Boy, isn’t that a loaded question. The problem is the movie never fully embraces it. If the film was supposed to be part homage part send up of the genre then it takes itself far too seriously.
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Gorgeously designed-and shot in slaughterhouse reds, oily blacks, and del Toro’s trademark hues of amber-Crimson Peak isn’t going to be for everybody.
Crimson Peak has all the typical horror tropes of your standard horror flick- creaking floorboards, opening and closing doors, a rotting mansion, mysterious figures and spectacularly chilling background music.
So does it matter that a few critics are saying they weren’t frightened by the film?
This week Universal Pictures premiered the studio’s latest thriller-horror “Crimson Peak”, and among the cast and crew that attended the event were Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastainn and Mia Wasikowska. In a way, Edith is another “Alice” in a unusual and less friendly “Wonderland”.
When “Crimson Peak” opens on Friday, audiences seeking a Halloween thrill will no doubt get their share of scares, but will also leave surprised with this unique not-exactly-horror film that dares to “woo” more than “boo”. Metaphors abound. As do CGI’d ghosts in a movie that doesn’t really know what it wants to be. Having seen her first ghost at 10, she’s attuned to spirits and receptive to their messages.
Edith had assumed the house would be a grand estate, but finds herself in a dilapidated ruin. The daughter of a wealthy construction magnate, Edith is soon swooning for Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), a refined Englishman who has arrived in New York with his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) to seek funding from Edith’s father for an engineering project. That she’s wicked and conniving is a bit of a given, but exactly how she controls Thomas-and by extension Edith-is set up as the movie’s big secret.
Those are the three reasons why you should see Crimson Peak. The place is freezing as there is a huge gaping hole in the ceiling. These sunny sequences happen before Mia Wasikowska’s young American heiress travels to England with her new husband. Pacific Rim is a blast, but does anyone remember the characters, or just the whole giant robots fighting giant monsters thing? Will the young girl run around the haunted mansion with reckless abandon, when she should be running straight back to America? It’s spooky and elegant. They usually appear in typical haunted house fare, with Edith roaming the halls alone at night, jumping at every scratch and moan she hears.
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This elevates the overall film since the script can be pretty much by the numbers 80% of the time. This will loll you into a space of security. The film will be shown in IMAX theaters as well as standard theaters beginning October 16.
