Crimson Peak (2015)

 

Oh how I want to love this film. It has the wonderful Guillermo Del Toro as director, it starts Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain and it is a gothic ghost/love story. And yet, it always feels like there's something missing here, as it doesn't entirely click. 

But let's go into that later.

Edith (Mia Wasikowska) is a young aspiring writer, but of course, during the time this takes place, publishers are rather condescending towards young women writing. She is pretty strong-willed and the apple of her father's eye. He is a gruff builder who has made quite a lot of money during his lifetime and is now a member of the upper classes.

Things start to develop when a British baronet named Thomas Sharpe arrives with plans for a machine that excavates clay. He hopes that investors will see the potential so he can rebuild his family's fortune, as he is rather down on his luck. Edith's father doesn't trust the man, but Edith is eventually smitten by his charming nature. 

But when her father discovers that Sharpe is broke, he blackmails him to go back to England. However, Edith's father is then killed and Thomas manages to marry Edith, bringing her back to his ancestral home of Allerdale Hall in England, built on red clay which constantly makes it look as if the ground is bleeding. But almost immediately, things become bizarre. Thomas' sister is snippy all the time and Edith begins to see bizarre apparitions in the dilapidated house. Turns out bad things happened there and Edith is slowly but surely discovering the secrets behind Allerdale House.

There is a lot of good to be found here, to be sure. Del Toro has gorgeous visuals every single time and this is no exception. This film looks stunning with vibrant colours, a brilliant set design and oodles of atmosphere. The people responsible for designing Allerdale House deserve quite an ovation, as it is everything you could possibly desire from an old haunted house during Victorian times. The details once again are spot on, so full marks there. The casting is also solid. Mia Wasikowska gets a lot more to do than her debut in Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland'. Here, she shows that she can act, but her role as Alice felt like Burton's only direction for her was to act like a dead fish. Glad to see she can pull off a lot more. Of course, both Hiddleston and Chastain are very good, even if Hiddleston is playing a bit too much to type. Chastain is the real powerhouse here and her portrayal of Lucille is by far the best part of this film. 

So, the film has atmosphere, a great cast and wonderful visuals, and yet it doesn't quite gell together in the end. Del Toro's gothic ghost slash love story looks the part and is very reminiscent of Roger Corman's colourful Edgar Allen Poe-adaptations, but there is little suspense. The ghost angle doesn't really amount to much and above all: it takes anyone about three minutes to figure out what exactly is happening. No really, there is no doubt whatsoever what is going on and that unfortunately brings the film down. It's a little too much by the numbers and glorious visuals can not correct a story told in a rather predictable fashion, especially when the mystery is so blatantly obvious, one might as well have it spelled out in bold, capital letters. 

A shame, really. I so want to love this film, yet I cannot fully recommend it, as it falls a bit short to be wholly entertaining. It doesn't quite work as a pure ghost tale, and it certainly doesn't work as a mystery, as there is none. It looks stunning, though.