Crimson Peak

Dir: Guillermo del Toro

2015

****

Crimson Peak is Guillermo del Toro going back to his roots and doing what he does best, a good old fashioned creepy thriller/horror, although as good as it is, it's not his best within the genre. However, del Toro has set a rather high standard, one that very few have matched, but then I'm not sure you can better such a uniquely beautiful film such as Pan's Labyrinth (or indeed compare it to anything else) and I'll always have such a soft-spot for Cronos, so I wonder if he really could do anything better in my opinion? I guess it doesn't really matter though as his films are consistently good, even Blade II is brilliant and sequels to hit comic adaptations aren't ever supposed to any good.

 Crimson Peak is a deliciously dark and Gothic-looking haunted house horror. There is far more to it then just ghosts and ghouls though and it's pretty much cliche-free, with no endless scene of our protagonist walking about in the dark encountering such false-scares such as the camera suddenly panning to another other cast member slightly out of shot or a cat, complete with blood-curdling meow, jumping out from behind a curtain, that's never been del Toro's style. What we do get is a gorgeous looking supernatural adventure, full of creepy suspense, character development (hurrah) and clever writing, that is somehow bursting with vivid colour and pitch-black at the same time. It's the sort of thing people expect from Tim Burton still, even though del Toro's been doing it better for quite some time now. Mia Wasikowska is good but personally, I think casting her is a little lazy. She has that constantly inquisitive looking face that is perfect for the role but it also limits her somewhat. Tom Hiddleston plays his part well, even though I didn't like his character's change in direction. I think Jessica Chastain is the big surprise here, not because I don't think she's any good, far from it, she's always good, it's just I've never seen her in this type of role before and she masters it in an effortless manner. My only real criticism is the CGI. Most of the time it's great but there are a few plastic looking ghosts floating about that really didn't have the scary impact they were created for. It also gets a bit stabby towards the end. Apart from that I really enjoyed it and I haven't enjoyed a haunted house film for ages.