Our heroine is Edith Cushing (played by Mia Wasikowska), an aspiring author who writes stories about ghosts, and also happens to be able to see them. She soon meets the mysterious nobleman Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), and marries him following a family tragedy. After she is whisked away to his stately home in England, she finds that he and his sister Lucille have many secrets, and there are ghosts from their past around every corner.
One of this films biggest triumphs is its visuals. Allerdale Hall, the home of the Sharpes, is practically a crumbling ruin. There is a gigantic hole in the roof where snow drifts in, and red clay from underneath the house seeps in through the floorboards like blood. The entire film is amazingly atmospheric, something that Del Toro keeps consistent throughout. The performances of Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain, who plays Lucille Sharpe, are brilliant. Chastain is especially sinister, and at times it seems that the relationship between Thomas and Lucille is the driving force of the film, creating the majority of the drama. Whilst Crimson Peak has been marketed as a horror film, it only really serves as one until about halfway through. For the first hour it is more of a typical haunted house film, with several scenes including blood red apparitions and black veiled ghosts. Del Toro creates suspense masterfully. The hallways are large and shadowy, aided by the high contrast lighting, and the lack of music amplifies the sound of creaking floor boards and ticking clocks. There are several jump scares, but they are not overly relied upon to create fear.
However the more the narrative progresses, it becomes less and less a horror film, and more of a mystery thriller. For those expecting more of a supernatural horror, the ending may seem a bit of an anti-climax. The only feature of the films climax that is horror-esque is that it plays quite like the typical slasher 'final girl vs. villain' scenario, with Wasikowska seeming quite like Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween. The downside is that once we delve into the mystery of Crimson Peak we find that it isn't very mysterious at all and can quite easily be guessed from the start. Despite the story being quite predictable, the overall dark atmosphere and sinister tone of the film make it really captivating. For Del Toro, it is a return to the style of his Spanish-language films such as Pan's Labyrinth, rather than his recent American blockbusters Pacific Rim and Hellboy. And he pulls this off much better.
Crimson Peak is a beautiful gothic film with stunning visuals. Along with Del Toro's knack for storytelling and the excellent performances from the cast, that makes it well worth watching.
