Guillermo Del Toro returns to the sort of dark story which he originally made his name with. But did it live up to expectations or not?
Who:
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam
What:
Horror/Suspense
Why:
Its an original standalone story
When:
Released 2015
Where:
Set in the early 1900's in America before moving to the dilapidated Allerdale Hall in gold old Gothic England
The Case For:
So this is Del Toro returning to his horror roots and for the most part he does a fine job of it.
We have a good old fashioned spooky manor that seems to be falling down around its inhabitants, as well as ghosts haunting our female lead and mysterious strangers who seem to have secrets to hide.
There are more than a few homages to the golden age of Hammer & Amicus films with even Mia Wasikowska's character being called Edith Cushing in a tribute to the late, great Peter Cushing the star of many films from those two venerable studio's.
Wasikowska is quite good in her role as the damsel who falls for a man who may or may not be the bad guy. She has the right mixture of innocence about her, but also enough tenacity to put her foot down when needed.
Jessica Chastain is also in top form as Lady Lucille Sharpe, the sister of Tom Hiddleston's Sir Thomas. She revels in playing the slightly unhinged sibling who has a somewhat controlling influence and totally comes across as the person in charge.
As the film progresses you see more and more of her sanity unraveling, building to the climactic finish which is done very well.
My favorite actor in this piece though was Tom Hiddleston. He has the charisma about him to be equal parts charming, whilst also being able to cast a certain amount of doubt about his character as well. You are not sure if he is being completely honest about his true nature, even after a couple of conspiratorial conversations we view him having with his sister. You retain a level of doubt as to what his motives and feelings truly are.
I get the impression that he would not be out of place among one of Hammer's own Gothic entries himself. He certainly has that same sort of menace that Peter Cushing was so adept at portraying.
It made me think that Hiddleston would make an excellent Baron Frankenstein given the right script. But seeing as how Hollywood loves to keep messing up that story I doubt we will see that happening in the foreseeable future.
I don't think I have seen him give a bad performance yet in any of the films I have viewed him in. If Hiddleston is part of a cast then I find he is generally one of the highlights of the film.
There is one more character to discuss and that is Allerdale Hall itself, for it is truly an integral character to this story. The building is a lovingly constructed set with all the Gothic tropes that you would expect from a haunted mansion.
The house was built from scratch and completely furnished with items specifically for this set, nothing had been recycled from other productions. Its quite an achievement and such a shame that the house was demolished soon after production finished. I would have loved to have been able to walk through this wonderful building. The level of detail that has gone into bringing it to life is quite remarkable.
When the ghosts do arrive throughout the dwelling you instantly have that feeling that they fully belong here and have been stalking the halls of the manor for some time. Whilst the ghosts are all magnificently created they are certainly secondary to the dread that the house itself emits for the audience.
You can clearly see the influences at work here from "The Haunting" to "The Shining" but with Del Toro's own stamp equally displayed throughout the whole film.
This movie does want to take its time and is a slow burn, but the pay off in the end and the reveals that go with it are worth waiting for. You definitely end up rooting for the heroine of the story during the final scenes and that is exactly how you should feel when watching something in this genre.
The Case Against:
So while this film does take its time to tell its story I did feel that it was a little bit too long. Now this could just be a sign of the times for today's audience. It certainly does adhere to what you would expect from something harking back to an older era haunted house film.
The movie is also a romance and certainly has that Jane Austen feel about it. Therefore some of the pacing does have a hint of "Sense and Sensibility" in taking its time to unfold.
I think one of the reasons that Crimson Peak failed to find a wider audience is that people expect different things from Horror films these days. Throw in the romance side of things too and it isn't a combination that we see on our screens too often.
Its a shame that something that has been so lovingly crafted, with so many nods taking place to horror, Gothic and romantic films of the past, just did not hit the right chords with the general public.
Some might find Jessica Chastain's acting a little bit too much of a predictable psycho sister act, I didn't particularly feel this way but could certainly see how some would.
There are certainly aspects of her performance which does spell out that her character is a villain but you would be hard pressed to find a film of this nature which doesn't do that with their evil protagonist.
The love triangle of Wasikowska, Hiddleston and childhood friend Alan McMichael, played by Charlie Hunnam, is probably just a little too predictable and does follow all the regular conventions for this particular type of story line.
It was Charlie Hunnam that was the weakest performance out of the whole cast. I felt he was not the right person for the part he was playing. He was a little too stiff and even though its a period setting where you expect stiffness and propriety, he just didn't seem to get the tone right at all.
It was definitely an under written role and just seemed to be in there to have someone else to vie for Edith Cushing's affections. The dashing charmer that the viewer is hoping will come in towards the end to rescue our heroine and whisk her away to safety.
As a ghost story there is actually very little of the ghosts on screen. If you go in expecting it to be big on the haunting I could see you coming away disappointed. It wasnt a deal breaker for me as Allerdale Hall itself more than made up for the lack of spiritual bodies floating about.
Verdict:
Whilst it doesn't set the world on fire, it is definitely a cozy watch by the fireplace on a dark night if you want something just a little old school spookiness for your evenings viewing pleasure.
Evidence:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_Peak
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2554274/
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