. Those who desire a straight horror film won't be pleased, and those who expect a Gothic Romance will be disappointed as well. It fuses the two genres together, and does so in less-than-desirable results at times. It works for me as a fairytale, a ghost story, something I would love to listen to as a child before bed. Expertly crafted and visualized in ways that only Del Toro can, if you have the chance to see it in a theater I highly recommend doing so. See more

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