CRIMSON PEAK : Thursday 29th October 2015

The script for 'CRIMSON PEAK' which I saw in the week was written by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins and has been kicking around for ten years now, with del Toro always intending to Direct but he got sidetracked with 'Hellboy II', a small little project with Peter Jackson called 'The Hobbit' and then Sci-Fi epic 'Pacific Rim'. Having departed from 'The Hobbit' project del Toro was now free to re-divert his Directing and Producing attentions to his own penned story, and so in early 2014 set about filming what would become the Gothic Horror Romance 'Crimson Peak' with a US$55M budget. Released in mid-October the film has so far made US$52M.

As the film sets out it is 1887 and we see a young Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) aged about ten attending the funeral of her mother, comforted by her successful businessman father Carter Cushing (Jim Beaver). Returning to the family home that evening Edith is visited by the ghostly spectre of her dead mother warning her to 'beware Crimson Peak'. As quickly as those few words are mentioned so the spirit disappears.

Fast forward to 1901, and fourteen years later approaching her mid-20's Edith still lives with her single father in the family home and she has begun eeking out a career as a writer of ghost stories, much to the chagrin of her Publisher who would much rather see her pen romantic stories. Soon Edith is introduced to Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) a handsome debonair English Baronet who is seeking funding from Carter Cushing for his clay mining invention. Edith is quite taken with the dashing well spoken Englishman but much less so is her father who can see through his thin veneer, and his previous unsuccessful attempts to raise capital in Paris, Milan and Edinburgh for his frivolous mining exploits.

Shortly thereafter, alone in her bedroom researching Sir Thomas Sharpe, Edith is again visited by the ghostly spirit of her now long deceased mother bringing the same warning as fourteen years before 'beware Crimson Peak'. As time progresses so the relationship between Edith and Sir Thomas begins to blossom, much to the displeasure of Carter Cushing, who suspecting all is not quite what it seems orders a private investigation into the Englishman and his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain). What is revealed is not good news and so Carter orders Sir Thomas and his sister to return to England and to turn his back on Edith promptly, while ensuring that her heart is broken in no uncertain terms and, paying them off with a handsome cheque to do so. 

Within a day or so Carter is viciously attacked while shaving and murdered at the hands of an unknown assailant. Having to positively identify the body Edith is accompanied to the morgue with childhood friend Dr. Alan McMichael (Charlie Hannam) who believes foul play is at work and not the accidental death that is being prescribed.

Free of an interfering and disapproving father, Edith and Sir Thomas quickly rekindle their love for each other and so they marry and return to 'Allerdale Hall' the ancestral home of the Sharpe family in Cumberland, England, miles from anywhere. This is a foreboding mansion that is run down, decrepit, desolate and in serious disrepair. There is a gaping hole in the roof that the wind, rain and snow blows through from several stories above the grand entrance hall. The house contains a labyrinth of dimly lit corridors; secret locked rooms; creaking walls; things that go bump in the night; and an ageing lift that goes down to a basement and the rich red oozing clay mine that the house stands on, and into which it is slowly subsiding. It must be said that del Toro has a very keen eye for the detail and the authenticity of his rich yet dark haunted house. The production values are first rate and he has left no stone unturned in capturing the Gothic menace and sense of dread contained within its four walls, which ultimately only add to the atmosphere he is seeking to instil.

Edith feels I'll at ease, but is made to feel reasonably comfortable on arrival by her new husband and his sister who seems to harbour more dark secrets than he does, although we know they are both on the same 'page'! As time progresses Edith has several encounters with a number of otherworldly spectres and ghosts who seem stranded within its four walls and whilst menacing, are trying to tell her something. Being a writer of ghost stories she has an understanding of such matters and whilst frightened, she seeks to learn more of the dark secrets of Allerdale Hall.

As Winter approaches Sir Thomas tells her that the rich red clay deposits on which the house stands seep through the snow turning it a crimson colour, which is why the locals refer to the house  as 'Crimson Peak' . . . words that she has heard of only before from her dead mother! Given what she has experienced so far, hearing those words again, suspecting too that all is not as it would seem with her husband and sister, having received word from home about the sale of the inherited family home, and discovering some recordings within the walls of the house that elude to a much darker secret, Edith begins to unravel the awful truth about who she has married, what the agenda is, and the bond that ties brother and sister.

All this heads to a climatic conclusion as Dr. Alan McMichael ventures to England, having also uncovered the Sharpes unsavoury history, in a bid to rescue Edith from a possible fate worse than death. Edith makes a connection with the ghostly apparition of a mother and her baby which points to another dark and disturbing secret being revealed and leads us into the final climax. As brother and sister become aware that Edith is on to them so rage, panic and jealousy set in and it all goes pear shape for Dr. McMichael, Sir Thomas, then Lucille and nearly Edith amidst the crimson coloured snow.

This film has a lot going for it - high production values, a strong principle cast, a Director and story teller who cut his Mexican teeth on horror fare of this type, and an old school rendition of the genre. But, despite these qualities I was left wanting. More scares, more frights, more jumps, and more things that went bump in the night - I was expecting more and on that note these came few & far between. In this respect this is similar to 'Pan's Labyrinth' which was a far superior offering but in a similar vein, just much more well executed. You don't need to see this on the big screen and can easily wait for the DVD, Blu-ray or download.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-