Crimson Peak

Crimson Peak

This film is theater worthy!

"Love can be monstrous and make monsters of us all . . ."

                Guillermo Del Toro has been often hailed as one of the greatest story tellers of our time. With an imagination to rival, some even dare say surpass, the likes of Steven Spielberg or James Cameron, and along with a tasteful flare for the darkness, I’d say than anyone would be hard pressed to say otherwise. To live in a Del Toro story is to live with in a dream. Whether it be full of darkness or littered in light it is always captivating and beautiful. You truly never want to leave.

Gary Oldman as Count
Dracula

Edgar Allan Poe

                Ghost stories are a dime a dozen . . . and then comes Crimson Peak. Screams echo through the halls of horror and from the time of true greats like Poe and Stoker. This is a horror story that this fan feels could be honored among those of such like-minded legends of horror. I will say this right here and right now, that if you are a fan of a true horror stories, there won’t be a single fan disappointed in Del Toro’s tale of terror. Shot in true Del Toro fashion you are immediately immersed in a dream like world which is quickly turned into a beautiful nightmare.

                Though many of the concepts aren’t anything new it’s really the way in which the story is presented which is a sigh of relief from all the remakes and found footage films of late. You get a true ghost story. A story which seemingly transports you back to your childhood, a time when you were told ghost stories by a camp fire, left to wonder what may be beyond the light, drowning in the imagination of “what if”. It’s a true experience that you cannot miss!

                Many elements from the great horror stories of recent history can be found and felt throughout the film. The characters feel like distant twins of those from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. We find the young dreamer in Edith Cushing, fascinated by life and surrounded, inside and out, with beauty. A dark and mysterious stranger comes into her life with a passion and way about him that intoxicates the innocent and love hungry Edith. His charm and foreign ways make him alluring for all yet with a dark secret that all can see. All but the one blinded by his charm. And then we have the hero, distant from the danger yet willing to act, trying to save the woman he loves before it’s too late. Plus many of the smaller characters are all in place and add up to make the feeling of Stoker’s touch impossible to ignore. There is also a sheer gothic brutality and beauty that screams of Poe and his stories of old. Each actor, or actress, brings their character to vividness to such a point that you find yourself completely immersed in the story. So much in fact that you wish it wouldn’t end (although it’s 2 hours long).

                Don’t expect what you may be used to when it comes to horror when seeing this film. That being one jump scare after another, twist endings to bring the story together, a buildup of not seeing anything to an explosion of manifested evil.  None of that is Del Toro and none of that is in this film. It’s a ghost story and he doesn’t hide the fact that there are ghosts. Don’t be shocked to see ghosts right off the bat in the film and don’t worry, it’s designed to be that way. Unlike most horror movies now and days, where the demon, or ghost, or monster is the subject of the film’s focus, here the ghosts are just an element of the story. The story itself is the focus of the film . . . as it should be! This is the secret that has made Del Toro one of the greatest story tellers of all time and quite possibly the greatest of our time!

 

There are quite a few moments that will certainly make you jump and there is plenty of gore to tide over a multitude of horror fans. With the elegant beauty of the film it's almost shocking when a brutal slaying takes place or when gore makes an appearance but it just makes it that much better. And to answer your possible one question, mostly for you ladies out there, the answer is yes . . . you get to see parts of Tom Hiddleston that you probably haven't seen before but have probably wanted to. And don't worry guys, there's some action there for you too

 

                So enjoy the film and remember . . . . . beware of Crimson Peak!