Stars Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, Jim Beaver, Burn Gorman and Doug Jones Directed by Guillermo del Toro I did the utmost to stay away from all the trailers and promotional clips before going to the cinema for this one. The most I knew was that it would be a gothic romance/horror set in a haunted house. For me, the benchmark of a haunted house flick is Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963) which got by with minimal special effects and superior use of sound effects to create a truly nerve-wrecking flick, poorly updated by Jan de Bont (thanks to the inclusion of CGI special effects, made it less scary). For Crimson Peak, director Guillermo del Toro truly makes the house a living and breathing character in the film. It literally ‘breathes’, and the walls are constantly ‘bleeding’… and there’s a bit of a gripe to that one that came to mind only after the movie. There is a logical explanation to that idea, too, but there is a gripe. Won’t mention here tho. Still, this is del Toro in familiar territory albeit his first gothic horror in English (see Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, and Pan’s Labyrinth) and there is a sense that he is trying something new and different. Even without his usual cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, the visuals by Dan Laustsen are lush and beautiful, especially in showing off the design of the dilapidated mansion itself. The colours within the mansion practically pop, more so when crimson comes on screen superbly contrasted against the pureness of the snow that constantly falls, or the deep dark shadows from which the ghosts may appear. Yes, there are ghosts, and del Toro does a superb job of maintaining certain rules for his ghosts and how they behave. To that end, in collusion with some sound effects and music, the ghosts may conjure some scares, but the true horror lies elsewhere. Let that be all to be said about it and I’ll leave it to you to enjoy the chills. The movie is tightly paced with strong performances. Mia Wasikowska does most of the heavy lifting and is beautifully contrasted by Jessica Chastain, with Tom Hiddleston ably supporting the two central women in the film. Hiddleston brings some of his considerable charm to the role that belies his motivations within the story. Doug Jones continues his artistic collaboration with del Toro by essaying two of the main ghosts, giving them truly memorable form and movement that is unique and engaging. The design of the ghosts themselves is key to the movie, and they have a nice ethereal presence in one way, and freakishly unnerving in another. Although some of the jump-scares are manufactured, either via sound effects or music, the chills gets quite palatable in its own way with one or two gruesome moments. Otherwise, it plays to its gothic roots very well. del Toro’s sure hand in direction and handling his cast elevates the material well, and he delivers what is a classic haunted house, as well as a classic movie for the ages. Rating: ****/5 Please support by buying or recommending to others, then I can watch more shows and do more reviews. Thank you.
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