Crimson Peak

Since the death of her mother, Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) has had the ability to see the spirits of the deceased - an ability she almost forgot as a young woman. Together with her father (Jim Beaver), she leads a tranquil life as an aspiring writer in Buffalo, New York in the early 20th century. Her world is turned completely upside down when she meets and falls madly in love with the charming Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). When her father dies in a mysterious accident, Edith decides to follow Thomas to his English home. As his wife, she henceforth lives with him and his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) at Allerdale Hall, an ancient mansion built on an underground mine. Edith feels increasingly uncomfortable in the run-down house, especially as the ghosts of the past literally haunt her here. Soon Edith is sure that the house is hiding a secret that she has to find out. But she has no idea that she is already in mortal danger.

After his detour into a future threatened by giant monsters in Pacific Rim, director Guillermo del Toro now takes a trip back in time with Crimson Peak, to the era of classic gothic horror. He relies less on crude bloodshed and more on atmospheric haunting of the restrained kind. There are some moments in which del Toro is not exactly squeamish and in which delicate minds will probably prefer to close their eyes. But first and foremost he relies on atmospheric sets, classic ghost effects and on the development of the story, for which he takes a relatively long time. This might not sit well with some viewers hoping for constant horror and a fast-paced effects spectacle, and might even leave them feeling bored in the second half of the film. But if you like classic ghost stories, you really get a great exponent of the subject here.

The Gothic Romance, told here with fantastic sets and very good actors, offers some twists and turns that may not really be surprising, but that del Toro has nevertheless executed in a rousing manner. And even the many unavoidable clichés that can be found in the script and production don't really stand out. That's because del Toro and his team really went to work here with a lot of love for the genre. This passion is visible and palpable in almost every moment on screen. Even though there may be a few dramaturgical lengths and some moments may seem a bit campy, overall the film is so full of dedication that it has simply become quite great cinema in the original sense.

You can see this in the fact that Guillermo del Toro has refrained from making his ghosts pure CGI beings. Rather, they were played by real actors in makeup and costumes on set, then just made more ghostly with a little computer help. Joining them again, of course, is Doug Jones, who has been in nearly all of Guillermo del Toro's work. Having been in Hellboy as Abe Sapien or in Pan´s Labyrinth as a faun, he now uses his very special body movements here as a ghost. And it works really well.

But Crimson Peak is just so much more than a simple ghost story. Rather, it's a dark, tragic romance in which Mia Wasikowska and a convincingly dodgy Tom Hiddleston also deliver fine performances, as does a superbly hypothermic Jessica Chastain. Even those scenes that could have easily come across as ridiculous if played wrong, they transport believably to the screen, so that as a viewer you can let yourself fall completely into the story - as long as you have a soft spot for Gothic Romance. Crimson Peak may not be a perfect film. And it may also offer less creepiness than the trailer suggests. But the great visuals, the passion that everyone involved has obviously invested here, and the thrilling as well as beautiful story make it a dark fairy tale for adults that almost reaches the quality of Pan´s Labyrinth in its best moments. Absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp