Crimson Peak: Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, Starring: Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain10/18/2015 Crimson Peak is a wondrous, beautiful, scary, and intense film. It’s simple in its story, but that’s not a bad thing. What’s happening at Crimson Peak is still scary, and with the craftsmanship of Guillermo Del Toro behind it, Crimson Peak becomes all at once disturbing and somewhat poetic. It’s the best and most affecting thing I’ve seen all year. I don’t say that lightly. Crimson Peak is the real deal. So to start, Crimson Peak is about a young woman named Edith who is swept off her feet and by a baronet (Tom Hiddleston), and taken to the old house he lives in. I sat in the theatre, and was thrilled by every second of it. This can be attributed to a couple of things: the production design, the acting style, the unrealism, and the horror. I honestly am having trouble elaborating. The beautiful colors (red mainly) pop from the screen, and immediately make the film more interesting and exciting. The house that is used in the film is beautiful, with the gothic atmosphere helping bolster the thin story that is there. I’ve heard most critics complain about how Crimson Peak is weak in it’s story, but it doesn’t feel like it. The imagery that the film shows holds up the other end of the film. Del Toro’s camera is sweeping and wonderfully epic. There’s an early scene in which Thomas Sharpe (the baronet) waltzes with Edith (our protagonist) that is so exhilarating because of the way that Del Toro uses his camera. It sweeps above the scene, and the bright colors just allow you to soak into the screen. It all just works. Then you get to the scares. Crimson Peak is not all that scary of a movie. In fact, when I was sitting in the theatre and something that I supposed could be scary happened, I was just sitting up in excited glee. The ghosts are beautifully designed, and when they appeared on screen, Del Toro’s more subtle (compared to other films) approach gives them a large impact. There’s one that crawls that is so interesting and startling that I couldn’t help but be absolutely giddy. The stuff that does work in the context of scariness is the way that the story slowly reveals itself, and the truth of what is happening. Once it was revealed I gasped. Del Toro’s signature use of well executed gore here is also evident, and this film has a beautiful (Sorry, I know I’ve used that word a lot) kill. This is a film that creates creepy world that I wanted to spend more time in. These images are affecting, and it’s true that they themselves would not support the entire movie, but they don’t. This film has an incredible cast doing hammy, but very emotional work. The characters keep their emotions like an open wounds, upfront, and center, and it’s a treat to watch Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, and especially Jessica Chastain take roles of such emotional potency, especially Chastain, who is absolutely dynamite. I must give mention to Jim Beaver, who is given an incredible monologue near the beginning of the film. The film, for all its trodding as a horror film, is surprisingly romantic in it’s own way (can’t tell you how), and the over the top emotional performances only bolster this. And that’s all I can say. I’m honestly disappointed in this review, just the same as I was disappointed in last year’s Boyhood review. I can’t possibly capture the genius, scares, and emotion of Crimson Peak. I give Crimson Peak a 10 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |