BLOOD WORK: HALLOWEEN HORROR DAYS ~ DAY 19: CRIMSON PEAK (2015)

Biases up front: I like Guillermo Del Toro. Because of his film PACIFIC RIM I am eternally a fan of his and of the films he produces in addition to those he directs. Pacific Rim, in Del Toro's own words, was a "love poem" to the Tokusatsu (Japanese special effects films i.e. movies about giant monsters and giant robots) film genre. Basically that means that the movie was his gesture of how much he loved that genre of films. He brought so much to that movie as he does all of his films and it is exactly that detail and love for horror films that I had hoped would be instilled in his latest film CRIMSON PEAK.

THE PLOT

A few days after Edith's mother died Edith saw a ghost for the first time. A frightening visage of her dead mother whispered to her, "Beware Crimson Peak." From that moment on Edith Cushing had been fascinated with ghosts. Ten years later she is an aspiring horror novelist with hopes of being the next Mary Shelley. But all the publishers tell her she needs to writer romances. But she isn't interested in romance, that is until she meets handsome Londoner Sir Thomas Sharpe. She meets Sharpe at her father's place of business. He sneaks a quick read of her novel and compliments her on its macabre subject matter. She is instantly attracted to him.

Edith marries Sharpe and moves to England to the Sharpe estate to live with him and his sister Lucille. Upon entering the house she feels something ethereal about the home, something twisted and wrong. Late at night she hears strange noises and eventually sees something she hasn't seen in ten years: ghosts. As the days go on she sees more ghosts. Then she becomes inexplicably ill. Sharpe's sister Lucille coldly tends to Edith's illness but Edith only grows worse. She begins to suspect ill intentions from Lucille and worse, from her husband too. The longer she stays the grimmer her situation becomes and the more dark secrets the house reveals. It isn't until she hears the local nickname for the house, Crimson Peak, that she realizes how great her peril really is.

THE GOOD

Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam, Burn Gorman, and Jim Beaver star in this beautiful gothic romance. All the actors do a wonderful job, some you like, some you hate, and some you are unsure of until the final act of the film. One actor in particular I have to shout out is JIM BEAVER. If you are a fan of the television series SUPERNATURAL as I am then you are quite familiar with the actor. He plays Edith's father Carter Cushing. The name "Cushing" is a nod to another of my favorite actors, the great PETER CUSHING. Beaver brings a presence that is uniquely his own and immediately identifiable. I had no idea he was in the film and upon recognizing him it was a pleasant surprise. Oh yeah, and Doug Jones makes an appearance too! Wasikowska and Hiddleston are convincing in their romance but Jessica Chastain steals the show in her portrayal of the demented murderous older sister.

The sets and the locations and costume dressings are first rate and incredibly immersive. The film is set circa the late 19th Century. The sets draw you in and almost become characters themselves in the film. The central location of Crimson Peak is Thomas Sharpe's house, Allerdale Hall. It sits atop a hillside above a red clay mine, the clay being a bloody crimson color. The clay oozes down the walls, overflows up beneath the floorboards, and bubbles in large vats in the basement. You get the feeling that the house is alive, that it breaths, eats, and bleeds. It is easily one of the best horror film sets I've ever seen.

The visuals in all are gorgeous and grotesque all at once. In everything it is a beautiful film. So few films can rely solely on visuals to tell the story and this is one of those rare movies. I first noticed some rather dated looking scene transitions where instead of cutting away or fading to black the camera lens instead shrinks down to a circle focusing on a particular character or object. Coupled with the music it brought to mind old silent horror films which have used similar transitions. It sent my mind thinking, "what if this had been done as a black & white silent film?" I am fan of the old silent horror films and once I had thought of this I couldn't get it out of my head. By the end of the movie I was convinced that Del Toro was trying to channel the spirit of the silent horror film. I sincerely hope that the dvd contains an alternate cut of the film as a black and white silent film with a horrific score.

Then there's the love story. Edith, while talking to a possible publisher at the beginning of the film, tells us exactly what the movie is going to be. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that this movie was a Gothic romance. At the heart of every great horror film is Love. Dracula, The Mummy, Frankenstein, King Kong, and even Friday The 13th, all of them root back to love. At first this took me aback a little because I was expecting a ghostly fright film but once I realized what I was watching it all came together perfectly. Very few horror films come to mind that are one hundred percent Gothic as well as romance. The movie easily feels like Charlotte Bronte took the frightening elements of JANE EYRE and stayed there the whole time.

THE BAD

In several of the scenes that are supposed to have the scares it felt like Del Toro had misstepped. He either jumps the gun, not letting the scare build naturally, and thereby muting some of the tension or he shows us way too much of the ghastly ghosts and horrific images too soon. The ideology "less is more" isn't subscribed to save one beautiful shot (my favorite shot of the film) when Edith stands alone outside and sees a skeletal figure standing out in a pasture, a dark gray sky above. This movie would've been legendary had it nailed the scares. It's surprising given Del Toro's history with the genre and major successes with horror that he would falter at this point in his career.

THE VERDICT

Crimson Peak is a beautifully shot and assembled Gothic film about love and the ghosts borne of such tragedy and love loss. Visually it is a gorgeous film and needs no words to tell the story. An homage to silent horror films maybe or just a staple Guillermo Del Toro's filmmaking style. The lack of scares is what makes this movie truly a Gothic romance versus a fright film. Had Del Toro taken a little more time building the scares and shown a little less of the ghosts at the onset this movie could've been a true modern classic. Even so this was a fantastic film, one well worth watching.