Crimson Peak

The feasting of the eyes comes to mind when realizing the polished opulence of writer-director Guillermo del Toro’s Gothic supernatural production Crimson Peak. Undeniably luscious and wonderfully bizarre, Crimson Peak is a psycho-sexual thriller that resonates with the enticing visual senses and registers with the proper amount of off-kilter seduction and twisted charm. For filmmaker del Toro his unconventional narratives have always been peppered in exquisite bounciness regardless of their hit-or-miss effectiveness. In joining past del Toro genre-ridden offerings that range from the revered cult-like stimulation of Pan’s Labyrinth to the misplaced but eye-popping stiffs such as Blade II and Pacific Rim it is safe to declare Crimson Peak as another elegant and gaudy candy-coated canvas of del Toro’s imaginative cinematic vision.

Aesthetically stunning and armed with a sophisticated lining of suspense, Crimson Peak does not necessarily exude any real momentum of toxic scares or memorable chills. Still, it manages to rely on its Gothic-induced romanticism that is enough to accept this splashy and offbeat vehicle on the merits of its unique brand of animated style. Sure, there are displayed predictable paths to tap into Crimson Peak’s erratic pulse and maybe del Toro and fellow co-screenwriter Matthew Robbins could have injected some more convincing bits of subversive edginess to spice up its modest creepiness. Nevertheless, one can appreciate the borrowed Hitchcockian overtones combined with the arresting set designs and peculiar ensemble. This alone invites Crimson Peak as a colorful costume drama layered in concentrated showiness.

Thankfully, the October release of Crimson Peak should echo the spooky spirit of Halloween appropriately and offer some seasonal sizzle for the macabre-embracing moviegoers. The story may not be startling to the point of an innovative revelation but the winning element–at least one of them anyway–is the exceptional art direction and...

Ghosts are real, that much she knows.

Seen all the Del Toro films, but this one was not any good compared to his recent year's class. The film has his signature mark, the gothic style atmosphere, visually spectacular, but the story did not strike as expected. Definitely my blame is on the writing department. Though the actors were so much better in their character exhibition, especially the lead trio.

The opening convinced it will going to be a terrifying horror. Seriously? The writer brought ghosts for a concept, but ended penning a fantasy-thriller. In the middle of the narration there was too much drama that dragged the story. And in the third act it turned totally into a killer-thriller. It should have been more frightening, they wanted it to be a faulty human nature kind of twist than supernatural things. Well, they gave what they wanted, not what we the audience looking for.

I did not completely disliked the movie, I enjoyed it other than its plot. The costumes were very nice, the music well blended with the screenplay, but I was disappointed with the reason given as the motivation for all the trouble faced by character Edith. After all the hype, what it revealed was too little and too sudden with guessable stuffs. You can try it for the visuals alone than anticipating another Del Toro's masterpiece.

6/10

Jane Eyre meets House of Usher with ghosts of the past

RELEASED IN 2015 and written & directed by Guillermo del Toro, "Crimson Peak” is a Gothic drama/mystery/horror about a young woman (Mia Wasikowska) in the opening years of the 1900s who falls in love with a mysterious English man (Tom Hiddleston) and moves from Buffalo, NY, to a creepy English manor, where his weird older sister also lives (Jessica Chastain). Ghosts of the past make themselves known, ultimately leading to the truth.

Aside from Jane Eyre and House of Usher, both of which have been filmed several times, “Crimson Peak” has similarities to haunting Gothic flicks like “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992), “The Others” (2001) and “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” (1994), but it’s thankfully nowhere near as ridiculously melodramatic as the latter. The spectral horror is more low-key than “Dracula” and “Frankenstein,” which is why I cite “The Others.” Psychological Gothic horror like “Demons of the Mind” (1972) and “The Eternal” (1998) are other comparisons. If you’re in the mood for a movie like these, you’ll probably appreciate “Crimson Peak.”

Honestly, this is one of the most sumptuously LOOKING movies I’ve ever seen. Take, for instance, the numerous scenes of Edith (Mia) walking down the lavish halls in an alluring white nightgown and flowing blond hair. The Gothic lushness is to die for.

Some people think the story is meh, but it’s no better or worse than the plots of the seven movies listed above. Whilst the first act in Buffalo is somewhat tedious, the movie picks up interest once Edith (Mia) moves to the unsettling English chateau, which has seen better days. I read a critic’s list of a dozen questions in an attempt to tear the film to pieces, but I easily answered all of them, which showed that this critic was intentionally LOOKING FOR something to dislike. Every potential quibble is effortlessly explained by clues in the picture or simply reading in-between the lines.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hou...