Beware of Crimson Peak
Released on Oct. 16 and directed by the renowned Guillermo del Toro, the R rated film “Crimson Peak” is far better than its trailers. Horror author Stephen King claimed it to be “f—ing terrifying,” and pretty much everyone can agree Stephen King knows a thing or two about horror. The film was marketed as a gothic romance/horror film, but it turned out to be slightly too little of either gothic romance or gothic horror, with some stabbing and incest on the side.
The film features a cute and spicy feminist writer, Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) as the lead. Edith falls in love with the handsome stranger, Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), who is taking his chances in American business with Cushing’s father, despite being originally English. Along with him is his rather intimidating sister, Lady Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain), whose dark background greatly adds to the intrigue of the story.
The film begins with Edith describing her belief in ghosts. “Ghosts are real. That much I know.” Edith’s mother died while Edith was still a child, and as a result Edith met her mother in ghost form, who warned her to “beware of Crimson Peak.” It then fast-forwards to a much older Edith, who struggles to make it as a female writer during the end of the Victorian Era. While working on her story, she meets Sir Thomas Sharpe, who takes a liking to her as well as the story she is writing. Over a short period of time, they grow to like each other, while Thomas’ cautious sister shows an obvious disliking for Edith. Despite this, Edith and Thomas get married and Edith is brought to Thomas and Lucille’s home at Crimson Peak, which just so happens to be littered with terrifying ghosts.
While the film features many ghosts, with slightly unsettling CGI appearances, the ghosts have almost no purpose. The film is about two hours long, with a beginning sequence able to pique the viewer’s interest, and an absolutely brilliant end. But the middle is disappointing. On too many occasions, Edith wakes up in the middle of the night after hearing a noise, leaves to explore it, and finds a ghost; as this act is repeated so many times, it loses the “horror” factor. If the film were shortened by about 30 minutes, it could have been exponentially better and have achieved the same effect. But the murderous and incredibly intriguing mystery of the Sharpes and their evil background still makes the film worth viewing. By the end of the film, after a beautifully performed end scene, del Toro’s intended element of horror is human, and the film is far more complex than one might expect only halfway through the movie.
The actors were all brilliant. Del Toro used very well-known people in his film, so this is unsurprising. Most notably, Jessica Chastain’s performance as Lady Lucille Sharpe was deserving of award, as it was unbelievably impressive.
While “Crimson Peak” is not exactly a horror or a romance film, it is impressive to watch and will serve most people’s desired purpose of entertainment. Some parts of the film are not particularly interesting, but the last 30 minutes are very fantastic and make the less interesting parts worth watching. It earns a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. All I can say is beware of “Crimson Peak.”
