Crimson Peak

Yesterday's horror film because I'm always behind:

10/16: For tonight's horror film I went and saw a movie I've been dying to see forever, Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak. From all the trailers and hype around the film, coupled with the fact that I worship del Toro, I was walking in super stoked to see a gothic haunting film that matched del Toro's previous horror output.

It is with a very heavy heart then that I admit how much Crimson Peak left me painfully disappointed. The film is painstakingly made and stunningly gorgeous; vibrant colors jump off the screen, the set pieces of the dilapidated home are haunting and unique, and the atmosphere bleeds terror. In other words, quintessential del Toro.  However, despite the incredible cinematographic elements, the rest of the film just can't hold up. 

I kept thinking of Crimson Peak as a beautifully vibrant painting with absolutely no substance beyond that underneath. The main character, Edith, says at the beginning of the film that the book she is writing is a story with a ghost in it, not a story about a ghost. This is in essence what del Toro is trying to create with this film: a ghost that is not the focal point of the movie but rather is part of the backdrop. I get that and I respect it. But honestly, if you're going to have a ghost(s) in your movie and not have them at the forefront you had better have an amazing story that makes me way more interested in it than I am in the ghosts. Sadly, Crimson Peak utterly fails on that point. del Toro instead creates a tired plot consisting of a cliche murder-for-money storyline that is so predictable you figure it out within the first 45 minutes. I was reading a review last night that stated it perfectly: the viewer figures out the mystery in the first act of the movie while Edith doesn't figure it out until the end. You are thus left with over an hour of film bored waiting for the clueless main character to catch up. All dramatic tension is removed.  

Add to this just how stale the love story of the film is and the nature of the "horror" within it and no amount of beautiful cinematography can save it. It seems that del Toro spent all his time creating the look of the film and in attempting to create a smart, different horror film with the ghost in the background (much like the ghost in The Devil's Backbone, which I love) he left no time to create a story that could support it. This is the first time del Toro's disappointed me and I gotta say... I don't like it, damn it. 

5/10