Crimson Peak (2015)

Fantastic!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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 hour 59 minutes and was shot in Hamilton, Kingston and Toronto, Canada. ADDITIONAL WRITER: Matthew Robbins.GRADE: B

When I saw that another Guillermo del Toro film was being released, I thought, well, with what this director likes me. Although to tell the truth, the first movie of his that I saw was El laberinto del fauno, marvelous, then I saw the rest of his filmography and the disappointment was enormous. With this continues the disappointment. I do not know how he did it in the other but he does not look like anything in any of his other films. But now it's time to talk about The Scarlet Summit.I can not help but be watching the movie and thinking, did you really not know how to do it better?All effects take me out of the movie.The actors, it seems that they knew they were doing popcorn movies and they said, to make an effort.Photography is fine, but it's the only thingThe address, I do not know why he does not know how to put the camera where he should. He does not narrate with her.The story is more than bony view that nothing new. I imagine that it will have had a magnificent production and I think they set up a scenario simulating the mansion, but they would leave it all there. In short, a disappointment, boring and badly carried.

Take a whole lotta Jane Eyre, including some lines lifted almost verbatim; mix in some Fall of the House of Usher; wrap it in amazing, gorgeous sets and costumes; throw in some good actors, including one stunning beauty (Jessica, with a dodgy English accent) and one who actually played Jane Eyre (Mia); and voila, you have... a great looking, plodding mish-mash of gothic themes and images but no core or center. It is interminable. The plot could have been good, but it just goes on and on and on. After a while, the ghosts are a big yawn. It starts pretty well, while we have a plucky heroine. Much is made of her writing, but eventually this just disappears into the cold, red sludge, along with all her personality. I kept thinking, this looks amazing, I love gothic stuff, I adore Jane Eyre, I really liked Del Toro's previous work, so why is this totally failing to engage me? I really wanted to like this. But it's definitely a "meh" from me.

I re-watched Crimson Peak and I liked it again. Yes, the story itself is predictable but the fine actors and especially the superb visuals give enough goodies for the connoisseur of Gothic horror. Director Guillermo del Toro knows his business, and the main actors Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska and Tom Hiddleston play their roles well. A good watch for you if you like such movies as The Woman in Black, The Others, A Cure For Wellness, The Awakening, Fall of the House of Usher etc.For the visuals a nine, the acting and directing a 7 and for the story a 5. Makes a neat 7.