‘Crimson Peak’ review: Guillermo del Toro focuses on imagery over story in this miss
Looking for a great ghost story for the Halloween season? Getting excited at the thought of being scared out of your skin? Well, I’m sorry to tell you that Crimson Peak, opening October 16, 2015, is not the movie for you.
But the commercials look so creepy, right?
Yes. The film definitely has a creepy look to it, but so does a Scooby Doo film. You could put the Powder Puff girls in a gothic setting and it would look creepy. Unfortunately, Crimson Peak just delivers an eerie look in a gothic castle with awesome costumes.
While the cast did a wonderful job with Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Mia Wasikowska in the leading roles, they were not given much to work with. The story was completely predictable. To be fair, maybe it just seemed predictable to me because I’m a fan of scary films and ghost stories. (I’ll admit that seeing Jim Beaver made me smile because I miss him on television’s Supernatural.)
I wasn’t scared a single moment.
Director Guillermo del Toro seemed to focus on scaring the audience by using either bloody images of skinned corpses or dried out bodies that looked like they’d been in a casket for 50 years to represent his ghosts. Even a “fresh” ghost was made to look like it had died years ago and was slowly decaying. Once I realized that, the ghosts lost their “creep” factor, too. Basically, there are ghosts that only one person can see and they have secrets to reveal. However, you can figure out the secrets without the ghosts at all.
To add to the let-down, the two thirds of the movie are extremely slow. At the end of the experience, I was surprised to learn that it was only a 2 hour event because it felt more like 2 ½ hours to me. The slow nature of the script even allowed a few hecklers in the audience to come up with a couple of funny one-liners to shout out in the theater.
I don’t think that’s what del Toro was shooting for.
Younger audiences or those who generally shy away from the horror genre will probably get more out of it than others. If you’re really into the imagery, you’ll appreciate it on the big screen since it looks like a long MeatLoaf rock opera video. But if you’re hoping for a spine-tingling film, then I suggest you wait to see Crimson Peak when it comes out for rental. It’s a good Saturday afternoon movie that you can watch (and maybe enjoy) without the hustle and bustle in your home being a distraction.
Overall Crimson Peak receives 2 out of 5 stars
Author: Debbie Sage
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