Crimson Peak

There's a scene early on in Crimson Peak where the main character, Edith (Mia Wasikowska), is speaking about a transcript of a fiction novel she wrote. Someone asks her, "Ah so this is a ghost story?". She replies with, "No, it's more a story that just happens to have a ghost in it."

Cut to a few seconds later and we find that her transcript was turned down because the publishers wanted a romance included in the novel. 

Little did I know the amount of foreshadowing that small exchange would provide to the film as a whole...

There are times where I've gone to a movie and been disappointed, whether greatly or minimally. Sometimes it's because the film just actually isn't as good as you expected, sometimes it's because there was a poor decision made as far as casting, plot twist, etc. 

I was disappointed by Crimson Peak because of its marketing. More specifically, the fact that the marketing, while fantastic at the time, duped the hell out of me into thinking this would be a horror film. It is not. I'd argue it's not even close. So why then did they build it up as such and even go so far as to have the "master of horror" himself, Stephen King, state that the film was "Gorgeous and terrifying...it electrified me." in one of their trailers? It's certainly one of those things (hint: gorgeous) but as far as horror goes, this is merely a Gothic romance that "just happens to have ghosts in it". 

Chalk me up to the group that is probably a little pissed off that they didn't get what they came for. 

"Mom! Wash your damn hands!"

Despite my annoyance with the film's marketing however, Crimson Peak is still massively enjoyable and watchable because of the man at the helm, Guillermo Del Toro. His Gothic vision oozes style throughout the 2 hour runtime and even when the film struggles, his style is always there, at least keeping things interesting. The first 45 minutes or so are actually spent building up getting to the haunted mansion in England and that should have been my first clue that this wasn't a strict horror film, but rather something else. Del Toro's creativity and style is less apparent here as it's really just an older version of the United States. Once that house is introduced though, it's quite delightful to just look at the sights (which look darn good in IMAX). The house sits on a sinking foundation of red clay, which oozes through its pores, has a massive hole in its middle that allows light and snow and leaves to fall through, and is equal parts eerie and beautiful. Similarly, the ghosts, when they do appear, are gory, frightening, and convincing. Crimson Peak may have not been outright horror, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its "freaky" parts. As someone who gets worked up/scared pretty easily in the theaters [i.e. the time(s) I screamed like a little girl in Paranormal Activity 3], I wasn't ever truly frightened in this film. 

Beef: it's what's for dinner.

"Do you think I could be in the
Marvel Universe someday?"

The film's cast, which was praised upon announcement, does fine. Mia Wasikowska plays the protagonist, Edith, and honestly? I could have easily seen someone else taking her place and doing just as well if not better. Tom Hiddleston also does fine as her lover, Thomas Sharpe, but I think this was mostly a case of Tom Hiddleston being Tom Hiddleston. If I'm continuing to be honest here, Jessica Chastain, Thomas's sister, Lucille, is the most fun to watch, especially after just having seen her in The Martian as a completely different kind of character a couple weeks ago. I also thought Charlie Hunnam, in his limited role, did a solid job even despite him being the one I was most worried about. 

From a plot and story glance, Crimson Peak, isn't anything new, and it's fairly predictable, but I enjoyed the melodrama of it all. Once I accepted the fact that the movie "is what it is", I took it for being a Gothic romance, and in that space (of which I admit I'm not at all familiar) I enjoyed how everything progressed and the twists/turns it made throughout. Personally, the ending was fun, if not a little underwhelming, and where I was thinking there might be a final twist, I didn't find one. 

World's longest driveway.

If it sounds like I'm a little pissed off at Crimson Peak, I'm not. At the movie at least. It is what it is, and I think at the end of the day it's exactly the film that Del Toro wanted to put on screen. From that space, it's stylishly captivating and fills itself with decent/good-enough substance. I am however, pissed at the marketing team. Yes, they got my butt in the seat for a Del Toro horror film as I imagine they were able to do for many other people, but it's borderline false advertising. For this movie critic, not only did it allow my expectations to get the better of me, it didn't even allow my expectations to be grounded in the true genre of the film:

"A romance story that just happens to have ghosts in it."

CONS:

• Spends too much time getting the audience to the haunted house
• I wasn't super impressed by some of the cast. Mia Wasikowska seems replaceable
• Predictable story with an mildly underwhelming finale
• What I first thought was fantastic marketing (I guess maybe it still is...) basically summed up to be false advertising. This is not a horror film. It's a Del Toro Gothic romance film with light elements of horror throughout

PROS:

• Stylishly riveting. Easily watchable, especially once at the haunted house, because of how awesome all the set design looks. The house is mightily impressive
• Great looking ghosts that, for the short periods they are on screen, are frightening
• The film is at its peaks, pun intended, when the ghosts are out
• Jessica Chastain and Charlie Hunnam both surprised me. Chastain was very fun to watch
• Solid original score, scene transitions, and editing
• Fun romantic melodrama once you accept it for what it is. The mystery unfolds among the beautiful landscape

Rath's Review Score: 7/10