Retro Review: Crimson Peak

Writer's Note: As I mentioned yesterday, I have a special "Flashback Friday" prepared for Valentine's Day, which I'll probably publish on Tuesday, making it a "Throwback Tuesday," I suppose. However, don't fret, I'll be doing another "Flashback Friday" next week, so you'll technically be getting two for the price of one!

In the meantime, in honor of Tom Hiddleston's birthday today, as well as director Guillermo Del Toro's recent multiple Oscar nominations for the superlative The Shape of Water, here's a look back at his last movie, the somewhat underrated Crimson Peak. This article was originally published on Facebook on October 27th, 2015.

God, I love Guillermo Del Toro. I mean, is there another guy out there that just adores the horror genre like he does? Have you seen his house? It’s AMAZING. It’s like a horror lover’s dream come true- and a horror hater’s worst nightmare come to life. I won’t deny his track record is a bit spotty here and there- Pacific Rim wasn’t really my cup of tea even if his love of Kaiju flicks shone through the bombast- but all in all, he’s fairly consistent, even with the stuff he only produces.

Pan’s Labyrinth is straight up one of my favorite movies of any genre, and I’m a huge fan of The Devil’s Backbone and The Orphanage (which he executive-produced) as well. The Hellboy movies were fun, and Cronos and Mimic were both pretty interesting, as was his recent TV series The Strain. In short, while I wouldn’t go so far as to say the guy can do no wrong, he’s doing well by me thus far, more often than not. 

So, I had high hopes going into Crimson Peak and while far from a perfect film, on the whole, I really dug it. First and foremost, it’s right in my wheelhouse. While I’m no huge fan of costume dramas, I do love Hammer and the AIP Corman films done with Vincent Price, which combine period pieces with horror to great Gothic Romance effect. That’s clearly what Toro was aiming for, and in terms of the look, he totally nails it. 

The sets were built from scratch from the ground up, just like they often did in the old days, and that gambit pays off tremendously, as you can feel the tangibility of the surroundings. Yes, there is some CGI used, and while I tend to prefer the old-school approach to special effects, here they weren’t terrible, and reasonably well-executed. 

On the plus side, the gore effects- and I was legitimately surprised by how gory this got at times- were very effective, particularly the scene in which one unfortunate man has his head bashed repeatedly into a sink- shades of the stomping death in Pan's Labyrinth, and equally cringe-inducing.

Finally, as one might expect with a cast that includes Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Tom Hiddleston (Loki in the Thor and Avengers movies), Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland), Charlie Hunnam (Jax on TV's Sons of Anarchy), and Jim Beaver (Bobby on TV's Supernatural), the acting is superb across the board. 

That leads me to the bad news, which is the general plot. It’s not that the plot is bad, per se, it’s just that if you’re even the least bit familiar with the sort of old-school movies I mentioned, you can see the “twists” coming a mile away and essentially predict how things are going to play out, which is unfortunate, because, as aforementioned, the film has a lot going for it otherwise.

I won’t go too much into the plot, as I don’t want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say, it’s about a young woman (Wasikowska) who falls for a man (Hiddleston) with a shady past who lives in a dilapidated old mansion where the ground seems to literally bleed and which seems to be haunted- but by whom? 

Don’t get me wrong, if you like this sort of thing, and Toro’s work in general, you’re going to want to see this, for sure. It has enough going for it that I can’t imagine fans of the Gothic Romance sub-genre are going to be disappointed. It’s visually stunning, and the costumes and details are just staggeringly beautiful and pleasing to the eye, if admittedly in a “dark” sort of way, but that’s to be expected, given the subject matter.

I say if you love the kind of movies I mentioned, it’s a must-see in the theaters for the visuals alone, but if you’re on the fence about the subject matter or don’t care for costume drama, even with horror thrown in the mix, then maybe wait and rent it/stream it at home. If you don’t like this sort of thing, this isn’t going to change your mind, even with the gore and strong acting on display. But I think if you typically like Toro’s stuff, you’ll love this as well.

Check it out!