Crimson Peak
While watching “Crimson Peak” last night, I had a lot of movies running through my mind. I thought of the big canvas Francis Ford Coppola painted with his flawed adaptation of “Dracula.” I thought of the haunting silent images of Jean Epstein’s “Fall of the House of Usher.” I thought of the isolated suspense and romance of Hitchcock’s “Rebecca.” I thought of the heightened color pallets of “Vertigo” and Roger Corman’s “The Masque of the Red Death.” And I thought of the lonely winter terror of Kubrick’s “The Shining.” That I had these thoughts isn’t a reflection of Guillermo del Toro being derivative or unoriginal, however, but a tribute to how he has managed to pay tribute to several truly original visions of horror and suspense all at once, and make them his own. It may follow a very predictable path towards it’s chilling conclusion in terms of story, but as far as horror movie images go, his Allerdale Hall is quite original, which should come as no surprise from the director of “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Devil’s Backbone” and the “Hellboy” movies.
What is Allerdale Hall? It is the isolated mansion home of a pair of siblings, Thomas and Lucille Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain), heirs to a family name, a large deposit of red clay on which their mansion sits, and little else. You see, their father (long deceased) blew through their inheritance while he was still alive, leaving them in debt, and to care for their mother, which Lucille did, dutifully, before she mysteriously died, as well. After years separated after her death, Thomas and Lucille reside in Allerdale Hall alone, with workers coming to help them as they try to mine the red clay the Hall sits to try and maintain the drafty old place (they have been unable to maintain the structure, which has a massive hole in the roof above the foyer, and it is sinking from the instability of the foundation), and replenish their fortune. When we first meet them, they have arrived in America (Buffalo, NY, to be exact) at the turn of the century to try and find investors in a machine Thomas has developed that will allow them to mine the clay. Thomas, whose title is Baronet (which makes him popular with the women in Buffalo), is making his plea to a group headed by Carter Cushing (Jim Beaver) for funds, but is flatly rejected, unable to pitch Cushing on the deal without something already working. One gets the feeling, though, that Thomas would have failed anyway, as Cushing has done his research, and found that Thomas has also looked for funds in London, Edinburgh and Milan without being able to produce anything, although Thomas’s interest in Cushing’s daughter, Edith (Mia Wasikowska), is likely a dealbreaker for Carter, as well. By chance, Thomas has met Edith waiting for her father, and they are immediately taken with one another. Father will not have any of it, however, and when he discovers some unsavory truths about the Sharpe’s pasts, he firmly puts his foot down. When tragedy strikes, however, Edith will turn to Thomas for comfort. They get married, and return to Allerdale Hall in England as a couple, and try to make Thomas’s dream a reality, although something isn’t quite right with the mansion…or the Sharpe siblings.
Now, you may be thinking that this film is told from the point of views of Thomas and Lucille from the way I’ve written it, but in fact, Edith is the real heroine of “Crimson Peak.” She is quite a main character to follow through the film. She is a writer, and when she meets Thomas, we have seen her try and sell one of her stories (a horror story dealing with ghosts) to a publisher, only to be told that as a woman, he would feel better publishing something romantic from her. She should aspire to be Jane Austen, although it’s understandable why she identifies more with Mary Shelley. Her mother died when she was very young, and not long after, she was visited by a specter that seemed to be her mother, with a dire warning for Edith, “When the time comes, beware of Crimson Peak.” What sets Edith apart from other women of privilege she finds herself around is how modern her worldview is. She has no interest in dressing up for parties and putting on a show for gentlemen callers, although the passion with which Thomas pursues her gets her out of her comfort zone, which includes a childhood friend and family physician (Dr. Alan McMichael, played by Charlie Hunnam from del Toro’s “Pacific Rim”) who obvious has feelings for her. But the dark events in Edith’s past makes her an ideal fit for Thomas and Lucille’s world, which we can guess early on is not ordinary, although it doesn’t prepare her for what lies ahead at Allerdale Hall.
The screenplay by del Toro and Matthew Robbins (who also wrote 1997’s “Mimic” with the director) doesn’t feel as complicated as it probably should be, but that should suit viewers just fine. So much time is established in building complex narratives for the worlds of horror cinema for the inevitable franchise (see “Saw” and “Paranormal Activity”) that it’s often forgotten that simplicity allows for some great innovation in it’s own right, especially when it comes to writing rich characters and a compelling narrative. In that respect, “Crimson Peak” represents del Toro at his most pared down in a while. He allows a lot of room for the personalities of the actors to add to the material, and it benefits the film more than it hinders it. The big weaklink in the film from an acting standpoint is Hunnam as Edith’s doctor friend. He’s capable of some great macho performing in a modern setting like “Pacific Rim” or “Sons of Anarchy,” but he feels as out of place in the context of the early 20th century and Victorian era period as Keanu Reeves did in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” although he’s in the film minimally enough to not ruin it. The three main leads fair much better, with Hiddleston showing some real conviction as a haunted young man who has terrible secrets in his past, but appears to feel real affection for Edith that makes some of the circumstances in the film ruinous. As Edith, Wasikowska taps into the same existential dread and romantic longing that made her performances in “Jane Eyre” and “Stoker” so memorable, although the chemistry between her and Hiddleston as Thomas feels a bit forced. As Lucille, Chastain may have the trickiest role, because she has a very broad, almost campy role to play. She, unlike Wasikowska, has no chemistry issues with Hiddleston, and actually, that disparity makes sense given the dynamics at play in the trio of main roles. Lucille and Thomas should be uncomfortably comfortable with one another, and it makes for a disturbingly erotic triangle at the center of the film. Chastain, who starred in the del Toro-produced “Mama,” makes the most of the role, and gives the film an unsettling energy that is in contrast with the love story at it’s center, and helps bring the terror to life.
The ironic part about most horror films nowadays is how many of them lack real scares. Yes, they will occasionally make us jump with “clever” shadowplays and over-the-top sound design, but what makes most horror films “scary” in the modern era isn’t so much real terror but an overarching atmosphere of dread. This is the approach that del Toro has taken in films like “The Devil’s Backbone” and “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and it’s what works best for “Crimson Peak.” This atmosphere comes from the images of the film rather than the story, and it would not surprise me if the film were to earn Oscars for it’s cinematography (by Dan Laustsen) and production design (by Tom Sanders), along with at least a nomination for Fernando Velázquez’s score. Even if the story lacked interest, the film would still be a wonder to watch as a visual experience. This is especially true when we arrive at Allerdale Hall. There is an accentuation of the color red (not surprising, given the title) that suits the film thematically, but also narratively. When winter comes, and footprints in the snow leave a red imprint, it’s not just a horror gimmick on del Toro’s part but something that can be explained within the reality of the film itself, making the image all the more startling to see. I could simply mute the sound and appreciate the film’s technical qualities (including some terrific visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic) and feel the same feelings the whole package delivered. That is the magic of any del Toro film- the sound is simply a bonus for the viewer when watching one of his movies.
