MOVIE REVIEW: Crimson Peak (2015)

Crimson Peak (2015)

Drama, Fantasy, Horror

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro

When going into a Guillermo del Toro film you can be sure of one thing, that you will be visually dazzled. Throughout his career so far he has managed to create incredible, visually stimulating worlds like none other we have seen before. We saw it early in his career with films like The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, and even with big budget pictures like Hellboy and Pacific Rim he has proved he can create something completely new no matter the genre. So when fans heard he would be diving back into the "horror" world with his newest film Crimson Peak we all got excited. With his latest film, del Toro takes us back in time to tell a tale of Gothic romance and lingering spirits that stands among his most beautiful pictures to date, literally.

The film takes place at the turn of the 20th century and focuses on young Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), the daughter of a wealthy businessman in Buffalo, New York. While trying to get her first book published a new man named Sir Thomas (Tom Hiddleston) arrives in town to try and court her father and other local businessmen into funding his project. It doesn't take long for Sir Thomas good looks and charm to sway Edith and the two begin to fall in love. When tragedy strikes her family however, grief leads her back to England with Sir Thomas and his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) to live in their old, and mysterious house.

Almost immediately after arriving in England she begins to experience strange occurrences in her new home, from hearing strange noises to seeing what appear to be ghosts in the hallways at night. She is immediately spooked and it isn't long before she realizes that the people she came here with and the house she now lives in aren't what they appear to be. Playing as a Gothic romance mixed with some horror and mystery elements this film is one of the most impressive visual experiences of the year. 

Guillermo del Toro is known for creating worlds and inhabiting them with wildly unique and mysterious characters, whether they be human or not. His incredible attention to detail makes his films feel like an entirely new world, when watching one of his pictures you can imagine yourself inside that universe. With Crimson Peak the costume, set design, and most importantly dialogue create the illusion that it is truly the early 1900's. This movie is further proof that del Toro does nothing on accident, he fully immerses his audiences in the past with his newest film and it is simply wonderful.

The film's only misstep is in the story, what plays as an engaging romantic mysterious throughout most of the first two acts ultimately fails to have a payoff in the finale that matches the scale of the rest of the film. He created a world so amazing and huge that his story just simply couldn't match what he was doing visually. Luckily the finale is totally bonkers and makes up for the lack of payoff in the characters story with viscous, bloody violence which is something this film gets completely right. When the violence comes it is absolutely brutal and unforgettable, you feel the characters pain when it happens due to the reality of what you are seeing on screen.

The main draw to this film are the characters, and one of the most important of those is the actual house. Guillermo turns what would typically be an inanimate building into a living, breathing force of nature. It is gorgeously designed in traditional Gothic fashion and the many levels and secrets it holds create an engaging setting for the majority of the movie. This film also features a top billed cast, all of whom turn in incredible performances chewing up every second of their screen time. Mia Wasikowska and Tom Hiddleston own the film as the respective leads and the love you feel between their two characters feels as real as can be. In support Jessica Chastain turns in another amazing performance as the sister and further proves she is one of the most talented people working today. 

If you are going into this film looking for cheap pop out scares and creepy ghosts you will be disappointed. Though there are some truly terrifying creature designs in this film it leans more on the side of a horror mystery than straight horror. He isn't going for scares in this film, he just wants to dazzle the audience with beautiful visuals and an immersive universe that audiences can really sink their teeth into. In this respect del Toro succeeds with total success and the people who appreciate this film for it is meant to be will enjoy every second of it. I would have liked to see a little more payoff in the story but when a movie is as stunning as this to look at and with such incredible attention to detail, it's hard to say anything truly negative about it. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!