A Gothic romance masterpiece from Guillermo del Toro, set in the early 20th century.
Crimson Peak, Blu-ray (2016)
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Hessican Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Studio: Universal Home Entertainment 61163118 (2/9/16) [2 discs]
Video: 1.85:1 for 16:9 1080p HD color
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 7.1, DTS Headphone 2.0, English DD 5.1 & 2.0, French or Spanish DTS-HD 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: French, Spanish, English SDH
All Regions
Extras: On Blu-ray only: “I Remember Crimson Peak,” Primer on Gothic romance, Hand-tailored Gothic, A Living Thing, Crimson phantoms; On DVD disc: Commentary track with del Toro, Deleted scenes, “Beware of Crimson Peak,” “The Light and Dark of Crimson Peak”
Length: 238 min.
Rating: ****
This del Toro effort is full of his usual clockwork gadgets, blood, ghosts and strange little insects. The latter are often moths which constantly flutter all over the place. However the complications of turn-of-the-century costuming and life keeps the director on course for most of the film. The preview pegs it as a horror film, but it’s really more of a Gothic romance/mystery.
Edith is an aspiring novelist, sheltered by an older wealthy industrialist/widower. She falls for a seductive stranger, Thomas Sharpe, a destitute but charming baronet who is visiting the U.S. to get financing for his clay mining operation in Northwest England. He travels with his supposed sister Lucille. Edith and Thomas fall in love, are married, and she is swept away into the ancestral home in England – a wonderful very, very Gothic crumbling mansion full of ghosts, presided over by Lucille. One may wonder immediately why the huge hole in the mansion roof isn’t fixed – why it’s easy to see it’s there so the leaves and detritus can fall down constantly on the actors below during the film. And by the way, the mansion is also slowly sinking into the blood-red clay it was built upon (on purpose?). Early on, Thomas is shown to have an interest in ghost photography (one of my personal interests).
In the entirely different world of Allerdale Hall, Edith becomes the imperiled wife in a duplicitous household (shades of Gaslight, Notorious, not to mention Henry James). The mansion is full of ghosts and Lucille is trying to poison her. Del Toro has a wonderful eye for the perfect Gothic tropes of decadence, decay and the rest in this story and the environment. (After all, he directed two films of my personal favorite super-hero, Hell-Boy.) Crimson Peak is an homage to a very romantic idea of the macabre. It is up to little Edith to unravel the mysterious story of the Sharpe family and their mansion. In the end it becomes rather a violent fight-to-the-death to get rid of the evil so-called sister and her lovestruck (not as bad but still evil) so-called brother. In that the ailing Edith is aided by their family’s doctor, who is also in love with her. Both he and Lucille get stabbed to death and yet go on living for some time – that is never explained.
The mansion is clearly the star of this film, though Hiddleston and Jessica Chestain do great acting jobs. It and the fine cinematography will inspire fans of this period and genre for years to come. Never mind that the whole thing is very operatic and often over-acted. It can still appeal to the non opera lovers among us.
—John Sunier
